MP secures debate on broadband rollout

Neil Parish, Member of Parliament for Tiverton and Honiton, has secured a debate in Westminster Hall on the management and delivery of broadband for Wednesday 4th March. Supporting Neil is this debate will be Tessa Munt MP and Richard Bacon MP.

The debate will focus on the Government’s £1.7 billion nationwide rollout to extend superfast broadband to 95 per cent of UK homes and businesses by 2017 and the work of Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK), which is part of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and is responsible for delivering superfast broadband and better mobile connectivity.

Although the debate will be on the national rollout, Neil Parish will use this opportunity to discuss the Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) programme that is responsible for broadband delivery in these two counties.

The CDS programme is on track to deliver superfast broadband to 90 per cent of premises across the Devon and Somerset area by the end of 2016, up from 64 per cent overall when the programme began.  The programme is supported by a £32 million investment from BDUK. CDS are also bidding for additional funding to extend superfast coverage to 95 per cent of premises by the end of 2017 and are also investigating alternative solutions for reaching the final 5 per cent.

CDS has now published its procurement tender for the next stage of the rollout; to extend superfast broadband coverage as far as possible in Devon and Somerset with the aim of getting to 100 per cent coverage by 2020.

As a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee Neil Parish took part in an inquiry into rural broadband provision. The committee’s report expressed fears that a focus on improving access for most of the country may leave a minority with little or no ability to use key government services switching to online-only or mainly online delivery.

For more information visit the Committee’s website.