Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to help provide broadband connections to rural communities in Suffolk.

According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, 98% of premises in the county of Suffolk can access a superfast broadband connection. Furthermore, over 68% of premises are able to access a gigabit-capable connection, up from just 4% in December 2019.

In June 2023 we announced that a Project Gigabit contract had been awarded to the supplier CityFibre. This contract has a value of over £100 million, covering 79,500 hard-to-reach premises in Suffolk that would otherwise miss out on a gigabit-capable connection. The supplier has completed the initial planning and survey work for this contract and the first connections are expected to be made this summer. We expect the contract to be completed by December 2028.