EE to Upgrade 2,000 UK Rural Areas to Extend 4G Cover by 2024

Mobile operator EE (BT) has this morning announced plans to upgrade over 2,000 network sites by June 2024 to help extend 4G coverage (voice and mobile broadband) into rural parts of the UK and to significantly reduce partial not-spots, which forms part of their commitment under the £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project.

The SRN is an industry-led scheme – supported by a public investment of £500m and £530m from operators – that aims to extend geographic 4G mobile coverage to 95% of the UK by 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.

We should clarify here that the 95% SRN target is only when service is available from at least one operator, while the UK coverage forecast for SRN completion for all operators (i.e. geographic areas where you’ll be able to take 4G from all four operators) is actually just 84% at the end of 2025.

The coverage targets also vary between the regions, with Scotland’s vast swathes of rugged rural terrain ensuring they see the weakest outcome of any country within the UK.

The SRN finally got underway in February 2021, after it was announced that O2 (VMO2), Vodafone and Three UK had reached an agreement to both build and share 222 new 4G mobile masts as part of Phase One (here). Shortly after that, EE confirmed that they’d tackle “partial not-spots” (here) by expanding 4G coverage across another 579 rural areas during 2021 (333 in England, 132 in Scotland, 76 in Wales, and 38 in Northern Ireland).

EE has so far upgraded a total 853 areas since the SRN was signed, which includes 449 sites in England, 265 in Scotland, 97 in Wales, and 42 in Northern Ireland. Today, EE has pledged to extend 4G in a further 1,532 areas by June 2024 (925 in England, 359 in Scotland, 125 in Northern Ireland, and 123 in Wales) – totalling 2,385 in this phase of the programme. “All sites have been made available for other operators to share under the SRN scheme,” said the operator.

Julia Lopez MP, Digital Infrastructure Minister, said:

“We know the incredible impact better connectivity will have on countryside communities. That’s why we struck a £1 billion deal, jointly funded by the government and mobile firms, to bring fast and reliable 4G mobile coverage to 95 per cent of the UK.

EE’s plans show good progress and will increase choice for consumers and boost productivity in rural areas. We will continue to work closely with them to close down further gaps in rural mobile signal.”

Philip Jansen, CEO of BT Group, said:

“Today we’ve made a renewed commitment to boost rural connectivity, helping improve mobile performance regardless of location. The investment BT has made in rural areas means we have the infrastructure in place to extend our 4G coverage footprint even further, minimising the number of new sites we need to build to ensure everyone has access to reliable connectivity. EE is still the only provider of 4G coverage in many places across the UK, and we encourage other operators to recognise the opportunity sharing our sites offers to fill gaps in their networks.”

All of this will hopefully be supported by the Government’s Mobile Planning Reforms in England, while Wales, Scotland and N.Ireland will have to set their own rules. This is important because, in the past, similar programmes of rural mast building have tended to run into some problems with cost, supply (power, fibre etc.), access (wayleaves) and local opposition to related planning applications for new infrastructure.

The government are also busy running a consultation with the telecoms industry to identify any existing infrastructure which could be utilised to help end total not spots. It wants to reduce the need to build new phone masts and help make sure public funds are used effectively.

We expect that Vodafone, O2 and Three UK will follow today’s announcement, at some point in the not-too-distant future, with confirmation of the next phase of their own work under the SRN.