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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department has assessed the extent to which switching off digital terrestrial television could require households to take out broadband subscriptions in order to access television services.

The Government recognises the importance of ensuring that television services remain affordable, reliable, and accessible to all households. The Government’s Future of TV Distribution project is undertaking work to assess the future of digital terrestrial television after 2034 and no decisions have been made at this time.

As part of the project, officials from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology are working closely together to consider the range of issues that could arise under different long‑term scenarios, including implications for how households access television and questions of affordability, reliability and accessibility.

Through commercial and subsidised delivery, the Government is ensuring future-proofed and reliable, gigabit-capable connections are available to 99% of UK premises, and are monitoring and supporting market development for alternative technologies to deliver reliable broadband to more remote premises.