Craig Whittaker – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Craig Whittaker on 2016-01-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, by what date it is planned that 100 per cent of residents of (a) Calder Valley and (b) West Yorkshire will have access to superfast broadband.

Mr Edward Vaizey

Based on current delivery plans, it is estimated that 91% of premises in Calder Valley and 93% in West Yorkshire will have access to superfast broadband by the end of March 2018. Additional funding sources, including West Yorkshire’s share of the £129 million of early gainshare funding that BT will return in response to the high levels of take-up being achieved, will allow coverage to be extended further in Calder Valley and the rest of the area covered by the West Yorkshire broadband project.

In addition, the Government’s intention to implement a new broadband Universal Service Obligation will give people the legal right to request at 10Mbps connection, no matter where they live, by the end of this Parliament.