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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what her policy is on the provision of 5G services in rural areas.

The Government set out its views in its 5G strategy that was published at Spring Budget 2017. 5G networks will have a role to play, alongside existing technologies, in delivering connectivity in rural areas, for example to support new use cases such as smart farming. The Government will use its new 5G Testbeds & Trials programme to test use cases in both rural and urban areas, to improve our understanding of the economics of infrastructure deployment in different scenarios and locations, and how infrastructure can be deployed in a cost-effective way.