Broadband: South Shropshire
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the quality of mobile phone connections in South Shropshire.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan
Government’s ambition is for all populated areas to have access to higher quality standalone 5G by 2030; this is a UK wide ambition.
In Ofcom’s Connected Nations Spring update, published on 13 May 2026, it is reported that, as of January 2026, standalone 5G is available outside 59% of premises across the South Shropshire constituency from at least one mobile network operators (MNO). Availability of standalone 5G in the South Shropshire constituency is improving quickly, with Ofcom reporting a 56%-point increase in standalone 5G outside premises in the constituency since July 2025.
It is also reported that 89% of the South Shropshire constituency landmass has 4G geographic coverage from all four MNOs.
Ofcom’s Map Your Mobile tool, launched in June 2025, includes crowdsourced data on network performance, opposed to coverage alone, at a postcode district level. The Statement of Strategic Priorities for Telecommunications, the Management of Radio Spectrum, and Postal Services sets out a priority for Ofcom to keep under review its definitions of what constitutes “good” 4G and 5G and the signal strength thresholds it uses to measure this.
Government is also undertaking a Mobile Market Review aimed at better understanding how Government can go further in supporting the sector to invest in widespread, high-quality connectivity. Our recent call for evidence posed questions on mobile network quality; we are currently in the process of analysing the responses with the aim of providing an update later this year.
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