James Heappey has welcomed new steps being taken by the government to improve mobile coverage and end ‘partial not-spots’ – areas where there is coverage from one or more but not all of the four mobile networks – in Somerset.
Over a fifth of Somerset suffers from these partial not-spots. This poor mobile phone coverage makes it harder for people to communicate and businesses to operate, putting growth and jobs at risk.
That is why we are working to improve mobile coverage in those areas. We are working with mobile operators to try to find voluntary improvements as well as considering if new laws are required to improve coverage. As part of this we will look at allowing people to use other networks when their own cannot provide a signal or, alternatively, requiring companies to cover a certain geographic percentage of the UK.
Improving mobile coverage is a key part of our long-term economic plan that will help businesses to compete, expand and create more jobs, boosting local growth and giving more people the security and peace of mind of a regular pay packet.
James Heappey explained:
"Currently 21.3% of the county of Somerset has poor mobile coverage. This is causing frustration for people trying to make a call or send a text and making it more difficult for businesses to operate and grow. Conservatives are not prepared to let this continue.
"That is why we are now looking at how we can eliminate ‘partial not-spots’ and make it easier for everyone to communicate when out and about in Somerset. As part of this we will continue to work with mobile companies as well as considering changing the law so that people can use a different mobile network if they can’t get a signal with their own network.
"Ensuring people and businesses in Somerset can get good mobile coverage is a key part of our long-term economic plan that will help businesses to grow and more jobs, giving people greater financial security and peace of mind".