§ Mr. DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the extent to which rural businesses will benefit from ADSL internet access following local loop unbundling. [141655]
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§ Ms HewittLocal loop unbundling will allow other operators to provide high speed digital services such as ADSL over BT's copper wires. ADSL will however not work where the end user is more than 3–4 km from the local exchange, which means that only about 70 per cent. of the country is potentially able to receive it. There are other broadband technologies available, including satellite which can potentially cover the whole country. As stated in the White Paper "Our Countryside: The Future", the Government will
ask the Countryside Agency to monitor the rollout of broadband in rural areas and we will take this into account in developing policy.
§ Mr. DuncanTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the extent to which rural communities will be able to benefit from British Telecom's planned provision of ADSL internet access. [141664]
§ Ms HewittBT has already rolled out ADSL to exchanges covering nearly 40 per cent. of the population. Subject to commercial considerations, it intends to upgrade exchanges covering 70 per cent. of the population by the end of 2002. ADSL will however not work where the end user is more than 3–4 km from the local exchange, which means that it will not be available to everyone. There are other methods of high speed internet access becoming available, including satellite which has the potential to cover the whole country.