The Shared Rural Network (SRN), is a £1 billion UK government initiative in partnership with the UK’s four MNOs.
It seeks to close almost all partial “not-spots”; areas where 4G coverage is available from at least one operator, but not all. The SRN also seeks to eliminate all total not-spots, areas where there is no coverage from any MNOs.
The plan should see the UK reach coverage of 95% of its landmass by the end of 2025.
To deliver the first phase of the programme, all operators committed to upgrade or build new mobile infrastructure and extend the reach of their 4G networks to eliminate the partial not-spots.
The June 2024 target is for each MNO to reach 88% coverage of the UK.
While EE are happy to have hit the target, a letter seen by the Telegraph late last year indicated that Vodafone, Three and O2 were all due to miss the June 2024 deadline.
The three MNO’s signed a letter asking for an extension to the governments deadline.
“Even though we have met our Shared Rural Network commitments months ahead of time, we will continue to focus on enhancing mobile connectivity in areas without any existing coverage to ensure everyone - residents, tourists, local businesses and the emergency services - have the connectivity they need to thrive in the years ahead," Greg McCall, chief networks officer at EE said.
McCall’s statement implies that EE will move on to phase 2 of the project, eliminating total not-spots.
This investment will be backed by more than £500 million of government funding.
The UK Government said this will provide new digital infrastructure in areas not commercially viable for the operators themselves.
Of the four countries that make up the UK, Scotland requires the most investment and will see the biggest increase in coverage as part of the project due to its unique geographical landscape and sparsely populated areas.
Coverage in Scotland will rise to 91% from at least one operator and 74% from all operators, up from 80% and 42% at the start of SRN rollout.
