AS the Minister for broadband, I get to hear from a lot of people who are desperate to get access to superfast broadband. I am not at all complacent about this. We have already done a lot. When we came to office in 2010, only 45 per cent of the country had access to superfast broadband. Today, that figure stands at 90 per cent – an additional 4 million homes and businesses. By the end of 2017, 95 per cent of the UK would have been reached, and plans are in place to reach the final 5 per cent. The UK has seen the fastest rollout of superfast broadband anywhere in the world, which is a direct result of £1.7billion of investment from the Government, local councils and BT.

According to the most recent figures, 89.2 per cent of Wantage and Didcot is covered by superfast broadband – so we have got quite far but there is still more to do - both locally and nationally. The programme hasn’t finished in Oxfordshire, and I expect to see a lot more villages get broadband in the next few months.

I am determined that no one will be left behind. During last week’s State Opening of Parliament, Her Majesty the Queen announced new legislation that will give every household the right to request high-speed broadband. The new law, known as the Universal Service Obligation (USO), means that everyone will have the right to request a fast, affordable broadband connection of a minimum specific speed of 10mbps – the speed required to meet the demands of today’s typical family and many small businesses. This will put superfast broadband access on par with utility company’s obligation to provide a telephone line. I want this process to be as easy as possible, which is why we are looking at ways to allow communities to lodge a single request for a whole area, rather than many individual ones.

Boosting broadband speeds and improving access is, however, not the sole responsibility of the government. The commercial sector has an important role to play, and we are helping by cutting the red tape that is stifling action. We are introducing reforms that will make it easier for telecoms companies to build the masts, telegraph poles, and cabinets that rural communities sorely need, and make it easier to upgrade equipment when new technology becomes available. To reduce costs and encourage greater investment, we will be overhauling the land rental pricing system, to put telecoms industries on a similar footing to other utilities.

BT will also be reinvesting £200million to extend broadband infrastructure to remote communities, like ours, and more is expected. The Government’s contracts with BT mean that the more people sign up to superfast broadband, the more money BT is obligated to return to local authorities to help roll out broadband further. This extra money will help connect hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the last 5 per cent.