Communications

2.18  To enable the delivery of communications infrastructure, the Government:

•  remains firmly committed to ensuring the auction of 4G spectrum commences by the end of 2012, in advance of the spectrum becoming available for new use in 2013.  The Government will ensure the spectrum is cleared and interference problems are fully resolved ahead of use. Ofcom will launch, in the coming months, a further consultation on the auction process. Everything Everywhere and BT are already collaborating on a trial of next generation 4G (LTE) mobile broadband services in Cornwall, and O2 have started a 4G (LTE) trial in London;

•  will explore whether there is scope for enhancing mobile coverage along transport corridors, in particular through better co-ordination between the rail sector and mobile operators;

•  has announced superfast broadband funding allocations for over forty local areas across the UK, with Local Broadband Plans already agreed in nine of those local areas. Five local projects are currently in procurement as Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) pilots in Cumbria, North Yorkshire, Highlands & Islands, Herefordshire/Gloucestershire and Rutland. In addition, the Welsh Government is in procurement, involving BDUK funding;

•  is accelerating national roll-out of superfast broadband by deregulating overhead deployment and publishing advice notes on streamlining streetworks and micro-trenching;

•  remains committed to releasing 500MHz of public sector spectrum by 2020. Sharing of some MoD bands has already begun. Much of the spectrum under consideration may be suitable for mobile broadband;

•  has supported significant progress on opening up access to BT's ducts and poles to support broadband rollout by competitors, and BT's revised offers include prices that are substantially lower than the initial offer in January (up to 60 per cent in some cases). BT recently announced that their £2.5 billion programme of fibre investment will now complete in 2014, one year earlier than originally planned, while Virgin Media has confirmed plans for its premium 100 megabits per second product to be available across its entire network by mid-2012; and

•  wants to use the European Regional Development Fund to roll out superfast Broadband. It is issuing draft guidance next week, which takes a flexible approach to ensure local areas can benefit. Up to £100 million may be available and the Government will work with local partners to start making this happen.

2.19 These actions, and the new investments set out earlier in this chapter, are summarised in the map set out in Figure 2.A below.