Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with Ofcom on considering the needs of rural broadband investment in the Telecoms Access Review.

As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector and is currently finalising its Telecoms Access Review.

DSIT officials regularly engage with Ofcom on these issues. In July, we published our draft updated Statement of Strategic Priorities to Ofcom that sets out the government’s view on the importance of competition to promote investment in broadband deployment across the UK, including in rural areas.

In non-commercially viable, often rural, areas, more than £2.4 billion of Project Gigabit contracts have already been signed to connect over one million premises with gigabit-capable broadband.