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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the roll-out of superfast broadband in areas where it is unavailable.

Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) is currently working across the UK with local authorities to ensure delivery of superfast broadband is delivered effectively, where it is currently unavailable. As of September 2019, over 5 million premises have been connected due to the superfast rollout alone.

RGC, launched in May 2019, has been allocated £200 million to trial a model to deliver gigabit-capable connectivity to premises in rural and remote locations, combining demand-side and supply-side interventions. The Rural Voucher Scheme is a component of RGC. Rural premises can use vouchers worth up to £3,500 for each Small and Medium sized Enterprise (SMEs), and up to £1,500 per residential premises to support the cost of installing new gigabit-capable connections.

In addition to this, the government has pledged £5 billion to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to the most difficult to reach areas of the UK.