{"id":26048,"date":"2021-02-24T09:25:19","date_gmt":"2021-02-24T09:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=26048"},"modified":"2021-02-24T09:40:47","modified_gmt":"2021-02-24T09:40:47","slug":"ee-uk-set-to-expand-4g-mobile-to-579-rural-areas-in-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2021\/02\/ee-uk-set-to-expand-4g-mobile-to-579-rural-areas-in-2021.html","title":{"rendered":"EE UK Set to Expand 4G Mobile Cover to 579 Rural Areas in 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mobile operator EE<\/a> (BT<\/a>) has today announced that, as part of the \u00a31bn Shared Rural Network<\/a> (SRN) industry project, they will expand their 4G<\/a> (mobile broadband) network in 579 rural areas during 2021 in order to improve signal coverage (333 in England, 132 in Scotland, 76 in Wales, and 38 in Northern Ireland).<\/p>\n

The SRN is an industry-led scheme – supported by a public investment of \u00a3500m<\/strong> – that aims to help extend geographic 4G<\/a> coverage to 95% of the UK by 2026 (it may also help the 5G rollout too). 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 four operators (Vodafone<\/a>, Three UK<\/a>, EE<\/a> [BT<\/a>] and O2<\/a>).<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong> The SRN further states that it will aim to provide guaranteed coverage to an additional 280,000 UK premises, 16,000km of roads and boost \u2018in car\u2019 coverage on around 45,000 km of road, as well as better indoor coverage for around 1.2 million business premises and homes.<\/div>\n

The formal SRN agreement was officially signed off last March 2020, although progress had been slow until last month’s big announcement (here<\/a>) by O2<\/a>, Vodafone<\/a> and Three UK<\/a> (i.e. the operators agreed to both build and share 222 new 4G mobile masts as part of the first SRN phase).<\/p>\n

Similarly, the upgrades announced today by EE also fall under the first phase of the SRN, where the operator will invest to significantly reduce “partial not-spots<\/em>” by 2024. EE has already upgraded its 4G network in 110 areas since the SRN deal was signed and a further 469 upgrades will now follow by the end of 2021 (total of 579).<\/p>\n

The aforementioned work includes an extension of coverage in rural areas that experience high summer demand, including all 15 of Great Britain’s National Parks (e.g. Snowdonia and the Lake District, as well as coastal locations and roads). EE’s 4G network now covers 94% of roads in Great Britain.<\/p>\n

The 15 National Parks in Great Britain<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

England<\/strong><\/p>\n