Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what incentives BT has to utilise independent fibre networks to provide BT retail customers with broadband where no Openreach fibre exists.

It is the government's view that the best way to achieve nationwide gigabit coverage is to create a competition-friendly environment in areas where deployment is commercially viable.

Alternative networks may allow service providers to reach additional customers and compete on price and quality of service standards, improving overall consumer outcomes.

However, as a service provider, it is for BT to choose where to deploy its services and which networks it chooses to offer its services over, including in areas where the Openreach network is not available, given this is ultimately a commercial matter.