Mobile coverage deal is not good enough, says CLA

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Proposals to deliver mobile phone coverage to 90 percent of the country by 2017 do not go far enough according to the CLA in the North

The organisation, which represents thousands of landowners, farmers and rural businesses in the area, says the new commitment agreed by the four major mobile phone providers with Culture Secretary Sajid Javid will still leave swathes of the North’s countryside without mobile phone connection.

CLA North Regional Director Dorothy Fairburn said: “This announcement contains big numbers and strong words but in reality it perpetuates the status quo and will leave thousands of homes and businesses with the prospect of poor or no mobile phone coverage for years to come.

“It is deeply disappointing that the Government has not pushed the providers to come up with more radical solutions. We are keen to know whether this agreement ends the prospect of a national roaming network that we know is hated by the mobile phone providers, but in our view has the potential to provide choice and access in rural communities.”

Miss Fairburn said the CLA would continue to campaign for affordable universal mobile coverage across rural communities.

“We will continue to fight for a mobile phone network that provides accessible and affordable mobile coverage across the whole of the UK,” she added.