Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of competition in the fibre broadband sector in Scotland.

The Government’s Statement of Strategic Priorities for Ofcom, published in 2019, states that we want to see regulation that incentivises network investment and ensures fair and effective competition between new and existing network operators. Government and Ofcom have progressed multiple interventions to improve competition in the UK broadband sector, for example by providing competitors with effective access to Openreach’s ducts and poles. These interventions also benefit Scotland, since telecoms is a reserved matter.

Based on our pro-competition policies we now have a thriving market in the UK of over 100 providers investing nearly £40bn rolling out gigabit broadband all over the country. The UK gigabit capable network now stands at c.78.0%, up from one in ten in November 2019, and the coverage in Scotland stands at c.71.5%, up from less than one in ten in November 2019*.

*Thinkbroadband data