Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 18
18
The Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review sets out government’s intention to take an ‘outside-in’ approach to...
Conclusion
The Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review sets out government’s intention to take an ‘outside-in’ approach to rolling out gigabit-capable broadband, where areas that are currently unable to access superfast speeds are prioritised so they are not left further behind.48 The Department told us that it still aimed to focus on areas without access to superfast broadband so that those areas do not remain left behind.49 However, it said that the harder-to-reach areas are not necessarily grouped together and it could not tell us how it intended to establish a sequence for reaching them in the subsidised element of its gigabit programme.50 The National Audit Office’s report suggested that the data needed to support an ‘outside-in’ approach was patchy and of variable quality.51 The Department outlined the steps that it planned to take over the coming weeks and months to build a robust and reliable dataset on which to base planning assumptions but declined to tell us when it expected to have this.52
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
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.