We asked why the Department had not made more progress in identifying what would be needed to connect the hardest to reach areas and how it would ensure that people in these aren’t were pushed to the back to the queue.82 The Department told us that “nothing is ruled out”. It explained that in these areas, potential means of providing gigabit-capable coverage included wireless options, as well as the use of satellites such as those in the OneWeb and SpaceX Starlink programmes.83 The Department told us that the Government had spent $500 million on OneWeb and that the technology was “moving very fast” while improving year-on-year but were nonetheless expensive. It explained that OneWeb had entered into a deal with some of the operators in the UK, and that it was working with OneWeb to see whether it could bring down the costs and whether it might be a viable option for some of the hardest to reach areas. The Department asserted that it “might be a more creative and faster solution than some other options available” for the more remote areas and agreed to provide us with more detail on the programme.84 82 Qq 13, 20 83 Qq 13, 34–35 84 Qq 34–35, UK government to acquire cutting-edge satellite network – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Delivering gigabit-capable broadband 19