§ David HamiltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what estimate she has made of broadband accessibility rates for(a) Scotland, (b) 468W England, (c) Wales and (d) Northern Ireland, broken down by percentage of (i) households and (ii) population. [165586]
§ Mr. Timms[holding answer 19 April 2004]: The Department of Trade and Industry has commissioned on-going research from Analysys Consulting Ltd to provide a comprehensive picture of developments in the UK broadband market.
According to the latest quarterly survey to the end of December 2003, the following estimates are given of population (households) that are covered by a mass-market broadband solution:
(a) Scotland 72 per cent. (b) England 87 per cent. (c) Wales 72 per cent. (d) Northern Ireland 67 per cent. This research is published quarterly on the Department's website:
- http://www.dti.gov.uk/industry_files/pdf/
- uk_broadband_coverage_jan2004.pdf