To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to evaluate the impact of full fibre roll-out on digital poverty levels.
Answered on
19 September 2023
The Government has been clear in its commitment to bring fast, reliable, resilient infrastructure to as many people as possible as quickly as possible. In our Digital Strategy we set out our vision to enable everyone, from every industry and across the UK, to benefit from all that digital innovation can offer.
Ofcom’s September 2023 Connected Nations report shows that full-fibre or gigabit-capable connections are available to 75% of all homes in the UK, with 98.7% of premises having access to infrastructure able to provide speeds of 10Mbps or more.
However, tackling digital poverty requires overcoming a range of barriers aside from the ability to access digital infrastructure (such as full fibre), including an individual’s digital skills, the affordability of connectivity services and devices as well as ensuring they have sufficient motivation and confidence to go - and stay - online.