Mobile Phones: Radio Frequencies
Culture Media and Sport
Mark Tami (Alyn and Deeside, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport whether he plans to ensure that 4G wireless broadband minimum target speeds of at least two megabits per second will be available to consumers who are not to be offered superfast broadband under Ofcom's current Spectrum criteria.
Edward Vaizey (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Culture, Communications and Creative Industries), Business, Innovation and Skills; Wantage, Conservative)
Ofcom's current coverage proposal for the combined auction includes providing a service of not less than 2 Mbps to an area where 95% of the population lives. It is the Government's stated aim to ensure that broadband for all would be available at 2 megabits per second by 2015. We have not specified which technologies would deliver that, as it is likely that a mix of different technologies including fixed, wireless broadband (both 3G and 4G) and satellite solutions will be required, with the precise mix depending on local factors such as topography and demographics.