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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the quality of DAB radio coverage in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

The Government, BBC and commercial radio are jointly funding the long term expansion of the local DAB network across the UK with the building of 182 new digital transmitters and modifications and frequency changes at a further 49 sites by the end of September 2016. Ofcom has published detailed maps outlining the improvements to coverage in local areas across the UK. As a result of this new investment, according to Ofcom, it is expected that local DAB coverage in Wales will increase from 63% to 85.4% of households and from 46.7% to 66.3% of major roads.

Separately the BBC is rolling out its national DAB network to a further 162 transmitter sites across the UK by the end of 2015. This programme will increase the coverage of its DAB network in Wales from 86% to 92% of homes.