North Yorkshire sees 4G coverage boost through SRN | Computer Weekly

Just in time to mark the annual festival celebrating England’s largest county, the latest UK government-funded mast upgrade as part of the Shared Rural Network (SRN) programme has been activated in rural towns and villages throughout Yorkshire, bringing enhanced connectivity to market towns and the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Announced in 2019, the £1.3bn SRN programme was designed to wipe so-called notspots from the map, providing high-quality 4G coverage to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025.

The principle of the project was that through public and private investment, mobile phone masts would be built or upgraded across the UK to eliminate rural mobile notspots – that is, areas with poor or patchy coverage that could not receive a 4G signal from all mobile network operators (MNOs), or any signal at all.

The UK’s three MNOs – EE, Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) and the recently created VodafoneThree – committed to invest £532m between them to improve 4G coverage and level up connectivity, overseen by a jointly owned company called Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited (DMSL). The operators’ funding has been complemented by more than £500m from the government.

To deliver the first phase of the programme, all operators committed to upgrading or building mobile infrastructure and extending the reach of their 4G networks to eliminate partial notspots by 2024. The second phase of the SRN, publicly funded by the UK government, is due to be completed in 2027 and will see the roll-out of shared masts to bring 4G connectivity to areas that hitherto had no existing mobile service.

Since the SRN began, more than 10,000km² have gained mobile network coverage for the first time. Almost 35,000km² across the UK now has coverage from all UK operators, including over 3,500km² in Wales, covering roughly 20% of the country. Through the programme, the UK government and the UK’s mobile network operators have already provided 4G coverage to an additional 280,000 premises and 16,000km of the UK’s roads.

The masts in Yorkshire bring connectivity to residents, businesses, and anyone passing through. Thanks to the Shared Rural Network, notspots are shrinking, connections are growing, and more coverage is on its way

The UK government’s 95% geographic UK landmass target for the programme was met at the end of 2024 – a year ahead of the December 2025 deadline – and 4G geographic coverage from at least one mobile network operator stood at 96% at the end of January 2025.

Across the UK, 58 masts are now live as part of the SRN and the enhanced geographic 4G connectivity in Yorkshire is designed to enable residents, tourists and businesses to access reliable 4G coverage from all UK MNOs, helping close the digital divide between urban and rural communities, and boosting economic growth across the nations. 

The upgrade brings geographic 4G coverage from UK mobile network operators to 494,033m of roads in Yorkshire so far. It now sees 4G connectivity from all MNOs to parts of the North York Moors National Park, Helmsley, Nawton, Harome, Wombleton, Nunnington, Great Edstone, Great Habton, Pockley, Cold Kirby, Scawton, Scackleton, Cawton, Little Barugh, Old Byland and North Grimston for the first time.

The boost to coverage has been carried out by upgrading existing mobile masts, which previously only connected customers on the EE mobile network and anyone making 999 calls, meaning communities can benefit from improved connectivity without the need for additional infrastructure. 

Commenting on the deployment, Ben Roome, CEO of Mova – the operating brand for DMSL and wholly owned by the forum’s main operators – said: “I am delighted that locals and visitors can celebrate Yorkshire Day with enhanced outdoor 4G mobile connectivity from all of the mobile network operators for the first time. The masts, delivered by the Shared Rural Network, in Yorkshire bring connectivity to residents, businesses, and anyone passing through. Thanks to the Shared Rural Network, notspots are shrinking, connections are growing, and more coverage is on its way.”

The UK government is also investing £184m to upgrade Extended Area Service (EAS) masts to provide coverage from all UK mobile operators. Currently, commercial coverage from EAS masts is only available from EE – the operator responsible for the Emergency Services Network.