Second Publicly Funded UK 4G Mobile Mast for Total Not Spots Goes Live on Islay

The UK Government has today announced that the industry-led Shared Rural Network (SRN) project has put its second Total Not Spot (TNS) site live, which has helped to expand 4G (mobile broadband) coverage on the remote Island of Islay (Scotland) – reaching Machir Bay, Saligo Bay, Loch Gorm, and Cultoon Stone Circle, as well as along the western coast.

The SRN – originally supported by a commitment of £501m in public funding and £532m of private investment from operators – involves both the reciprocal sharing of existing masts in certain areas and the demand-led building and sharing of new masts in others between the operators.

The SRN has already achieved its first target a year ahead of schedule by ensuring that 96% of the UK’s landmass can now access a 4G mobile network from at least one operator (here), although the coverage range drops to 89-90% when looking look across all operators (here).

The project has now switched to focus on tackling the second target to reduce Total Not-Spot (TNS) areas by January 2027. The first TNS site was delivered by O2 on South Uist in Nov 2024 (here) and the new mast on Islay is located near Kilchoman, on the west of the island; this also provides new coverage to 14 kilometres of roads, paths, and tracks.

Liz Lloyd, UK Telecoms Minister, said:

“Fast and reliable mobile coverage is absolutely essential for modern life. It helps our emergency services respond to incidents, keeps our businesses growing, and makes it easier for local communities to stay in touch with one another.

Thanks to the government’s Shared Rural Network Programme, every part of the UK – including Islay’s rural not spots that have previously had no mobile coverage – can finally make the most of the digital age.”

The mast on Islay was first identified as a potential site under the Scottish Government’s original S4GI programme which funded the acquisition activities including securing the planning and landowner consents. Whilst it did not ultimately progress through the S4GI programme, its delivery through the SRN is said to be a “strong example of successful collaboration between mobile network operators and the UK Government“.

In addition to the two TNS sites live in Scotland, there are also 41 Extended Area Service (EAS) Scottish sites live which make use of existing Home Office emergency service masts to support commercial coverage from all operators. Many more TNS and EAS sites in rural areas across Scotland are projected to go live in the coming months.

Current SRN 4G Geographic Coverage Progress (March 2026)