§ The Earl of Northeskasked Her Majesty's Government:
What policies they have in place to ensure that broadband high-speed Internet access is as available in rural as in urban areas. [HL4768]
§ Lord Sainsbury of TurvilleThe Government will stimulate and promote industry investment in higher bandwidth services so that as many people as possible can get faster access to the Internet and other information services. But the market alone will not deliver affordable high-speed connections to all rural areas. We will therefore work through the development agencies in the regions, and with the devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, to develop effective strategies for the rollout of higher bandwidth services in rural areas, taking full advantage of public sector investment and the opportunities, in some regions, to obtain EU funding. Other stakeholders will also be involved, to ensure that access to broadband services reaches as widely as practicable. We will ask the Countryside Agency to monitor the rollout of broadband in rural areas and we will take this into account in developing policy.