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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to help meet the demand for video conferencing as a consequence of self-isolation in response to the covid-19 outbreak.

My Department, Ofcom and the telecoms sector have undertaken a significant amount of work on pandemic planning over recent years. Overall, the sector has reassured the government that it is well prepared for the impacts of Covid - 19 on broadband capacity.

The Government is reassured that the operators’ plans are extensive and that there is currently sufficient network capacity to support the various needs of homeworkers, such as video conferencing. Ofcom has recently issued relevant guidance on improving your broadband speeds at home and improving indoor coverage. This guidance can be found at: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/advice/improve-bb-speeds-at-home and for mobile customers https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/advice/improving-indoor-coverage

We remain in regular touch with Ofcom and the relevant companies and will continue to keep the situation under review.