The government plans to provide better mobile coverage for rural areas in the UK for more than 60,000 homes and businesses which are currently located in signal black spots.
Before the end of 2015 the government will spend a total of £150 million on a project that will ensure areas such as Cornwall, Powys, Strabane and Aberdeenshire have adequate mobile coverage, according to a recently published report.
This report even details the order in which rural areas will feel the effects of the Mobile Infrastructure Project first, with masts already being placed in Wales and Lancashire. The Scottish Highlands are one of the areas where the work is due to be completed last.
The vast amount of money will be used mostly on erecting masts on a variety of properties and to pay for the project and infrastructure itself. Network operators such as EE, O2, Vodaphone and Three will then use the equipment to operate their coverage for customers.
The Mobile Infrastructure Project will aid thousands in using their mobiles in the most rural of areas, with locations suffering from low to no signal essentially becoming obsolete. This will help the countryside reach the same level of technological advancement as its urban counterparts and unite the UK in being a mobile nation.
However, there are concerns that the project has been tremendously scaled back from its original proposal in 2011, when the government promised that 99% of the UK’s population will receive satisfactory mobile coverage. The 60,000 homes and businesses falls short of the original scheme promising 80,000 units plus another 10 sections of A roads.
Are you getting enough mobile coverage in your area? Does it stop you from using your smart phone to its full potential?
Can’t get any signal where i am!