Building an economy fit for the twenty-first century requires universal access to ultrafast fibre broadband.

I was thrilled that Openreach selected Salisbury to be the first city in the UK to get access to their 1Gbps full fibre broadband. This is a quantum leap for our city and will attract new companies to make Salisbury their home. I spent many months lobbying Openreach to make this decision, having first met them in the summer of 2018. I was therefore delighted to welcome their CEO and the Chancellor of the Exchequer to Salisbury in March 2019 to make the announcement.

I believe that everyone, including those from rural communities, should have access to this invaluable resource.

To tackle the issue of ‘not spots’, local entrepreneur and tech guru, James Body, has developed the CH4LKE Mobile Project – a new technological solution to provide a 4G signal and superfast broadband to rural communities in the Chalke Valley. I know from my inbox that rural mobile and broadband coverage is a critical issue for people across the constituency, so I have been aggressively promoting the CH4LKE Mobile Project with the DCMS in Whitehall.

I will be continuing to do all I can in the months ahead to help boost rural mobile and broadband coverage.