3. Will the First Minister make a statement on 5G coverage in Wales? OQ57951

Responsibility for telecommunications lies with the UK Government. According to Ofcom, 5G outdoor coverage from at least one operator currently stands at over 23 per cent of premises in Wales.

Thank you, Minister. 5G connectivity is a central component in terms of this Government meeting its ambitions to have 30 per cent of the Welsh workforce working from home. In addition, many of your policies—for instance, reducing traffic to help improve air quality and reduce carbon dioxide emissions on the roads, and improving work-life balance and expanding the use of technology for innovations like smart farming—hinge so much on 5G connectivity. Our economy, and in particular our rural economy, has suffered so much from the pandemic, and it is now a race against time to get 5G installed across Wales. As I'm sure the First Minister is aware, the 2021 broadband open market review revealed that, despite the current roll-out across Wales, in three years' time, almost 118,000 premises will still be without access to next-generation capable broadband, and a further 118,000 premises will still be under review. For gigabit-capable broadband in three years' time, there will still be almost 330,000 premises without access, and a further 660,000 premises under review. This relatively long period undoubtedly affects start-up businesses, particularly in rural areas, and reduces Wales's competitive advantage when it comes to attracting new business. Whilst funding is available from the UK Government under Project Gigabit to support upgrading to 5G, particularly in rural areas, the limiting factor now is the ability of the Welsh Government to make the procurement from technology companies—

I think you'll need to come to your question now, Joel James. 

—to install and upgrade networks. First Minister, what conversations has the Welsh Government had with industry to improve the efficiency of 5G roll-out, and what impact assessment has this Government made of the long-term negative effects of so many properties not being able to access next generation and gigabit-capable broadband? Thank you. 

I do hope the Member finds time to put what he's just told us into a letter that he can send to the Minister responsible for these matters, who is a Minister in Whitehall, not in Wales. As I tried to explain as simply as I could in my original answer, responsibility for these matters lies with the UK Government. It is not a matter devolved to Wales. The Welsh Government has stepped in to provide some test-bed facilities to check how 5G technologies can develop, for example, in rural locations. Our 5G Wales Unlocked programme had a focus on Raglan in the Monmouthshire constituency and in Valleys areas too, where that same programme was able to test out how 5G technology can best be deployed in Ebbw Vale as a test bed for Valleys communities.

That is the job that the Welsh Government can do. We can help to make sure that the technology is best deployed in Wales, but the deployment of the technology is for the UK Government. It is their responsibility. I don't see that the Member has a particularly relevant point to make in asking what the Welsh Government can do. I'll remind him that he stood on a manifesto only a year ago that said that Welsh Conservatives would eliminate any spending by the Welsh Government on responsibilities that were not devolved, which would mean that there would be no expenditure of any sort on 5G or any other broadband matters. Fortunately, we didn't take that advice and neither did the Welsh population.

Ofcom tell us that the roll-out of 5G technology is going well in Wales and that that is particularly true at the moment of the urban belt around the south Wales coast. It's going predominantly well in Cardiff, Newport and Swansea. I hope, for the reasons that the Member set out, that it continues to go well, because it does, as he said, enable a series of very important policy objectives here in Wales to be pursued. But the responsibility is very clear, and I hope that he will, at the same extensive length that he set out his points in front of us, put them to the Ministers who are actually responsible for them. 

First Minister, I understand broadband is not a devolved issue and that, sadly, north Wales has not received any of the £5 billion the UK Government has set aside for broadband infrastructure funding. It could be another two years, I'm led to believe. However, I am excited and pleased to learn that, in Anglesey, there is a consortium being led by Bangor University and the private sector, with the support of the Welsh Government, with a pilot programme to augment and increase the existing Welsh Government digital network to enable the rapid deployment of 5G infrastructure. This will primarily target rural areas, using both Bangor University's innovation and existing technology, through their digital signal processing centre. First Minister, will you join me in hoping that the UK Government will realise the quality of this local initiative and financially support desperately needed rural broadband infrastructure for north Wales, and give some of that £5 billion that's been set aside to north Wales?

That's a very important point that the Member makes on behalf of the region that she represents here in the Senedd. As it happens, I was able to discuss the proposal that's been put forward by the DSP centre with Welsh Government officials within the last couple of weeks. It's a proposal that is innovative, as far as the fund for which the application has been made is concerned. It's a fund primarily aimed at increasing the number of households that have access to broadband. This is a proposal that combines research into the best deployment of 5G technologies, while also, through that research, extending the number of households that have access to it. I know that Welsh Government officials are in discussion with the centre, and that the Welsh Government will provide feedback to the centre on the proposals as soon as possible, and certainly by the time that we break for the summer.