Rural mobile coverage in the UK: Not-spots and partial not-spots

This briefing looks at mobile coverage in the UK with a focus on rural 4G mobile coverage. It discusses government targets and policies aimed at improving rural mobile coverage.

How are UK mobile networks built?

The roll-out of mobile services and infrastructure in the UK is led by private Mobile Network Operators (MNOs):

• EE (owned by BT),
• O2 (a joint venture with Virgin Media),
• VodafoneThree (formed after a merger between Vodafone and Three)

The MNOs take commercial decisions about where to build masts and deliver services. Detailed roll-out and infrastructure plans are not publicly available.

The Library briefing, Building broadband and mobile infrastructure, provides information on the permissions needed to build mobile masts, such as planning rules and land access rights.

Telecommunications is a reserved power, so the UK government has primary responsibility for setting targets and policy. However, the delivery of mobile infrastructure projects often overlaps with devolved powers such as planning.

What is UK mobile coverage like today?

Ofcom, the telecommunications regulator, provides statistics on mobile coverage indoors and outdoors at individual premises, over geographical areas, and on major roads.

According to Ofcom’s Connected Nations 2025 report, 96% of the UK landmass had 4G coverage from at least one operator, as of July 2025. 81% of the UK landmass had 4G coverage from all operators.

Coverage varies in different parts of the country, with urban areas having better coverage than rural areas. Countries and regions with high proportions of rural areas, such as Scotland, Wales and the North East, have the lowest 4G landmass coverage.

Mobile coverage at local areas can be explored at Ofcom’s mobile coverage checker.

Government targets on mobile coverage

For 4G, the Conservative Government set a target of 95% geographic coverage by the end of 2025. This target has been met.

On 5G, the Conservative Government set a target of “nationwide coverage of standalone 5G to all populated areas of the UK by 2030”. The Labour Government has retained this target.

Funding to improve mobile coverage 4G

The government’s main policy for improving rural 4G coverage is the Shared Rural Network (SRN). This is an agreement between the UK Government and the mobile industry, announced in March 2020. There’s a dedicated website for the SRN that provides FAQs, coverage forecasts, and progress updates.

Under the deal, mobile network operators will invest around £500 million to fill ‘partial not-spots’ (areas with coverage from at least one but not all mobile operators). To do this they are building shared masts that all MNOs can use (as opposed to each building their own masts).

The mobile operators agreed to legally binding coverage obligations to support this commitment. The MNOs have met their interim obligation to reach 88% of the UK geographic area. They have a further obligation to reach 90% coverage by 31 January 2027.

Alongside the private investment, the government will invest up to £500 million on new masts in ‘total not-spots’ (areas with no coverage from any operator). Some of these masts will be built by the industry using government grants. Others will be built by the Home Office for its new Emergency Services Network, and upgraded to enable all MNOs to use them commercially.

The total not-spot part of the SRN has been scaled back after the government said it had listened to concerns raised by conservation groups about the benefits of building masts in very remote areas.

5G

There is no equivalent public funding arrangement for 5G. The government has said that it expects its coverage ambitions to be met through commercial investment.

Policies to support the rollout of 5G are discussed in the Library briefing, 5G in the UK.

Which parts of the UK will benefit from the Shared Rural Network?

Some rural stakeholders have complained of a lack of transparency about where coverage improvements will be delivered.

It is ultimately up to the MNOs to decide where to deploy network coverage to achieve the coverage obligations under the SRN. The government and Ofcom do not have legal powers to force them to build masts in a specific location.

The government expects that only “extremely remote …. highland-type” areas will be left without 4G coverage once the SRN is complete.

Other policies and proposals to improve rural mobile coverage

The government has also introduced policy reforms to make it easier for the mobile industry to build new infrastructure. These include:

• Reforms to planning rules to allow for taller and wider masts. Further reforms were proposed in December 2025.
• Reforms to the Electronic Communications Code (ECC), which governs the rights of telecoms companies to access land.

These reforms aim to help address rural mobile coverage by making it easier to build and upgrade mobile masts, although critics argue that the ECC reforms have hindered mobile mast deployment by reducing landowners’ incentives to engage with network operators. The Library briefing, Building broadband and mobile infrastructure, covers these reforms in more detail.

The mobile industry has suggested that they could invest more in mobile networks if the government were to reduce the annual fees they pay to use the radio spectrum. Alternatively, they argue that the money could be set aside for reinvestment into mobile connectivity rather than going to HM Treasury.

Some stakeholders have advocated for the introduction of ‘rural roaming’, where customers in partial not-spots would be able to ‘roam’ onto any available network. While the government and Ofcom have considered rural roaming, the industry has historically been opposed and it has not been pursued.