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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what provisions the UK has adopted to comply with the new EU directive on measures to reduce the cost of deploying high-speed electronic communications networks; and how the UK plans to apply that directive in relation to new build homes.

DCMS is responsible for transposing the EU Broadband Cost Reduction Directive, and will produce regulations to ensure the Directive comes into force by 1 July 2016. The Directive will ensure that public communications networks can request information about a broad range of physical infrastructure that may be suitable for rolling out networks, and can request access to such infrastructure on fair and reasonable terms. There will also be enhanced transparency of planned civil works and a requirement to coordinate works funded through public means.