Gov Updates on UK 4G Shared Rural Network Rollout Progress

The UK Government has today published somewhat of a progress update on their £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project, which reveals that Scotland, Wales and North East England will benefit most from the expansion of 4G based mobile network (mobile broadband) coverage into rural areas.

Just to recap. The SRN is an industry-led scheme – supported by a public investment of £500m and £530m from operators – that aims to help extend geographic 4G coverage to 95% of the UK the end of 2025 (it may also help the 5G rollout). The scheme essentially 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 formal SRN agreement was officially signed off last March 2020 and in February 2021 it was announced that O2, Vodafone and Three UK had reached an agreement to both build and share 222 new 4G mobile masts as part of Phase One of that work (here).

Soon after that EE unveiled their own phase one work to tackle “partial not-spots” (here), which will see their 4G coverage being expanded across 579 rural areas during 2021 (333 in England, 132 in Scotland, 76 in Wales, and 38 in Northern Ireland). EE informed us today that they’ve already completed 334 of those upgrades (76 in Scotland, 49 in Wales, 171 in England and 38 in N.Ireland).

The big change today is that the project is set to publish new maps and figures, which reveals how much mobile coverage will increase in each region of the UK once the SRN is completed. The new data shows that the Scottish Highlands and Islands, Mid and West Wales and the North East of England will see the largest increases in 4G signal. See the bottom of this article for a summary.

On top of that the government will today launch a new consultation with the telecoms industry to identify any existing infrastructure which can be utilised to end total not spots. It wants to reduce the need to build new phone masts and help make sure public funds are used effectively.

Oliver Dowden MP, UK Digital Secretary, said:

“We’re putting connecting people across the UK at the heart of our plan to build back better, through huge uplifts to mobile coverage in rural areas and the rapid rollout of gigabit broadband. .

Today’s announcements will improve the lives of millions of people in rural parts of Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland, giving them the connections they need to work, access services and keep in touch – both at home and on the go.”

Hamish MacLeod, Director at Mobile UK, said:

“The Shared Rural Network is a transformational project backed by a half a billion-pound investment from the mobile operators to extend coverage in rural areas across the country. Mobile operators have already started to deliver on this commitment, with new sites coming online in partial coverage areas. We are committed to providing a reliable 4G mobile signal to 95% of the UK’s landmass and improving the experience for people living, working and travelling in rural areas.”

The new stats released today confirm that Scotland will benefit the most of the four home nations, with coverage from all four MNOs to be delivered to three quarters (74%) of the country’s landmass by the end of the programme – an increase of two thirds (up from 42% currently). Wales will see the next highest increase – with coverage from all four operators across its geographic areas increasing from 58% to 80%.

Next, Northern Ireland will see 4G from all four MNOs rise to 85% of its landmass (up from 79% in 2020), while the North East of England will see total 4G coverage jump from 68% to 86%. All of this is being supported by the Government’s Mobile Planning Reforms in England, while Wales, Scotland and N.Ireland will have to set their own rules.

SRN Impact on UK 4G Coverage

SRN Impact on England’s 4G Coverage

SRN Impact on Scotland’s 4G Coverage

SRN Impact on Wales’ 4G Coverage

SRN Impact on N.Ireland 4G Coverage