Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to increase the availability of broadband services in the UK, particularly with regard to (1) expanding the available connections, and (2) increasing broadband access in rural low-service areas.

According to the independent website Thinkbroadband.com, over 85% of premises in the UK can already access a gigabit-capable connection. Building Digital UK’s latest annual report shows that between April 2023 and March 2024, 92% of premises benefitting from publicly-subsidised broadband rollout, including Project Gigabit, were rural.

To improve connectivity further, more than £2 billion of contracts have been signed to connect over a million more premises with gigabit-capable broadband. These are premises that fall predominantly in rural areas. For very hard to reach premises, we are actively discussing with industry where support might be required to accelerate the deployment of appropriate technologies.