On 1 and 2 June 2020, Baroness Barran, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, responded to a series of written questions regarding the roll out of broadband across the UK.
In her answer, she outlined the latest Ofcom statistics on broadband across the UK. Ofcom’s latest Connected Nations update found that, as of January 2020, over 3.5 million premises or 12% of the UK had access to full fibre broadband.
She also stated that the Government has allocated £200 million from 2017 to March 2022 to support the further development of 5G through its 5G Testbeds & Trials Programme, including up to £20 million in the West Midlands 5G (WM5G) Programme (over three years, to March 2022).
The full written answers with further statistics and information about Government plans can be found below:
Broadband: Urban Areas
Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
2 June 2020
Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to mandate the rollout by Openreach of fibre-to-the-premises broadband to urban areas; and what is their timeframe for this rollout.
Baroness Barran: The Government’s ambition is for nationwide coverage of gigabit capable broadband as soon as possible. Gigabit capable broadband can be delivered by fibre to the premise broadband, as well as other technologies, such as upgraded cable networks.
We believe the best way to deliver nationwide coverage is to promote network competition and commercial investment by BT Openreach and other operators wherever possible, and to intervene with public subsidy where necessary. To deliver this, we are taking action to reduce barriers to commercial deployment including, for example, through the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold) Property Bill, which will make it easier to connect tenanted properties with an unresponsive landlord. At Budget, we also committed to invest £5 billion to deliver gigabit capable deployment to the hardest to reach areas of the country.
The Government does not have formal powers to mandate the rollout of gigabit capable broadband by a private sector company like BT. However, BT recently announced their ambition to deliver gigabit connectivity to 20 million premises during the 2020s.
Broadband: Standards
Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
2 June 2020
Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what progress they have made in ensuring that every home and business in the UK will have access to (1) full fibre, and (2) gigabit-capable, broadband by 2025.
Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect (1) full fibre, and (2) gigabit-capable, broadband will be available to every home and business in London.
Baroness Barran: Ofcom’s latest Connected Nations update found that, as of January 2020, over 3.5 million premises or 12% of the UK had access to full fibre broadband. This represents a considerable increase from 7% coverage in January 2019.
In addition, the independent ThinkBroadband website estimates that around 19% of UK premises currently have access to gigabit capable broadband, including full fibre, but also upgraded cable broadband.
Full fibre figures for London boroughs are generally higher than the UK average. According to Connected Nations, 19 London Boroughs had full fibre coverage above the national average. However, there are notable differences between boroughs, ranging from full fibre coverage of 50.9% in Barking and Dagenham, compared to 1.1% in Bromley.
We are taking action to reduce barriers to commercial deployment and are confident that telecoms providers will step up and deliver gigabit capable coverage across London by 2025.
Broadband
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
1 June 2020
Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure that all consumers with exchange-only broadband connections are able to access superfast broadband.
Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they provide to broadband consumers who are unable to access (1) fibre-to-the-premises, or (2) fibre-to-the-cabinet, broadband from Openreach in urban areas where Openreach has no plans to make such services available.
Lord Freyberg: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they provide to broadband consumers in urban areas who are not able to access superfast broadband from Openreach.
Baroness Barran: According to Ofcom’s latest Connected Nations report, more than 98% of premises in urban areas can access superfast broadband. The Government’s Superfast programme has been instrumental in reaching this level of coverage, with £1.8 billion invested to date. The programme is still ongoing, and future delivery will further increase superfast coverage.
For consumers unable to access download speeds of at least 10 megabits per second, including those on exchange only lines, the Government has legislated to introduce the broadband Universal Service Obligation, which provides households with a legal right to request this minimum speed up to a reasonable cost threshold of £3,400 per premise.
In addition, the Government is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit-capable broadband as soon as possible and has already invested in stimulating demand for gigabit broadband, including in urban areas. The £200 million Local Full Fibre Networks programme has funded projects in urban areas such as Belfast and London, for example.
The Government has also announced that it will invest a further £5 billion to provide gigabit-capable networks in the hardest to parts of the UK. This funding will focus on connecting more rural and remote areas but, alongside this, the Government is also taking action to reduce the barriers to deployment, and make it cheaper and easier for BT Openreach and other operators to roll out broadband commercially, including in urban and suburban areas. For example, we are taking the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Bill through Parliament, which will make it easier for network builders to access blocks of flats where there is an absent or unresponsive landlord.
Finally, mobile network operators already provide 4G mobile broadband services which provide a viable alternative to superfast coverage in urban areas. In addition, according to Ofcom’s December 2019 Connected Nations report, more than 40 towns and cities already have access to even faster 5G mobile services, and the rollout has developed further since then.
As part of this, the Government has allocated £200 million from 2017 to March 2022 to support the further development of 5G through its 5G Testbeds & Trials Programme, including up to £20 million in the West Midlands 5G (WM5G) Programme (over three years, to March 2022).