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

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to their report Planning for Gigabit Delivery in 2021, published on 22 December 2020, what percentage of (1) "red: large contract procurement areas", (2) "blue: small procurement areas", and (3) "grey: forecast build areas", will be covered by gigabit broadband by 2025.

The government’s target is for a minimum of 85% gigabit capable coverage by 2025, but is seeking to accelerate roll-out further to get as close to 100% as possible. It is not yet possible to break down the coverage as requested at this stage, since the procurement pipeline has not yet been established.

The Planning for Gigabit report included potential large and small procurement areas and the Government will be publishing revised maps and procurement pipeline in the Spring, once it has taken account of suppliers’ and local authorities’ feedback on the illustrative areas.

The government will also publish an overall programme delivery profile and report progress against its milestones .