Devon and Somerset UK Re-opens 4G Mobile Boost Scheme
The Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) project in England has re-opened their Mobile Boost Voucher Scheme (MBVS) after receiving £430,000 of fresh funding. The scheme works to improve rural 4G mobile (mobile broadband and voice) availability by offering vouchers (up to £1,300) to help deploy indoor signal boosters or repeaters.
The MBVS, which is being funded through the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership’s (HotSWLEP) Growth Deal, is targeted at those premises which have no adequate access to indoor 4G coverage from any operator or only one operator.
The original scheme, which ran for two years, eventually closed in March 2023 after using up over £1.1m of investment and helping over 1,700 residents and businesses to benefit from a better mobile phone signal (some said this “transformed” their lives).
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Businesses and residents that make use of this scheme, including those in Somerset, Devon, Torbay and Plymouth (South West England), are also required to make a modest contribution which, depending on the option chosen, will range from up to £400 +vat for installation to a monthly fee for a SIM card (averaging c. £30 per month). This is because the main cost, as covered by the voucher, is largely in the expensive hardware itself.
Councillor Rufus Gilbert (Devon), CDS Board Member, said:
“The Mobile Boost scheme has been hugely popular and it’s extremely rewarding to hear from people that it’s made such a difference to their business or their daily lives. People in some rural areas continue to struggle with their mobile signal so I’m pleased that this new funding support will enable more people to benefit from improved connectivity.”
One catch with all this is that you can only buy from a list of three registered suppliers, and most of those hide the actual hardware/kit details and prices behind registration forms. This makes it harder for those with an interest to investigate the details and costs before deciding whether to pursue a voucher.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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Can someone explain to me why this isn’t a colossal waste of money, since we-fi calling using broadband provides a similar service. I live in an area where there is only Vodafone reception indoors. However, any friends simply log onto my wi-if to use their mobiles. Unless there is another benefit surely this is just money down the drain.
I’m not defending the scheme itself. But WiFi Calling can still be a flaky service between the various operators and different devices. It also requires the end-user to be within reach of a decent WiFi (e.g. home broadband) connection, which doesn’t always exist in the sort of areas this scheme targets.
Apart from this scheme us offering 4G router installs with external antenna – more do than the celfi 4G repeaters originally spec’Ed do it is nearly entirely providing WiFi calling
Mark, worth asking how many celfi repeaters v 4G routers were installed for the original £1.1M of funding?
Given that EE would install a external antenna for £100-£150 hard to see how £650 is justified, nor how this interacts with USO 4G option.
I have used WiFi Calling for aat least two years as we do not have any connectivity from any of the mobile operators here in our part of Somerset (2g,4g or 5g). Why would I spend £400 + £30 per month for simular connectivity? I appreciate the issue with some operators and phone maufacturers not offering WiFi calling (with text), so this option may not be available for everybody.
for one thing, a cellular booster is not reliant on an internet connection, so from a resilience perspective this may be more desirable for some. Is it worth the taxpayer subsidy? Probably not.
The offer of a subsidised 4G router installation seems like an odd one, but I assume it’s to be promoted to people who cannot currently get a decent wired connection or are not likely to get one any time soon.
Yes it is reliant on a good internet connection, as you say Ivor. We are lucky to have a reliable fibre connection (not BT).