§ Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many telephone exchanges in(a) the UK and (b) Scotland are broadband-enabled; what percentage this is of the total of telephone exchanges in each case; and which constituencies have less than 10 per cent. of their telephone exchanges broadband-enabled. [133856]
§ Mr. TimmsBroadband is provided over the telephone system by DSL technology, most commonly by ADSL. However, ADSL is not the only means of accessing broadband. According to BT the statistics for the UK and Scotland are as follows:
(a) 1827 telephone exchanges are broadband-enabled in the UK. This represents 32.65 per cent. of the total of telephone exchanges. 81 per cent of the UK population are served by telephone exchanges that have been upgraded for ADSL broadband;
(b) 148 telephone exchanges are broadband-enabled in Scotland. This represents 13.84 per cent of the total of telephone exchanges. 60.9 per cent of the population in Scotland are served by telephone exchanges that have been upgraded for ADSL broadband.
Information about which constituencies have less than ten per cent of their telephone exchanges broadband-enabled is not held within Government.