Oral Answers to Questions

Michael Fabricant Excerpts

Wednesday 31st January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We need to speed up a bit, because we have a lot of questions to get through. What we need now is pithy questions without excessively demonstrative behaviour.

[Michael Fabricant (Lichfield) (Con)]

4. What progress has been made on the roll-out of high-speed broadband in rural Wales; and if he will make a statement.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Stuart Andrew)]

Superfast broadband is now available to more than 19 out of 20 UK homes and businesses, including 95% of premises in Wales. That underlines the progress made in recent years thanks to our investment of £69 million in Wales, plus an additional £56 million gainshare to be reinvested.

[Michael Fabricant]

That investment is working. In Gwynedd, for example, it was previously only possible to get a download speed of 0.9 megabits per second. In Merionethshire, Openreach has now given fibre to the home that delivers at least 75 megabits per second. That is great, but what can the Government do to provide a legal obligation for everyone to have a right to broadband?

[Stuart Andrew]

My hon. Friend is quite right to highlight the importance of good connectivity through broadband, particularly in our rural areas, if we are to maximise the economic benefits. We have decided that regulation is the best way to ensure that everyone in the UK has a decent broadband connection. A regulatory universal service obligation will give everyone in the UK access to speeds of at least 10 megabits per second by 2020.