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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of multiple providers investing in full-fibre networks in the same areas on digital services in (a) suburban areas and (b) towns.

The Government is interested in the effect that greater transparency of build plans might have on accelerating the commercial rollout of full fibre networks. As a first step, the Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review committed the Government to discuss with BT and Ofcom how transparency measures might be introduced. The Government will consider next steps, including whether any legislation is required, following those discussions.