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 expand the availability of gigabit-capable broadband throughout (a) Lancashire and (b) Blackpool.

The Government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit capable broadband as soon as possible. Much progress has already been made, with full fibre coverage doubling in the past year to reach 10% of UK premises, according to the latest Ofcom figures.

This Government will continue to take action to remove barriers to network rollout and to ensure that those in the hardest to reach areas are not left behind. We have introduced legislation to make it easier for operators to deploy broadband in blocks of flats, will be legislating to mandate gigabit connectivity in new builds and will invest £5 billion of funding to support gigabit rollout in hard to reach areas.

Lancashire has 97.8% superfast coverage, up from 37% in January 2011. In Blackpool, superfast coverage is 99.5%, compared to the UK average of 96%. Blackpool City Council was successful in their Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) Wave 2 bid for funding, and were allocated £3.1 million to upgrade its fibre presence across the city using 20km of the existing duct tramway. A separate company, ITS Technology Group, has extended its gigabit-capable broadband services to the Fylde Coast by harnessing the local, publicly owned Cooperative Network Infrastructure (CNI). This is currently live in Blackpool and is expanding across the Fylde coast.