Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions his Department has had with Ofgem to ensure that rural areas are not disadvantaged by comparison to urban areas during the Smart Meter roll-out.
The Government wants households and small businesses to benefit from smart metering and is working closely with Ofgem on the smart meter rollout. The Data Communications Company (DCC), which operates the national communications infrastructure for smart metering, is obligated under the conditions of its licence to provide communications coverage to at least 99.25% of premises. The DCC also has a licence condition to strive to achieve 100% coverage where it is technically practicable and cost proportionate. Ofgem is responsible for regulating the DCC.