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13 JAN 2012
Campaign for Rural Mobile Coverage Triumphs
The long parliamentary campaign to bring mobile coverage to rural areas has ended in victory, as OFCOMfinallyannounced proposals to increase broadband coverage to an estimated 98% of the UK population.
Traditionally, up to 6 million people in Britain have been excluded from good mobile coverage, particularly in rural areas. (Mobile phone companies were only obliged to cover 95 % of the population, 90 % of the time).
Dr Coffey was one of the leaders of the campaign to increase the coverage. She signed a back-bench business committeedebate urging OFCOM to increase the coverage to at least 98 % of the population.
Therese then spoke in the debate, in the House of Commons on 19 May 2011 saying: "that there is a risk Ofcom is being penny wise, pound foolish, and that in future it could become very expensive for this country to have truly mobile broadband."
The motion was carried unanimously at the end of a 3 hour debate.
In October, the Chancellor of the Exchequer responded to the debate by committing an extra 150 million pounds to build thousands of new mobile phone masts to cover rural areas.
In November the Department of Culture, Media and Sport select committee, of which Therese is a member slammed OFCOM's coverage target of 95% as 'unambitious' and the call for a 98% coverage obligation.
In this week's announcement, OFCOM proposes options which should ensure that 98% or more of the population receives 4G mobile broadband coverage. This means that millions who currently do not have a mobile signal will now receive one, and that millions more will have their signal upgraded from a 2G 'voice' signal to a 4G signal, capable of carrying broadband data.
Therese said "this investment will transform the fortune of small and medium sized businesses, currently hamstrung by inadequate mobile phone and internet coverage. Homes, schools, farms and businesses will get access to decent mobile and internet coverage for the first time."
03 NOV 2011
Therese backs Spectrum Auction and calls for an increase in Broadband Coverage to 98%
In a report released today, the Commons Culture Media and Sport Committee has announced that Ofcom has been doinga good job facilitating the next spectrum auction but has urged it to take place as soon as possible.
Local MP Therese Coffey, a member of the Select Committee said "The Government is doing all it can to provide fast broadband and recently pledged £530m worth of investment to upgrade the UKs broadband network. The spectrum auction is highly relevant for rural areas and is great news for increasing broadband provision"
She went on to say "Ofcom proposes that one of the spectrum licences should have a condition of providing mobile internet coverage to least 95% of the population. The Committee says that Ofcom should go further to hasten the rollout of broadband and proposes that the coverage obligation for this licence should be set at 98%. It also argues that Ofcom should consider applying this obligation to more than one licence."
However there has been some infighting between mobile operators which is delaying the rollout of faster broadband services.
The Select Committee understands that Ofcom has had a very difficult job adjudicating between competing and polarised interests and they are concerned that constant disagreement and special pleading from the four mobile network operators appears to have further delayed the spectrum auction. They believe that the basic rules for the auction are sensible and fair, and that further delays will result in the UK falling further behind in this vital area.
The Committee have argued that it is vital that spectrum users other than mobile service providers are not overlooked by policy makers and regulators. The report recommends that Ofcom's remit is widened in order that the interests of British businesses whose spectrum use plays an important part in the UK economy are best served.
26 SEP 2011
Enquiry to Start into the Regulation of Gambling
When Parliament returns after the Conference season the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee of which Therese is a member, is conducting a significant investigation into gambling and the Gambling Act of 2005.
The purpose of the enquiry is to identify ways in which the regulations in relation to gambling can be made better.
Therese said "the 2005 Gambling Act had the intention of creating super-casinos and to try and keep betting on shore. It hasn't worked in either of these aspects. I am not proposing that we encourage super casinos but I would like to see the freeing up of red tape in some areas, whilst looking at tightening up the regulations in online gambling to keep betting on shore".
She went on to say "it is about getting the balance right. We need sensible regulation but we don't want to burden the amusement trade, such as the one that is so important to Felixstowe with unnecessary red tape".
DCOMS
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee of which Therese is a member monitors the policy, administration and expenditure of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and its associated bodies, including the BBC, on behalf of the House of Commons and the electorate.
Latest Work
The Culture, Olympics, Media & Sport Committee has undertaken some key work recently ranging from the phone hacking enquiry to scrutinising the delivery of London 2012 and from reporting on Football Governance to the BBC Licence Fee.
For further details and to read the Committee's full reports click here.
What is a Select Committee?
There is a Commons Select Committee for each government department, examining three aspects: spending, policies and administration.
These departmental committees have a minimum of 11 members, who decide upon the line of inquiry and then gather written and oral evidence. Findings are reported to the Commons, printed, and published on the Parliament website. The government then usually has 60 days to reply to the committee's recommendations.
Some Select Committees have a role that crosses departmental boundaries such as the Public Accounts or Environmental Audit Committees. Depending on the issue under consideration they can look at any or all of the government departments.
