Mobile Phones: Rural Areas
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether her Department plans to encourage mobile providers to accelerate the rollout of improved signal in rural areas.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan
Government’s ambition is for populated areas to have access to higher quality standalone 5G by 2030. This ambition includes villages and rural communities as well as towns and cities.
We continue to work with the mobile network operators (MNOs) to ensure that their investment benefits communities right across the UK. As part of the terms of their merger, VodafoneThree has committed to investing £11 billion to upgrade their joint networks, and BT/EE and Virgin Media O2 have similarly significant investment plans in place.
We are addressing barriers to mobile infrastructure deployment where they exist, including by launching a call for evidence on 18 December 2025 to help determine where planning rules could be relaxed to support the deployment of digital infrastructure. We also continue to work closely with Ofcom to ensure there is sufficient spectrum available to deliver high quality wireless connectivity across the UK.
Alongside this, the Shared Rural Network, which is jointly funded by the Government and the UK’s main MNOs, continues to deliver 4G coverage in areas where there is little or no coverage currently.
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