On Monday 9th March Mobile UK’s four members, EE, O2, Three and Vodafone, signed an unprecedented £1 billion agreement with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, The Rt Hon Oliver Dowden CBE MP, to significantly extend rural coverage via the Shared Rural Network (SRN).

The Shared Rural Network will transform mobile coverage, countrywide. The programme will make 4G mobile broadband available to 95% of the UK. Our members expect this will extend mobile coverage to an additional 280,000 premises and for people in cars on an additional 16,000km of the UK’s roads, boosting productivity and investment in rural areas.

The project consists of MNOs investing to extend their coverage by upgrading their existing networks, working together on shared infrastructure and building new sites, with new government-funded masts being built to target areas with no mobile coverage from any operator.

The deal will also lead to increases in some areas by more than a third, with the biggest coverage improvements in rural parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

All four operators individual networks will cover 90% of the UK, enabling rural businesses and communities to thrive.

Commenting on the announcement of the Shared Rural Network,  Hamish MacLeod, Director at Mobile UK, said:

“The Shared Rural Network partnership between the mobile operators and the Government is unprecedented in both its scope and its ambition. Mobile UK looks forward to supporting the delivery of the programme in the coming years.”

Notes to Editors

1. Mobile UK is the trade association for the UK’s mobile network operators - EE, O2, Three and Vodafone.
2. Further information about the Shared Rural Network can be found at its dedicated website here or within Mobile UK’s website here.
3. The SRN also includes funding from the DCMS to build masts where there is no coverage. Further information can be found via the DCMS website here.
4. If you have a question relating to your mobile service or are experiencing issues with your mobile coverage, please contact your mobile network operator’s customer service team – EE, O2, Three, Vodafone.