Sir Chris Bryant speech at TMT World Congress 2025
Source: gov.uk (2025-02-04)

Minister for Data Protection and Telecoms, Sir Chris Bryant, gave a speech at  TMT World Congress 2025 on 30 January 2025.

Without vision, the people perish. Without a plan, the vision perishes. And without investment, financial, social and personal, the plan perishes.

So let me start with a vision of a nation:

A government that has economic growth as a constant obsession permeating everything it does.

An economy that enjoys some of the strongest inward investment in Europe.

A country with fierce ambitions: connectivity for all; inclusion wherever you live; science and innovation unshackled; AI unleashing greater productivity across the economy and public services.

There’s no route to growth without digital infrastructure.

The fibres, the subsea cables, the telegraph poles, the ducts, the data centres, the satellite connections, they are the central nervous system of a modern economy.
- Without reliable ultrafast or gigabit capable broadband, businesses will be stuck on calls repeating ‘can you hear me now?’ into the void.
- Without 5G standalone, public services will lag behind.
- Without enough data centres, AI will run out of juice.
We’ve come a long way in investing in our digital infrastructure in the UK, thanks to the efforts of many of you in this room.

I’m here to tell you about how the government will help you seize the investment opportunities around the corner.

Looking back, we’ve already come a long way.
- More than 85% of homes and businesses in the UK can now access gigabit-capable broadband. It was just 10% in 2019.
- Telcos are investing £40 billion to hit 100% by 2030.
- And earlier this month, we signed four new Project Gigabit contracts with Openreach to get gigabit-capable broadband to over 130,000 new homes.
Likewise on mobile connectivity:
- According to Ofcom, 5G is now available outside of 95% of homes and businesses across the country.
- Customers across the UK are feeling the benefits of standalone 5G, thanks to Vodafone, VMO2 and BT/EE – we want that everywhere by 2030.
On data centres:
- We have just over 500, putting us third globally.
- And in the AI Opportunities Action Plan (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ai-opportunities-action-plan/ai-opportunities-action-plan), we committed to upping public computing power twentyfold by 2030.
But I don’t only measure growth in terawatt-hours of computing power, or billions of pounds.

I measure it in individual lives changed by connection.

Connectivity can deliver the world-class public services British people deserve:
- Standalone 5G in hospitals could transmit high-res scans to diagnose disease faster
- Or stream bodycam videos from police on the street to back-up waiting at HQ.
If the digital revolution is to deliver a fairer, more prosperous future for Britain, we’ve also got to make sure everyone in the UK sees the benefit. 5% of homes still aren’t connected to the internet and the figure for poorer homes is even worse – 19%.

I’m grateful for the work the sector has done on digital inclusion, including social tariffs.

But we have to do better than that:

a) because every household lost to the digital economy loses out on phenomenal opportunities and b) because they are also lost as workers, as citizens and as customers.

So: huge amounts of progress on connecting us all to growth.

But we’ve got much further to go.

To make our vision a reality, we need investment.

Today, the UK is Europe’s number one destination for new investment in projects and new jobs.

The International Investment Summit in October broke records, creating 38,000 new jobs and bringing £63 billion into the UK – with much of that pouring into tech and data centres.

And another £14 billion was secured when we launched the AI Opportunities Action Plan. But that’s just the start.

Our ambition is to make Britain the best place to invest in the world.

Here’s how:

1. Partnering with you for growth.

Within days of taking office, we set up the National Wealth Fund to the tune of £27.8 billion.

It shows how serious we are about partnering with private capital to invest in the jobs, industries and infrastructure of the future.

Six months in, that’s unlocked £1.6 billion – including supporting faster broadband connections for thousands of businesses and homes in Cornwall, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Cumbria.

2. Making sure regulation and planning don’t tie us all in knots.

The PM and Chancellor have both been clear about the need for pro-growth regulation across the economy, as an essential part of our growth mission.

We’ll give you the stable regulatory framework that gives investors confidence.

And more planning reform to help you build equipment quickly and cost-effectively – including the last telecoms provisions from the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act.

3. Backing competition:

Competition is the only way to drive innovation and growth, and a better experience for customers.

The Vodafone and Three merger is a great example, with a £11 billion investment commitment for standalone 5G, bringing better connections to 99% of the population.

Underpinning all of this is a determination to tear down the barriers to growth.

If you want to create wealth and jobs for British people, we will not stand in your way.

This is a vision of a country that’s as ambitious about investment as it is about connecting people.

You can’t do one without the other.

I can almost hear the whisper of deals in the air today.

So here’s one more for you to think about over coffee:

Help us make the things digital infrastructure connects us to – family, friends, a job offer, a business deal, growth – available to all.

In return, we’ll make this the best place in the world for you to invest to make that happen.

Thank you.