Asked by: Felicity Buchan (Conservative - Kensington)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to improve broadband speeds in specific areas of Kensington where the proportion of households experiencing speeds under 10 Mbps is higher than the (a) national and (b) London average.
Answered by Julia Lopez - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
According to data from ThinkBroadband, 0.03% of premises in the Kensington constituency are unable to access speeds of 10Mbps through a fixed connection. This compares to a national average of 1.21% of premises that cannot access these speeds through a fixed connection. Whilst coverage is well above the national average, it is important to note that citizens will need to choose higher speed packages in order to benefit from faster speeds, and in some cases, this will involve changing networks. They can find the best services available to them by using Ofcom’s ‘Boost your Broadband’ website or using a price comparison service.
Where consumers are not able to access high-speed broadband through a fixed connection, their broadband connectivity can be supported by mobile broadband coverage. There is good 4G coverage in the London Borough of Kensington, while a number of mobile network operators are now offering 5G services within the Kensington area, which will deliver faster speeds through a mobile connection.
For those unable to access speeds of 10 Mbps through either a fixed or a mobile connection, in March 2020 the government launched the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) which gives every premises the legal right to request a broadband connection with download speeds of at least 10Mbps and upload speeds of 1Mbps. Residents can find out if they are eligible by visiting BT’s USO postcode checker.
Further details on the USO can be found here.