Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether he has made a comparative assessment of the proportion of work that broadband providers have been able to carry out by laying (a) ducting and (b) overhead cables.

The Government does not undertake formal assessments of the delivery methods employed by broadband operators. Where and how operators deploy their networks is a commercial matter.

Existing regulations require operators to use underground lines where reasonably practicable, with certain exceptions.

In its Connected Nations 2024 report, Ofcom states that “providers have ordered around 176,000 km of duct routes (101,000 km of which has been delivered) and approximately 1.2 million attachments to poles (750,000 of which have been delivered) to deploy networks.”