Boris Johnson vows to banish mobile ‘not spots’ as the Prime Minister says that he will boost signals for more than 9million who live in rural areas
- Prime Minister will pledge to ensure that no part of the country is ‘left behind’
- Another £500million of taxpayers’ money would be spent on new masts
- Only two thirds of UK has mobile phone coverage for all four mobile networks
Boris Johnson will today promise to eliminate mobile phone ‘not spots’ in rural areas.
The Prime Minister will announce plans to boost the mobile signal for more than 9 million people as he pledges to ensure that no part of the country is ‘left behind’.
Under a £500million deal between mobile phone companies, which has already been agreed in principle, they would use each other’s masts to create a ‘shared rural network’.
Another £500million of taxpayers’ money would be spent on new masts in areas without coverage.
The Prime Minister will announce plans to boost the mobile signal for more than 9 million people as he pledges to ensure that no part of the country is ‘left behind’
Mr Johnson said the deal would be done within 100 days if the Conservatives win the election.
Only two thirds of the UK has mobile phone coverage for all four mobile phone networks – EE, 02, Three and Vodafone.
Under the new agreement, phone users would automatically be connected to the shared network if one firm has a signal.
Mr Johnson said it would mean the vast majority of Britons are guaranteed 4G coverage regardless of where they live.
Another £500million of taxpayers’ money would be spent on new masts in areas without coverage. Stock picture
The new masts will cover an additional 280,000 homes and 10,000 miles of roads, officials estimated.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell this week admitted Labour got its sums wrong when it pledged to offer ‘free’ broadband to every household.
The party underestimated the true running cost of BT Openreach, which would be run by the state, by at least £350 million a year.