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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with Ofcom on the upcoming 11.1 percent price increase of wholesale broadband in April 2023.

The regulation of wholesale prices in the fixed telecoms market is a matter for Ofcom, the independent regulator. Through our Statement of Strategic Priorities we have instructed Ofcom to regulate in a way that encourages both competition and investment in telecoms infrastructure. Following this guidance, Ofcom developed its Wholesale Fixed Telecoms Market Review (WFTMR) which allows Openreach prices to increase in line with inflation.

Thanks to this approach, there is now a thriving market of over 80 providers investing £35bn rolling out gigabit broadband all over the UK. Today, nearly 73% of premises can access gigabit-capable networks, up from just one in ten in November 2019.