Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 5
5
he Department is yet again failing to prioritise consumers in rural areas.
Recommendation
he Department is yet again failing to prioritise consumers in rural areas. The Department says that it intends to take an ‘outside-in’ approach to the roll-out of gigabit capable broadband, focussing on those areas that currently do not have access to superfast so that they do not remain left behind. But the most difficult- Improving Broadband 7 to-reach premises are not neatly grouped together, and the Department is not yet clear on how it will prioritise its interventions to ensure that they are served. The data available to help determine roll-out priorities is patchy and of variable quality. The Department acknowledges it is reliant on a good dataset but is not clear when it expects to have this in place. We had significant concerns that in the event of delays to the programme, the Department would look to deliver to as many premises as possible in a bid to meet its ambitious timetable. In this case, those people who currently lack superfast broadband would once more go to the back of the queue. Government’s announcements since our oral evidence session, reframing the target to 85% coverage by 2025 and not allocating three-quarters of the £5 billion allocation until after 2024–25, heighten these concerns. This suggests that many consumers, particularly those in rural and remote areas, will have to wait until well beyond 2025 for gigabit broadband speeds and may not even get superfast speeds before then. Recommendation: The Department should set out how it will establish which properties do not yet have superfast broadband, how reliable the data it will use to identify them is, and when they can expect to receive gigabit capable broadband.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 5.2 Through existing programmes, the department is already delivering gigabit coverage to rural and remote premises and those currently without superfast broadband. For example, it has pivoted the Superfast Broadband Programme to invest in gigabit capable networks and is due to announce the extension of the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, which provides grants for rural households and businesses to contribute to the cost of gigabit capable broadband installation. Many local authorities are also topping up the vouchers with additional funding for those premises without superfast broadband. Over 325,000 of the hardest to reach premises have already been given access to gigabit capable networks through the Superfast Programme and a further 500,000 are in existing delivery plans. 5.3 The department has set out how it intends to target the remaining premises which are without superfast broadband, or which are not within other coverage plans, in its consultation Planning for Gigabit Delivery (December 2020) and is about to announce the location of the first phase of new procurements. To accurately identify and plan the intervention areas, the department is already collecting Ofcom’s regularly updated Connected Nations data on current operator footprint and has begun collecting data on future build plans from a wider range of operators. It is implementing systems that will allow operators to update their data on a regular basis with their latest plans and, once assured, will be reflected in its delivery plans and the data made available in the public domain. In addition, a formal public review will be undertaken before each project under the new UK Gigabit Programme to enable all suppliers to provide information on their existing plans. The first public review under this new process, for the area of Cumbria, was published on 9 February 2021.