Working together to strengthen rural connectivity

Mobile and broadband connectivity is crucial today – but it is still a challenge for many rural businesses, as Emma Penny reports in this article written for My Countryside magazine.

With more than half a million businesses registered in rural areas, being able to work efficiently and effectively should be a given, but for many, it is not. Poor connectivity – whether mobile phone signal, access to fibre or even basic broadband – puts country businesses at a competitive disadvantage. 

Almost half (48%) of people living in rural areas experience connectivity problems at least a few times a week, according to Virgin Media O2 research. Of those surveyed, 51% said their ability to work from home was negatively impacted by poor connectivity, and 30% did not have adequate connectivity to work remotely at all. It was a key reason for two-thirds of 18- to 24-year-olds considering moving to an urban area in the next 12 months. 

Despite this, there has been progress. The previous government invested £5 billion in Project Gigabit, aimed at enabling access to gigabit-capable broadband. This January, Defra says 1.6m – or 47% – of rural premises had access to this, up from 44% in September 2023, but still far short of the 84% achieved in urban areas. However, work is ongoing, with a recent Ofcom report suggesting it would be available to 99% of urban premises and 88% of rural properties by mid-2027. 

For mobiles, the £1 billion Shared Rural Network programme, jointly funded by Government and the UK’s four mobile network operators, aims to improve mobile coverage across the UK. One of its objectives is to deliver 4G coverage to 95% of the UK by December 2025; as of June this year, the figure was 94.9%. 

But will a change in Government have an impact? Labour’s manifesto did commit to a ‘renewed push’ to maximise 5G and gigabit broadband coverage by 2030. In a recent House of Lords debate on rural communities, Baroness Hayman, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defra said that “digitisation is at the heart of the Government’s agenda”. However, while she confirmed Government would continue to invest in the shared rural network as part of the 4G roll-out, she could not confirm whether it would continue its funding of Project Gigabit until after the spending review.

What’s the impact? 

Practically, lack of connectivity can cause many challenges. Grace Moran, director of Perthshire-based SOS Moves which provides event logistics services for blue chip clients, has no 4G inside the firm’s stone-built barn office, relying on Wi-Fi calling. However, broadband issues, currently unresolved by engineers, mean her service drops out multiple times daily. 

“Now, if a client phones, I go outside to take the call – whatever the weather – as it’s the only way to get 4G and guarantee I can get through the call uninterrupted. At times, it has meant paperwork which I emailed has not been sent. 

“We are in a very rural area with few houses so we are unlikely to be able to get fibre. The only other option is via satellite with Starlink, but it is twice the price.” 

For farmers, connectivity is crucial for everything from GPS for operating machinery efficiently to dealing with paperwork, or even summoning help in an emergency. Speaking about a recent member survey, NFU vice president Rachel Hallos says: “Despite [the survey finding] some improvements in access, it needs to go further. It’s very worrying that three quarters of farmers still have mobile signal gaps on their farms.” 

Those gaps are slowly being closed through the Shared Rural Network programme. This uses mast sharing on existing rural sites, alongside building new shared masts to connect areas that currently have no coverage from anyone, explains Andrea Donà, Chief Network Officer of Vodafone UK, which is part of the programme. 

Vodafone is also working to roll out its fast 5G network, though the poor return on investment for operators in the UK is an issue slowing progress, she says, adding that the proposed merger of Vodafone UK and Three UK would create the scale to invest the £11 billion needed to build the network. 

“Beyond this, planning applications can take a particularly long time to process, so we’ve been supporting local authorities to try and speed things along,” says Andrea. “We’re also seeing legal delays due to uncertainty around the law governing our relationship with landowners. Again, we’ve been supporting this by doubling down on lease agreement negotiations whilst we wait for this to be implemented.” 

Belinda Fawcett, director of Cornerstone, which builds and maintains mobile and digital infrastructure such as masts for mobile network operators, agrees:

“Planning delays and regulatory hurdles remain significant challenges, particularly in rural areas. While we’ve made progress in streamlining some of these processes, further work is required to reduce complexity and speed up approvals.

“We also need stronger collaboration with local and central governments to ensure their digital strategies align with infrastructure needs,” she added. “Cornerstone is committed to investing in infrastructure that’s not just sustainable and efficient, but delivered at pace to meet the growing demand for coverage.” 

Developing sites and maintaining good relationships with its 12,000-plus landlords is a key part of Cornerstone’s work. As part of this, it has developed a landlord’s app featuring document management, rent tracking and site visitor notifications, aiming to make dealing with the company straightforward.

Critical access 

Collaboration with landowners is an area where the telecoms industry needs to be better, says Hector Gibson Fleming, CEO of Wessex Internet. The Countryside Alliance Award winner has been awarded four Project Gigabit contracts worth £71 million to roll out its full fibre broadband network to the hardest to reach rural communities in Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Somerset. 

“In rural areas, access to land for fibre installation is critical. As landowners and farmers ourselves, we like to think we understand their concerns and have made huge efforts to build good relationships,” he said. “For example, we developed a unique agreement for land access that doesn’t impose liabilities on the landowner. 

“We have also developed our own bespoke network build methods, using soft-dig routes across fields and under hedges wherever possible, rather than trenching through highways. These methods allow us to deliver to smaller villages and hamlets that simply wouldn’t have enough scale to be commercially viable for others, even with the available subsidy.” 

However, Hector says one thing often overlooked is that no matter how much funding is available to connect a hard-to-reach property, it doesn’t change the sheer volume of planning, construction and management required to deliver each connection. 

“I believe we will get there, but there is no ‘quick fix’. It takes time, investment and a lot of work,” he added. “But we’re passionate about doing this to ensure that rural businesses can continue to grow, innovate, and help us build thriving local rural economies.”