Mr. Garrett Blaney:

The Government would be challenged if it were to veer outside it. That is a matter for it to decide as it moves through the process. We are just telling the committee about what we have seen elsewhere. A USO has broadly been implemented to cater for the small number of customers left when the majority receive a service. We have seen this not only in the United Kingdom but in many other countries also. Many countries have made policy interventions that are not dissimilar to the national broadband plan and applied some USO afterwards as a safety net to capture anyone who has not been captured by then.