Gigabit Broadband
(North East Bedfordshire)
(Con)
1. What recent progress her Department has made on the rollout of
gigabit broadband.
The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
( )
We are delivering the biggest broadband upgrade in UK history.
National gigabit broadband coverage has rocketed from 6% to 66%
in the past three years. Over 80 different companies are
extending coverage further, investing more than £30 billion
between them. Through Project Gigabit, we are investing £5
billion to ensure coverage in hard-to-reach areas across the UK.
My right hon. Friend is absolutely right about the Government’s
commitment, but as my constituency neighbour she will know that
in parts of North East Bedfordshire gigabit coverage is already
well below the national average. There are plans to increase it,
but may I request a meeting with her or the Minister directly
responsible to discuss those rural areas just outside major urban
areas or towns but not in the most remote districts, which seem
to be being missed by current plans?
Ms Dorries
I declare an interest. My hon. Friend is not only my constituency
neighbour, but due to various boundary changes over the years we
have swapped various parts of our constituency and I feel like we
are joint Members for some parts of our constituencies. I would
like to reassure him that premises in his constituency that are
not included in the commercial providers plan will be eligible
for gigabit-capable subsidy through Project Gigabit. The Project
Gigabit procurement covering North East Bedfordshire is due to
start by October this year, with a contract in place by September
2023. Eligible premises in North East Bedfordshire can also
receive gigabit-capable connections through the broadband voucher
scheme. I would very much like to meet him to talk about this
matter, along with the Minister for Media, Data and Digital
Infrastructure, my hon. Friend the Member for Hornchurch and
Upminster ().
(Ealing Central and Acton)
(Lab)
Digital exclusion is not just a rural phenomenon. In parts of
Ealing Broadway, despite the road being dug up and cable laid,
businesses report cripplingly slow times to send an email or
download attachments—basic stuff that is like running water or
electricity in this day and age—and don’t get me started on
people working from home north of the A40. Can the Secretary of
State please give us a date for when all my constituents will be
levelled up internet-wise? If not, will she come with me and
speak to those businesses and homes, so we can hurry it along?
Ms Dorries
We were never going to go from 0% to 100% overnight. It has
always been a roll-out programme. It is a huge infrastructure
investment project, and it is not possible for network builders
and telecoms providers to deliver everything at once. Priority is
given to where the need is greatest—that includes the businesses
she mentions and hard-to-reach communities—but I will take the
hon. Lady’s constituency concerns away with me and raise them
with Building Digital UK. I will get back to her as soon as I can
with a response.
Broadband and Mobile Coverage: Rural Areas
(North Devon) (Con)
2. What steps her Department is taking to improve broadband and
mobile phone coverage in rural areas.
(Brecon and Radnorshire)
(Con)
4. What steps her Department is taking to improve broadband and
mobile phone coverage in rural areas.
The Minister for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure ()
The Government are working hard to give people great connectivity
whether they live in a rural, suburban or urban area. We are
doing this by: making it easier for operators to roll out
infrastructure; focusing public subsidy on connecting the
hardest-to-reach areas through Project Gigabit; connecting
schools and public buildings through our GigaHubs programme; and
working with commercial partners on the shared rural network to
tackle mobile notspots.
I am sure my hon. Friend will be delighted that I am asking not
about broadband but about mobile connectivity instead. I live in
the beautiful village of Instow in North Devon, but my mobile
signal is so poor that if I move my head when making a call I am
instantly disconnected. To have 5G is a dream, yet we have more
anti-5G campaigners in North Devon than in almost any other part
of the country. What is my hon. Friend doing to improve mobile
connectivity in villages such as mine, alongside dealing with the
false information perpetuated by anti-5G campaigners?
My hon. Friend is absolutely right: I am absolutely thrilled and
delighted that she is asking me about mobile rather than
broadband. She raises a really important point about
misinformation and how it can stifle the roll-out of fast,
reliable networks, which can substitute for poor broadband in
areas like hers. I spoke recently at a conference with local
councils on how to support the 5G roll-out. My Department shared
with them public health guidance to bust and counter some of the
myths about 5G. On mobile connectivity more generally, as I
mentioned, we have the shared rural network that will see us
jointly invest with industry more than £1 billion to increase 4G
coverage in rural areas. In her region, that will see all four
operators cover 87% of her constituency by the end of the
programme.
I am asking about broadband, once again. My constituents are
extremely concerned that the universal service obligation, which
aims to provide decent broadband coverage, is inconsistent in
rural areas. Constituents in Knighton have expressed their
concern about some of the contribution costs, which can be in the
tens of thousands of pounds, despite some properties being only a
few hundred metres away from the cabinet. What steps is the
Department taking to ensure that decent and, above all,
affordable broadband is being rolled out to rural areas? Will the
Minister meet me to discuss some of the thornier elements of my
constituency?
I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend. I appreciate her concern
about the costs that have been quoted to her constituents, and it
is an issue to which the regulator Ofcom is very alive. Ofcom
holds responsibility for setting the universal service
conditions, and it recently carried out an investigation into
BT’s approach to calculating excess cost. BT has since provided
assurances on what it will do to mitigate the consumer harm
identified in the Ofcom report. Compliance with that report will
be monitored, but as I say, I am happy to meet my hon. Friend to
discuss the issue in greater detail.
(Strangford) (DUP)
There have been giant steps forward, which we welcome, but people
in some areas of my rural constituency still have difficulty
getting a connection, and they cannot use their mobile phones
either. What discussions has the Minister had with the Northern
Ireland Assembly on working together to address those small
pockets that are easy to overlook but whose residents deserve the
same level of service as those in the cities?
I thank the hon. Gentleman for championing his constituency, as
always. Just this week I spoke to one of his DUP colleagues about
some of the great work going on with Fibrus, which is making
Northern Ireland one of the best connected areas of our country
and with the fastest speeds. Of course there is still more work
to do. I was going to meet one of the hon. Gentleman’s
counterparts in the Northern Ireland Assembly to discuss the
issue, but unfortunately he came down with covid. I shall follow
up and arrange that meeting again.
