Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Conclusion 3
Thirty-Fifth Report - Supporting mobile connectivity
Published 28 May 2024
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Supporting mobile connectivity All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The Department has not confirmed which specific areas are in the 5% of the UK landmass that will not have 4G connectivity, and it does not yet have a plan for ensuring that consumers and businesses in these areas get the connectivity they need. At the outset of the programme, the Department committed to increasing 4G coverage to 95% of the UK landmass, but, because the location of masts was not certain, it did not confirm which specific geographical areas would benefit from better coverage. Although the location of masts and the areas that will gain 4G coverage is now clearer, the Department has not set out where the remaining coverage gaps will be or determined how it will ensure that consumers and businesses in these areas get the coverage they need. The 5% of landmass that will not gain coverage from the Shared Rural Network programme is extremely rural and remote, with very low population and only small numbers of people travelling through, and the Department’s view is that there is a line to be drawn on how much to invest in those areas where it might not make economic sense to build a mast. The Department acknowledges that it might be more economical to use alternative technologies such as low earth orbit satellites instead of masts to provide coverage in these areas. Recommendation 3: With clearer information about the proposed location of masts, the Department should now confirm which areas of the UK will still not have 4G connectivity once the Shared Rural Network programme is complete. It should assess the impact of this on communities in these areas and develop a plan for alternative ways of ensuring they get the connectivity they need.
From: Public Accounts Committee, Thirty-Fifth Report - Supporting mobile connectivity (HC 650), 28 May 2024
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 11 July 2025 (deadline 28 July 2024).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government states that it "agrees with the Committee's recommendation" on each of the seven recommendations in the report, giving target implementation dates between December 2024 and January 2027.
- On cost certainty, the government says the grant structure "moves the majority of the financial risk for delivery outside government" and that a capped fund for the Total Not Spot element means its contribution "cannot exceed £300.7 million".
- On areas left without 4G, the government says it "is not possible to predict with a high degree of certainty" which areas these will be at this stage; identification will be undertaken "upon completion of the site acquisition phase". Target date: January 2027.
- On coverage data, the department "will ask that Ofcom examines any cases where areas have lost all mobile connectivity following 3G switch off" and will work with Ofcom to "consider other ways that consumers can report gaps in coverage". Target date: January 2025.
- On 5G, the government says standalone 5G is commercially funded "with no government subsidy", and that it will provide an evaluation of the Open Networks Programme and 5G Innovation Regions "following their conclusion in 2025".