Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of reforming physical infrastructure access pricing for Project Gigabit to reduce rural build costs for alternative network operators.

As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product.

For this reason, while my officials are engaging with Ofcom on this issue, the Department has not made a formal assessment of the merits of reforming physical infrastructure access pricing for Project Gigabit to reduce rural build costs for alternative network operators.

My officials are regularly engaging with Ofcom to ensure that we have the right regulatory environment in place to promote competition and investment in the fibre roll-out across the UK.