Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an assessment of using the Price Per Premise model rather than the Passive Infrastructure Access model with regard to rural broadband infrastructure pricing.

We recognise competition is key to promote investment and will help ensure low prices and more choice for consumers in the long term. As the independent regulator for telecommunications, Ofcom is responsible for making regulatory decisions in the fixed telecoms sector, including on the Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA) product.

We are engaging with Ofcom on this issue.

In July, we published a consultation on our 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, including asking Ofcom to demonstrate greater transparency in how they calculate and set PIA prices. We are reviewing responses to the consultation and will publish our response in due course.