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The funding cut could see thousands of rural communities miss out on connectivity coverage upgrades
The UK government is set to significantly cut funding to the Shared Rural Network (SRN) project, a scheme designed to improve mobile coverage in remote areas of the country, according to a report from The Telegraph.
The SRN aims to deploy shared 4G infrastructure to some of the UK’s most underserved rural areas. The £1 billion scheme is a partnership between the UK’s four mobile operators (EE, Three, Vodafone, and Virgin Media O2), and is funded by £532 million from the operators themselves and £500 million from the UK government.
Phase one of the project, which relied heavily on private investment from the operators, sought to improve 4G availability in areas only served by a single mobile operator. This phase was completed last year.
The second phase of the project, targeting total ‘not-spots’, is just beginning.
However, it has been understood that the government is set to reduce the number of new mobile masts to be built with support from public funding from 260 to 60.
A government spokesperson has insisted that the funding cut will have no impact on the government’s connectivity goals, saying instead that less masts are needed than initially anticipated.
“It is wrong to suggest there will be any let up in our determination to upgrade connectivity for our rural communities,” the spokesperson said. “Mobile network operators have previously said they can deliver the objectives of the Shared Rural Network with far fewer new masts, benefiting communities and reducing the impact on landscapes. We continue to work with operators on the details. The Shared Rural Network has already led to hundreds of mast upgrades and helped bring 4G coverage to over 95% of the UK.”
The government says that it remains committed to having full mobile coverage across the UK by early 2027.
The mobile operators, however, fear that this money will simply be “saved” by the government and not reinvested in other connectivity projects, such as railway connectivity projects. The operators will surely argue that they have fulfilled their side of the SRN project and would expect the government to uphold their end of the bargain.
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