Richard Arkless – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Arkless on 2016-06-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what support the Government is providing to remote rural communities on obtaining reliable access to broadband.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Public investment in improving broadband is nearly £1.7 billion, including £790 million of UK government funding, to bring superfast broadband to areas of the UK where it would not otherwise be available. Superfast broadband is now available to 90 per cent of UK premises and this will reach 95 per cent by December 2017.

The Government has also implemented a basic broadband scheme to enable all premises to gain access to speeds of at least 2Mbps. This allows residents to gain access to every government service available online.

Furthermore, in November 2015 the Prime Minister announced the Government’s intention to introduce a new broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) with the aim to provide a safety net for those homes and business in the hardest to reach parts of the UK without access to superfast broadband.