Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October to Question 82973 on Broadband: Rural Areas, if she will make her policy to include direction to Ofcom on revising the Physical Infrastructure Access pricing model to ensure consistent competitive conditions in the forthcoming Statement of Strategic Priorities.

In July, DSIT published a consultation on the draft Statement of Strategic Priorities for telecommunications, the management of radio spectrum, and postal services that sets out the Government’s view on infrastructure sharing in the fixed telecoms sector. The draft Statement sets out the government’s view on the importance of competition to promote investment in broadband deployment across the UK, including in rural areas.

We are currently reviewing responses to the consultation and will publish our response in due course.