Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of rural broadband coverage.

According to Ofcom’s December 2024 Connected Nations report, just 0.1% of properties are unable to get decent broadband coverage (defined as at least 10 Mbps download speed and 1 Mbps upload speed), with 89% of rural UK residential properties having superfast broadband coverage (>=30 Mbps). Clearly this still leaves a significant number of rural properties with inadequate broadband coverage.

Through Project Gigabit, more than £2 billion of contracts have been signed to connect over a million more premises with gigabit-capable broadband (>1000 Mbps). These premises predominantly fall in rural areas.

For those premises still unable to get a decent broadband connection, the Broadband USO provides consumers the right to request a decent broadband connection.