RURAL FOCUS

BY PAUL MILLARD

A friend has just returned from a sunshine holiday in Spain – walking, mountain biking far too many energetic pastimes -for most of us – but the key point was that on holiday, in the middle of nowhere, she still enjoyed a 4G mobile signal. Back home in our village she cannot get 3G for more than a few seconds at a time – and she cannot post pictures of her wonderful holiday because of hopeless signal.

Last December, the Government committed to a plan to ensure that 95 per cent of the UK would be covered by a 4G network by the end of 2022 estimating that this would add £75 billion to UK GDP - but a recent report by the CLA revealed that in 2015, 2016 and 2017 mobile network operators have been failing to submit applications for new masts to improve mobile coverage in some of the rural areas with the worst 4G coverage.

Now more than 50 rural MPs – including representatives from Dorset - have sent a joint letter to Digital Secretary Matthew Hancock asking him to challenge the current speed and ambition of 4G coverage roll out in rural areas.

The MPs are concerned about the lack of progress and are calling for a legally binding coverage obligation imposed on all four major operators to support the Department for Digital, Media, Culture and Sport’s stated ambition to deliver mobile coverage to 95 per cent of UK geographic landmass by the end of 2022. In their letter, the MPs say that the market alone is failing to deliver on the Government’s ambition – thereby strengthening the case for legislation and a legally binding delivery obligation.

Progress in connecting the countryside has been painfully slow and Ofcom’s Connected Nations report in December 2017 revealed that coverage falls to around 57 per cent in rural areas.

The CLA says that people living and working in the countryside have been disadvantaged by the mobile network operators’ failure to resolve poor signal and mobile ‘not-spots’ in rural areas for far too long. Reliable, accessible mobile coverage is a vital factor for businesses operating in rural areas whether its tourism or food processing – and its an important safety factors in the land based sector where people are often working alone in isolated areas. The CLA believes that the mobile operators will only make the investment needed to connect the countryside if they are forced to do so.

The MPs’ joint letter asks the Digital Secretary to take urgent action to ensure better coverage. Hurrah for these 56 MPs because, unlike our mobile providers, they, at least, have not given up on our rural communities.