Wales Office Minister Guto Bebb Repeats Call for End to Mobile “Not Spots”

The UK Government’s Wales Office Minister, Guto Bebb, has once again repeated the same call he made last year (here) for the Welsh Government to hurry up and update their planning system in order to help close the country’s remaining Mobile signal “not spots” in rural areas.

At present England has already benefited from mobile planning reforms, which allows Mobile Network Operators (MNO) like EE (BT), Vodafone, O2 and / or Three UK to build taller masts that can be used to cover a wider area. However the same is not true for Wales, where the limit for mast height is apparently still stuck at 15 metres.

Guto Bebb, Wales Minister, said:

“The UK Government and businesses have been clear about the importance of good mobile connectivity for the future prosperity of Wales’ rural economy.

Since taking office, the Secretary of State for Wales and I have made it a priority to pull partners together to tackle the very real issue of mobile ‘not spots’ across the country. That is why we hosted an industry summit at the start of this year to address the challenges and to find a solution to the problem. We now need action.

The UK Government is working to create an environment where the consumer can expect high quality connectivity where they live, work and travel. And while we will not relent on that ambition for Wales, we cannot achieve this goal in isolation.

Although I am pleased to see that the Welsh Government has been undertaking research in respect of telecoms masts and permitted development rights in Wales, it is now time that they bring forward their own mobile planning reforms to support mobile infrastructure roll-out in Wales which are long overdue.”

At the end of last year Ofcom revealed (here) that 90% of premises in Wales could access an outdoor 2G mobile (voice) service, while just 76% could get a Mobile data service and just 53% were able to benefit from the latest 4G based Mobile Broadband connectivity. The coverage levels will have risen since then but Mobile coverage in Wales does appear to be lagging behind the rest of the United Kingdom.

On the other hand updating the planning system is only part of the problem, especially given the rural nature of Wales and its hilly terrain. As the failure of the Government’s £150 million Mobile Infrastructure Project (MIP) showed a couple of years ago (here), issues with public opposition to new masts, securing a viable power supply and problems with gaining multiple wayleave agreements could all conspire to hinder progress.

In addition, it’s not always easy to confirm precisely where the “not spots” exist in the first place and often the best position for a new mast may not always be accessible or viable. Mobile operator’s may also have commercial concerns about the long-term economic viability of certain sites.