Vodafone is giving up to 100 rural communities the opportunity to improve mobile signal in their area as part of a new national programme which uses its Open Sure Signal femtocell technology.
The operator has already worked with 12 such communities ranging from Walls in the Shetland Isles to Winterslow in Wiltshire, and wants to build on the success of the initial trial.
Interested communities are urged to work with their local MP to apply for this initiative, which would see Sure Signal boxes installed across villages and hamlet homes, pubs, shops and village halls, making use of existing fibre connections to deliver 3G services.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the successful communities light up and start to experience the benefits mobile connectivity will bring to each and every community involved.”
The government has welcomed the move, with improved mobile coverage cited as a way of helping rural areas keep in touch and boosting the local economy. Westminster has committed £150 million to improving mobile signal in remote locations with the Mobile Infrastructure Project (MIP), the contract for which was awarded to Arqiva last year.
“Mobile coverage can make a huge difference particularly to more rural and isolated communities,” says communications minister Ed Vaizey. “I urge people to work together with their MPs to take this opportunity and bring mobile coverage to their homes.”
Vodafone says it can be difficult to provide a decent mobile service to rural communities because of challenging geographies or the obstacles in gaining planning permissions to build infrastructure in areas of outstanding natural beauty.
National Parks England recently agreed a deal with the Mobile Operators Association (MOA) to improve coverage in national parks, which, although environmentally sensitive regions, are also home to thriving communities.
One of the villages covered by the first phase of the project, Cranborne in Dorset, says connectivity has made a huge difference to the community.
“It lifted the blight of being a not-spot for mobile phone reception from our village and it shows what can be done when small businesses, large companies and public organisations work together for the common good,” explains David Blake, village champion for Cranborne. “Being an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty does not mean that we are preserved in aspic like an exhibit. On the contrary, it means that sustainable development is the key to our future and this cannot be achieved without modern communications.”
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It would be great to try this on our gigabit fibre network! I will write to our MP Eric Ollerenshaw right away. He is very supportive of our project. We have tried various signal boosters from different mobile companies and vodaphone is the one that doesn't work very well. It would be good to get it working everywhere, as mobile coverage is extremely poor in this area.
I don't think there is as large a rural area as ours with gigabit fibre capacity, most rural areas are still on sub meg or dial up. This would be a great test.