GBP150m UK Mobile Infrastructure Upgrade Project Makes Slow Progress

The Government’s £150 million Mobile Infrastructure Project (MIP), which aims to improve mobile coverage in areas where there is currently none (i.e. benefitting around 60,000 UK premises out of 80,000 known not-spots), is finally starting to talk to some of the local authorities that it originally expected to have completed by the end of 2013.

The project for the building of new mobile masts, which is managed by Arqiva and achieved EU State Aid clearance from the European Commission in December 2012, connected its first site in North Yorkshire (Weaverthorpe) during September 2013 after announcing a few months before that it intended to begin constructing sites in Cornwall, Northumberland, Strabane, Aberdeenshire and Powys by the end of 2013 (here).

Under the plan the four primary Mobile Network Operators (MNO), including EE, O2, Three UK and Vodafone, would all be providing coverage from the sites and funding their operating costs for the 20 year life of the project.

But 2013 came and went without much progress and so far 2014 has been much the same. As a result the project’s anticipated completion, which was originally due to finish sometime in 2015, has been delayed until at least March 2016 and so far only two sites (base stations) out of potentially several hundred are actually known to have gone live. The second site in North Molton (Devon) only went live at the end of August this year.

A DCMS Spokesperson told ISPreview.co.uk:

“We are investing up to £150 million to improve mobile coverage in areas where there is currently no coverage from any of the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).

We are currently identifying suitable sites, acquiring the rights to install infrastructure on those sites and then securing planning permission.”

The silence from Arqiva has also been one of the biggest problems, with the group’s original announcement in 2013 failing to provide a usefully detailed roll-out plan or timescale. On top of that the project has faced delays due to the lengthy consultation process required for each area and with getting the necessary planning permission (some will always oppose the building of news masts and this has happened with a number of MIP candidate sites). This is crucial because, according to Vodafone, it can then take a very long time to get a new site online.

Dr Rob Matthews, Vodafone’s Network Expert, said recently:

“Where there is enough demand, operators have agreed to put radio kit onto each of Arqiva’s new masts to supply coverage to that local area. That includes 2G, 3G and 4G connectivity, which means areas that have previously had little or no mobile coverage can now make phone calls and access mobile internet. A couple of sites have already gone live, and we’ve already had comments from Vodafone customers, who now have access to the mobile web at 30Mbps at home!

There are many more sites to be built over the coming months. On average, it takes about a year for each site to go from conception through to delivering a mobile signal. We’re working hard with Arqiva to reduce that time as much as we can.”

Sources inform ISPreview.co.uk that over the past month Arqiva has been visiting various related councils to outline their plans, although some of those who witnessed their presentation(s) were less than pleased. “They have quite literally just dropped pins on a map! … The project should be at a far more advanced stage than what it is currently at,” said Rothbury Councillor Steven Bridgett to ISPreview.co.uk.

One of the key questions put to Arqiva during its presentation in Northumberland concerned the need for a three phase power supply to their new masts. Some councillors then pressed Arqiva to explain how exactly they intended getting 3 phase electricity to some of the more remote sites identified within their plan and, according to Bridgett, the answer came back that they didn’t know.

The official document from Arqiva’s presentation does at least admit that “the project has encountered some serious challenges since its inception“, but they’re apparently working to tackle those.. albeit very slowly. The documentation also notes that securing the necessary Backhaul capacity supply for the masts “remains a challenge“.

In terms of Northumberland’s own coverage improvements, it looks like around 18 sites are being considered including 15 where the County is the planning authority and 3 where the National Park is the planning authority. This is down from the original plan to build around 22 sites, which is due to changes as a result of more detailed planning. Most of the related lattice radio masts will need to be between 20 and 30 metres in height.

It should be said that the MIP is technically separate from the Government’s proposal that Mobile Network Operators (MNO) adopt a national roaming policy (here), which focuses more on so-called “partial not-spots“.