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Written question asked by Baroness Kennedy of Cradley (Labour) on Thursday, 25 July 2019, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 8 August 2019. It was answered by Baroness Barran (Conservative) on Friday, 2 August 2019 on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Mobile Phones: Rural Areas

Question

To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they are taking to improve mobile signal connectivity in rural areas.

Answer

Improving mobile coverage in rural areas is a priority for the Government, and we want the UK to have high-quality mobile coverage where people live, work and travel. We are committed to extending geographic mobile coverage to 95% of the UK, as well as providing an uninterrupted mobile signal on all major roads, and we are considering all of the options available to facilitate this.

The Government is working closely with the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to consider their proposal for a Shared Rural Network. Their proposal is still being developed and my department looks forward to hearing more about the industry’s potential solution to the issue of rural mobile coverage.

My department also welcomes the current proposals set out in Ofcom’s consultation on awarding the 700 MHz and 3.6-3.8 GHz spectrum bands to improve coverage, which aims to deliver two MNOs to 90% geographic mobile coverage.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL17524
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Mobile phones Rural areas
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk