Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 4
4
We are disappointed that the Department has still not taken significant action to remove barriers...
Conclusion
We are disappointed that the Department has still not taken significant action to remove barriers to rolling out Project Gigabit. Despite our recommendation earlier this year, the Department has yet to secure the legislative and policy changes that industry deems necessary to address major barriers to delivering gigabit infrastructure at pace. The Department has initiated the Telecommunications Infrastructure Act, designed to ensure that the UK has sufficiently robust electronic communications networks to deliver the coverage and connectivity consumers 1 Q 10 Delivering gigabit-capable broadband 7 and businesses need. However, it has not yet followed this up with the necessary secondary legislation. We are concerned that without addressing legislative barriers the Department will be unable to meet its target for roll-out. The Department has also run consultations on removing barriers to gigabit rollout but has yet to publish the findings of these. In one case, this is eight months after the consultation closed. While stakeholders welcome these interventions, they call for the Department to take more decisive action, particularly regarding wayleaves (land access agreements). Furthermore, the removal of high-risk vendors’ equipment from the network is estimated to cause a delay in the full fibre roll-out of up to a year, and for 5G by two to three years. Despite its apparent lack of significant progress in tackling barriers, the Department asserts that it is confident that the pace of rollout means that it is still on track to hit its targets. Recommendation: In line with its Treasury Minute response, the Department should write to us setting out what progress it has made: • to remove barriers to deployment, including details of the findings from its consultations and its response in the four priority areas of: a) access to land b) street works c) new build connectivity; and d) supporting mobile deployment. • to remove equipment from high-risk vendors from the relevan
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 4.2 To remove barriers to network deployment, the department has: • introduced the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill, to encourage stronger relationships between telecoms operators and site providers. The bill will tackle the issue of non-responsive landowners, providing operators with the automatic right to upgrade or share apparatus installed before 2017. The department will publish the consultation response on implementing regulations for the Telecommunications Infrastructure (Leasehold Property) Act 2021 soon, then regulations will be laid when Parliamentary time allows; • worked with the Department for Transport (DfT) and industry to implement and trial further reforms to streetworks and permitting, proposed in the follow-up consultation, published by DfT in February. • published a statutory technical consultation on ‘new build’ home gigabit-capable connectivity. The response will be published soon, and legislation will follow when Parliamentary time allows; • introduced changes to permitted development rights to support wider mobile coverage and 5G deployment; and • through the Digital Connectivity Infrastructure Accelerator, taken steps to make it easier and quicker to deploy mobile equipment on local authority buildings and street furniture. 4.3 In 2020, the government announced advice to telecoms operators regarding their use of Huawei equipment, including advice to remove Huawei equipment from the 5G network by the end of 2027. Under new powers in the Telecommunications (Security) Act 2021, the government is consulting on a proposed direction to public telecoms providers regarding their use of Huawei goods and services. The consultation responses will inform the final decision on the designation notice and direction. 4.4 The department will address this recommendation in its letter to the Committee.