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 implement the transition from 2G and 3G networks to 4G and 5G networks.

We are committed to extending good quality mobile coverage across the UK. In March 2020, the Government announced a deal with the mobile network operators to increase 4G coverage to 95% of the UK landmass. The Government’s ambition is for the majority of the population to have access to a 5G signal by 2027 and we are working to ensure that we can realise the full benefits of 5G as soon as possible by reducing barriers to deployment.

The Government is also working with mobile operators, suppliers, and users to set a clear roadmap for the sunsetting or streamlining of 2G and 3G technologies, following the recommendations of the Diversification Taskforce, published on 20 April on GOV.UK.

We will set out next steps in due course.