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 support the (a) development and (b) use of 5G technology in Hampshire.

The Government is committed to becoming a world leader in 5G, and for the majority of the population to have access to a 5G signal by 2027. Following the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review which sets out the Government’s national, long-term strategy for delivering world leading telecoms infrastructure across the UK, the Government is working to create the right conditions for the deployment of 5G.

We are investing in a nationally coordinated programme of 5G testbed facilities and application trials. Government has so far allocated £200 million from the National Productivity Investment Fund to the 5G programme to help establish new business models and revenue streams.

It is important to note that the vast majority of commercial rollout of 5G services will be delivered by industry, with services launching in the UK later this year. Hampshire has specifically had Vodafone commit to launching its 5G network by the end of the year in Southampton and Portsmouth, meaning that the county will be one of the first places in the UK with commercially viable 5G networks.