Countryside Alliance welcome £1bn deal to end poor rural mobile coverage

According to the Government, Ministers and bosses from mobile network operators will meet this afternoon to sign a £1 billion deal to make poor and patchy rural phone coverage 'a thing of the past.'

The Countryside Alliance has campaigned on fixing poor mobile coverage in remote areas for many years and welcomes the move, but strongly believe that the priority now is all about swift delivery and avoiding further delay.

The world-first deal will be a huge boost for people across the country in rural areas and will deliver strong 4G coverage irrespective of what network provider people use.

A statement on the Gov.UK website states: 'The ambition is to make sure everyone can benefit from fast services on the go - from those running small businesses to people shopping or booking travel online to speaking to friends and family. It will spur economic growth and close the digital divide across the country through better connectivity.'

The Shared Rural Network (SRN) is a deal with EE, O2, Three and Vodafone investing in a network of new and existing phone masts, overseen by a jointly owned company called Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited, they would all share.

It claims it will provide guaranteed coverage to 280,000 premises and 16,000km of roads. The Government also expect some further indirect improvements over time, including a boost to 'in car' coverage on around 45,000 km of road and better indoor coverage in around 1.2m business premises and homes.

Sarah Lee of the Countryside Alliance said "Addressing poor mobile signal in remote areas is vital, if the rural economy and communities within are to thrive. We welcome this announcement and believe it will go a long way to further unlocking the potential of our great British countryside.

She went on to say "The key thing from here is to ensure this vision becomes a reality for those living and working in rural communities, so the next step is making sure it is delivered without further delay. Setting out a clear timescale of delivery would be preferred and enable interested parties the ability to monitor progress"