Mobile Phones: Rural Areas
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps his Department has taken since the Spending Review to improve mobile data coverage in (a) rural constituencies and (b) West Dorset constituency.
Answered by Ian Murray
The regulator, Ofcom, is responsible for reporting on the state of mobile network coverage across the UK.
Ofcom reports that as of January 2025, 4G is available across 78% of UK rural areas from all four mobile operators, while 5G, combined standalone and non-standalone, is available outside 82% of rural premises from at least one operator.
In West Dorset, 4G is available across 91% of the constituency from all four operators, while 5G is available outside 87% of premises in the constituency of West Dorset from at least one operator.
Our ambition is for all populated areas to have higher quality standalone 5G by 2030. We work closely with the mobile network operators to improve mobile coverage right across the UK, including removing barriers to deployment where they exist. This included hosting a MP roundtable on 1 July attended by the mobile operators and Ofcom. We have also encouraged Ofcom to improve its reporting on mobile coverage, which has resulted in a much improved online checker.
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