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

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of improvements made to mobile infrastructure as a result of the £5 billion investment programme that was announced by her Department in December 2014 to improve that infrastructure by 2017; and if she will make a statement.

The investment made by the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) as a result of the December 2014 landmark agreement, is delivering improvements in mobile connectivity as operators upgrade their networks to 4G. According to Ofcom nearly 98% of UK premises had 4G mobile coverage from at least one MNO in May 2016 (up from 72% in 2014). We will see further improvements in coverage as MNOs continue their rollout of mobile infrastructure between now and end 2017, to deliver their licence obligations, that will be enforced by Ofcom.

To support industry the Government is reforming the Electronic Communications Code via the Digital Economy Bill that will significantly reduce the cost of providing digital infrastructure. The Government's reforms to the mobile planning laws to provide greater freedoms and flexibilities in England for the deployment of mobile communications infrastructure, will also be in place by 24 November.