Select committee: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee

Conclusion 16

Fourth Report - Broadband and the road to 5G Published 22 Dec 2020 Paragraph 126 Addressed to Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Broadband and the road to 5G All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗

Conclusion (the committee's words)

Industry’s calls for regulatory and business rate reform, as well as removing barriers to roll-out, will not come as any surprise to Ministers; however, these long-standing policy recommendations demonstrate a gap between the Government’s ambition and the action it has taken to date. Even getting to 85% gigabit-capable coverage by 2025 will require a rapid rise in build rates and for industry to roll-out just as fast as under previous targets. Urgent action to address these barriers that stand in the way of them doing so is therefore as important as ever.

From: Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Fourth Report - Broadband and the road to 5G (HC 153), paragraph 126, 22 December 2020

Government response

Correspondence from the Department for DCMS re Broadband and the road to 5G report, 1 April 2021

The government responded to the whole report on 20 April 2021.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Secretary of State's letter supplies further information on the Department's response, setting out a target of a "minimum of 85% coverage by 2025" for gigabit-capable broadband and an ambition to get "as close to 100% as possible".

The Department states it is "confident that the 85% target will be met", citing coverage already reached and industry's commercial build ambitions, and says the government will monitor this closely, supported by Ofcom.
On funding, the £5 billion of capital funding "remains in place", with at least £1.2 billion to be spent in the period up to March 2025.
For semi-urban areas, the government anticipates a "substantial majority" will be served commercially by 2025. Where no operator has viable plans, it "will include these premises in the scope of our interventions".
On visas, the government points to existing routes, including the Skilled Worker visa, and notes the Migration Advisory Committee concluded there was "little evidence provided that there were insufficient resident workers to fill vacancies".

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Letter from the Chair to Rt Hon Oliver Dowden CBE MP, Secretary of State for DCMS, re Government's response to the Broadband and road to 5G report, 5 March 2021

Published 5 March 2021.

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Correspondence from the Department for DCMS re Broadband and the road to 5G report, 22 February 2021

Published 5 March 2021.

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The government sets out its strategy and targets for gigabit-capable broadband and 5G, agreeing with some recommendations, holding to a technology neutral approach, and in places noting or considering others.

On the 85% target, it says the target "is based on extensive engagement with industry". It expects the UK Gigabit Programme to spend "a minimum of £1.2 billion by March 2025" and reach "at least 5 percentage points of the final 20%".
It agrees that technologies should be future proof but says it is "strongly committed to a technology neutral approach" because this enables greater innovation.
On a formal review of gigabit and 5G targets by end 2022, it will "consider the timing of any formal review, noting the Committee’s recommendation", and is "content to report back" during the next two years and beyond.
On wayleave reform, it is consulting on whether further changes to the Electronic Communications Code are needed and will "carefully evaluate all responses". It will publish a procurement pipeline in Spring 2021.

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