Broadband

(asked on 8th October 2018) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the building of multiple open access full fibre networks in the same locations on the Government’s target of nationwide full fibre by 2033.


Answered by
Margot James Portrait
Margot James
This question was answered on 16th October 2018

The recommendations of the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR) were based on analysis of UK and global broadband markets, as well as extensive engagement with stakeholders. The FTIR concluded that the most effective way to deliver nationwide full fibre coverage by 2033 is to promote network competition wherever possible. The FTIR expects around a third of the country to be able to support three or more gigabit capable networks and a further half of the country to be able to support two gigabit capable networks. This includes the majority of suburban areas and towns. The FTIR recognised that the remainder of the country will be made up of areas that can only support a single network and that some areas, likely to be largely remote rural areas, will be too costly for the market to deliver alone. For the latter, likely to be around 10% of premises in the UK, the Government will pursue a strategy to support deployment of full fibre starting at the same time as the market deploys to commercially viable areas.

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