“Hold operators’ feet to the fire” – Carmichael speaks in debate on Shared Rural Network progress

Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has pressed the government on progress in implementing the Shared Rural Network, a plan to increase mobile coverage in rural parts of the UK and to eliminate ‘not-spots’. Speaking during a debate on the Shared Rural Network secured by fellow Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan, Mr Carmichael highlighted the need for further government pressure on telecommunications companies to deliver planned improvements on schedule, and made a further call for expansion of the Emergency Services Network [ESN].

The £1bn plan was announced in 2019 with the aim that by 2025, 74% of Scotland will have coverage from all four mobile networks, up from the 44% in 2020. The percentage of Scotland's landmass expected to have coverage from at least one carrier was also expected to rise from 81 per cent to 91 per cent. 

The Highlands and Islands are scheduled to see the area covered by all carriers with LTE networks rise from just 26 per cent to 68 per cent. Meanwhile, the percentage of area with coverage from at least one network is expected to rise from 73 per cent to 91 per cent.

Speaking during the debate, Mr Carmichael said:

“I was struck by what my hon. Friend said about the attitude of the industry to rural roaming. The exact same arguments were advanced over 10 years ago, when we were trying to persuade the operators to share masts. Frankly, like many present, I would have a lot more sympathy for the companies if, in the intervening years, they had got their act together and made the necessary investment in the rural network; we would then not be where we are today.

“There has been significant progress on the emergency services network in recent years, and I should declare an interest, in that I have an EE mast on my land, which was constructed as a consequence of the Emergency Services Network [ESN] development. We should now look at the fact that the ESN is limited to land, and up to the 12 nautical mile limit. There are good and valuable reasons for extending the ESN beyond that; emergencies do not just happen on dry land. “

Intervening later in the debate, Mr Carmichael said:

“My experience has always been that the mobile operators will only come to the table when they are put under serious pressure. Three of the mobile operators will be wanting extensions to the time they have to meet their targets. I encourage the Minister to harden her heart when the pleas come in. If we do not hold the mobile operators’ feet to the fire, we will never get anywhere.”

Responding for the government, the Minister of State for Media and Data, Julia Lopez MP said:

“I assure the right hon. Gentleman that I have robust conversations with the mobile network operators. He should also bear in mind that we are asking quite a lot of them, and there are a number of commitments. We want them to speed up roll-out and to make sure that their network infrastructure is secure, so there is a little bit of give and take on some of these issues. I always bear in mind the importance of not soft-soaping these things, and of having honest and robust conversations when they are needed.”