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The UK Government has confirmed that a total of 140 publicly-funded rural 4G (mobile broadband) mast upgrades have now gone live across the United Kingdom (up from 100 at the end of 2025), which includes new sites in England, Wales and Scotland as part of the industry-led £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project. But more are set to follow before 2027.
The SRN – originally supported by a commitment of £501m in public funding and £532m of private investment from operators – involves both the reciprocal sharing of existing masts in certain areas and the demand-led building and sharing of new masts in others between the operators.
The SRN has already achieved its first target a year ahead of schedule by ensuring that 96% of the UK’s landmass can now access a 4G mobile network from at least one operator (here), although the coverage range drops to 89-90% when looking look across all operators (here). The project is now focused on tackling the second target to reduce Total Not-Spot (TNS) areas by January 2027.
Most of the early work on this project has involved private investment from the main mobile network operators – O2 (Virgin Media), Vodafone (VodafoneThree) and EE (BT). But over the past few years we’ve also seen government-funded mast upgrades and new site builds taking place in other parts of the country.
Regional Summary (Mobile UK)
Wales
Wales has seen a significant portion of this year’s rollout, with 11 new masts activated to bring the nation’s total to 55 government-funded SRN sites. The upgrades mean that residents and visitors to historically isolated spots — such as Nant Gwynant in Snowdonia, Capel y Ffin, and Manafon — can now access reliable 4G mobile internet regardless of their network provider.
Scotland
In the Highlands, a new TNS site has gone live at Scardroy, situated roughly 45km west of Inverness. The TNS portion of the programme explicitly targets areas that previously had no coverage from any mobile operator.
England
Across northern England, dozens of mast upgrades are being switched on to address historic blackspots. In Yorkshire, 4 new masts (bringing the regional total to 11) have gone live in locations like Halton Gill, Westerdale, and Arncliffe. Meanwhile, in the North East and Cumbria, a further 2 masts have been activated (bringing their total to 16), providing improved digital infrastructure to communities in Sharperton and Longsleddale.
With further work currently underway across multiple sites, the programme continues its rollout to narrow the digital divide between urban and rural parts of the UK.
We understand that there are around 40 new and upgraded masts that still need to be completed before the final deadline.
Current SRN 4G Geographic Coverage Progress (June 2026)
