Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the current Electronic Communications Code on the ability of mobile network operators to improve mobile voice and data coverage in rural areas.

The Government asked the Law Commission to produce a report on the Electronic Communications Code. The Law Commission reported in February 2013, setting out a number of recommendations for a reformed Code.

Since the publication of this report, DCMS officials have been analysing the effect of the existing Code, and in turn Code reform, on the development of networks, including mobile networks in urban and rural areas. The Law Commission’s report found evidence that the existing Code makes the rollout of communications networks more difficult, and representations received by DCMS from mobile network operators have supported this conclusion.