With the Government’s digital inclusion strategy almost a decade old, the House of Lords calls for a new plan to drive broadband adoption, skills and competition
Committee report on digital exclusion: On 29 June 2023, the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee concluded its inquiry into digital exclusion and the cost of living, publishing a final report that included its findings and views on a range of issues, such as broadband coverage and the affordability and accessibility of internet services in the UK. In recent months, the Committee has heard evidence from various stakeholders, including Paul Scully (Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy, DSIT) and Lindsey Fussell (Group Director, Ofcom). Industry also contributed to the inquiry, raising issues such as mid-contract price rises, competition and social tariffs. On the latter, the Lords appear to have heeded warnings from operators and others (e.g. Which?) about the risks associated with mandating a standard social tariff, although they consider that Ofcom should be empowered to regulate how and where such plans are promoted online.
The idea that digital exclusion is a Government priority is “not credible”: Through its report, the Committee has evaluated efforts to address the UK’s digital divide, stating that the Government has “taken its eye off the ball” and that it has “no confidence” that DSIT is making digital exclusion a policy priority. With the last digital inclusion strategy published in 2014, the Lords have therefore made a number of recommendations to the Government (to which they are expecting a response within two months):
Act decisively to help with cost of living, including cutting VAT on social tariffs and working with businesses to scale-up internet voucher initiatives;
Invest in basic digital skills, ensuring they feature more prominently in schools, apprenticeships and adult learning courses;
Boost community-based digital inclusion hubs (e.g. at local libraries);
Prioritise competition while making sure smaller providers are not crowded out; and
Future-proof public services and review the increasing use of predictive machine-learning tools that may marginalise digitally excluded groups.
Mid-contract price rises may be acceptable but their scale is concerning: The Committee considers that the rollout of fixed and mobile broadband infrastructure has progressed well over the past five years; however, areas of poor connectivity persist – particularly in rural parts of the country. It is in these locations where altnets are seen to be delivering important competition to larger providers and valuable services for underserved communities. As such, the Lords believe Ofcom should pay attention to the breadth of infrastructure competition (as well as adoption rates) when reviewing the overall health of the telecoms market. In terms of mid-contract price rises, the arguments of certain operators seem to have landed, with the Committee considering these increases are partly a result of legitimate investment needs and economic constraints for providers. It is, though, concerned by the scale of recent uplifts given other cost of living pressures, and also wants Ofcom to tackle “unjustifiable” exit fees.
