Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions he has had with (a) Connecting Devon and Somerset and (b) Airband on (i) resuming full-scale operations and (ii) the effectiveness of communications between the three parties.

Building Digital UK (BDUK) is working with both Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) and Airband to identify premises which will no longer be connected via its Superfast contracts for the area. Premises that have been descoped from the Airband contracts and are not in any commercial plans are now eligible for support through Project Gigabit.

However, approximately 6,000 premises across the area are likely to remain in scope of Airband’s subsidised delivery. The supplier expects to resume this work in June and complete it by the end of 2027. BDUK is in regular contact with both parties to monitor this delivery.