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

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with Ofcom on helping to ensure that the next auction of 5G spectrum promotes coverage of rural communities which might sit beyond mobile operators' roll-out plans.

Ministers and officials have regular discussions with Ofcom on a range of subjects.

We welcome the proposals for coverage obligations within Ofcom’s latest consultation on the auction of 700 MHz and 3.6-3.8 GHz spectrum and remain committed to working with Ofcom and the mobile industry to ensure that the manifesto commitment to provide 95% geographic mobile coverage across the UK is met.