The UK government and mobile network operators have agreed a GBP 1 billion deal to tackle poor mobile coverage in rural areas. The government said the plan for all network operators to share phone masts to improve coverage is a world first. It has been welcomed by the Country Land & Business Association (CLA), as well as all four network operators.
The scheme will provide additional mobile coverage to 280,000 homes and businesses, as well as 16,000 km of roads, and will boost 4G coverage to 95 percent of the UK by 2025. The four mobile network operators (Vodafone, O2, Three, BT/EE) have made a GBP 530 million proposal for a Shared Rural Network to tackle partial not-spots where there is currently only coverage from at least one but not all operators. They would invest in a network of new and existing masts to share. This has the potential to be matched by a GBP 500 million investment from the government to go further and eliminate total not-spots where there is currently no coverage from any operator.
Government-owned mobile infrastructure built as part of the Emergency Services Network (ESN) will also be made available to the operators. This is expected to deliver up to an additional 2 percent of geographic coverage per operator in some of the most remote, rural locations. The proposal for the Shared Network Proposal is subject to legal agreement, with the government aiming to reach a formal agreement in early-2020. The network will benefit all four nations, with the greatest coverage improvements in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
The proposal would see each individual operator reach 92 percent coverage by 2025, with licence obligations coming into effect in 2026. The industry will collectively fund up to GBP 532 million over the 20-year lifetime of the project, with each operator's planned investment reflecting their starting positions on rural coverage and previous investment. Government funding for the SRN would be classed as state aid and subject to European Commission (depending on Brexit) and the UK Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) approval.
