Broadband (Hansard, 10 March 2003)

§ Sir Robert Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the planned 2002–03 allocation of resources to the broadband category listed in the Better Regulation Section on page 123 of the Department of Trade and Industry's Expenditure Plans 2002–03 to 2003–04, Cm 5416. [100149]

§ Mr. Timms
The £15 million listed represents the 2002–03 allocation from the £30 million UK Broadband Fund given to the Regional Development Agencies and the devolved Administrations.

§ Mr. Swire
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures her Department is taking to promote access to broadband in rural areas. [100342]

§ Mr. Timms
DTI has established the UK Broadband Task Force to look at the aggregation of public sector broadband demand and it is envisaged that this will help extend broadband availability into rural areas. Projects funded through the £30 million UK Broadband Fund are seeking to develop broadband networks, often in rural and remote areas, and spread best practice from these throughout the country. DTI works closely with DEFRA on rural broadband issues and will continue to do so.

§ Mr. Swire
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what incentives the Government have offered to encourage(a) BT and (b) other suppliers to provide affordable broadband in rural communities. [100343]

§ Mr. Timms
The Government's policy is not to subsidise service providers to roll out broadband but to stimulate a competitive market through fair regulation to provide consumer choice at low prices.
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We have provided the RDAs and devolved Administrations with the £30 million UK Broadband Fund to help develop broadband networks. The UK Broadband Task Force through its demand aggregation work will help broadband become increasingly available to areas not currently served by an affordable broadband service.

§ Mr. Swire
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the economic impact on areas where people are unable to access broadband in the next three years. [100344]

§ Mr. Timms
No such assessment has been made.

§ Mr. Swire
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what projections her Department has made of the level of access to broadband by the beginning of next year. [100345]

§ Mr. Timms
DTI does not make detailed forecasts of levels of access to broadband. Currently, broadband is available to just over 70 per cent. of the UK population and it is anticipated that this will rise substantially in the future.

§ Mrs. Ellman
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of broadband coverage in Liverpool; and if she will make a statement. [101420]

§ Mr. Timms
The Government has made no specific assessment of broadband coverage in Liverpool. In the UK as a whole, 71 per cent. of the population has access to a broadband service.
A map showing geographical availability of broadband services can be found in the UK Online Annual Report 2002, available at http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk/oee/oee.nsf/ sections/esummit-ukoannrep/$file/indexpage.htm