Tim Farron – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tim Farron on 2016-05-23.
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to page 14 of the Queen’s Speech 2016: background briefing notes, if he will define the terms (a) very remotest properties and (b) contributing to the cost of broadband installation in rural areas; and if he will estimate the number of properties in Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency in that category.
Mr Edward Vaizey
Work is ongoing on the design of the broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) and the reasonable cost threshold. The independent telecoms regulator Ofcom will provide technical analysis and recommendations to help inform both of these, as well as identify the premises likely to be within the USO footprint. These are expected to be predominantly in rural areas, but there will also be urban and suburban homes and businesses eligible to request a connection under the USO.
