Rural Mobile Service

Rural 4G Trial in ThrelkeldGood mobile coverage in our rural communities is especially important. High-quality mobile signals allow local businesses, which power our economy, to reach markets more quickly and more efficiently. They allow sparsely populated rural areas to use the farming database systems that we have recently trialled on our dairy farms in association with FarmWizard. Mobile signals can allow us to use devices to monitor our health minute to minute around our home, instead of being kept in hospital. Distance-learning can transform children’s performance in education.

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cumbrian campaign for rural mobile service triumphs as ofcom auction begins

Following a campaign led by Rory, and with technology, pioneered by Cumbrian communities, OFCOM – the telecoms regulator – has now announced its multi-billion pound “spectrum auction”. The auction target – of covering 98 per cent of the British population, rather than the current “effective” 89 per cent – was agreed after a parliamentary motion […]

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Rory celebrates 4G trial success in his constituency

Rory, who helped bring an experimental 4G mobile broadband trial to residents of Threlkeld in his constituency earlier this year, joined local residents and business owners to hear about their successful broadband experiences at an event on Tuesday at the Threlkeld Cricket Club. More than 50 residents from a number of local businesses – including […]

triumph for rural mobile coverage

The long parliamentary campaign to bring mobile coverage to rural areas ended in victory today, as OFCOM finally announced proposals to increase broadband coverage to an estimated 98% of the UK population. Traditionally, up to 6 million people in Britain have been excluded from good mobile coverage, particularly in rural areas. (Mobile phone companies were […]

could your village host vodafone’s mobile trial?

Rory has secured a pledge from the mobile phone company, Vodafone, to locate one of its femto cell trials in Penrith and the Border. Rory has said that “if your village has no mobile phone coverage, this could be the answer to your problems” and is encouraging all constituent villages lacking mobile coverage to get […]

98% coverage for mobile broadband

In a report published yesterday, the House of Commons culture, media and sport committee threw its weight behind Rory Stewart’s campaign to force mobile phone companies to provide coverage to 98% of the population. Rory first raised issue of mobile phone coverage in May when he put a motion before the House of Commons calling […]

cumbria community messaging service

Rory has signed up to the new Cumbria Community Messaging service, an initiative that will help people across Cumbria stay up-to-date with issues in their community, from local crime to major incidents. Cumbria Community Messaging allows anyone in Cumbria to get up-to-the-minute information on a wide range of community issues by email, voicemail or text. […]

mobile broadband campaign receives government backing

Broadband campaigners have hailed the Chancellor George Osborne’s conference speech pledge to extend mobile coverage for six million more people in rural areas and thanked Rory, for drawing attention to the issue with his unrelenting campaign. Rory has played a critical role in alerting Ministers to the problem of inadequate or non-existent mobile coverage. His persistence […]

Rory Speaks on Rural Broadband and Mobile Coverage

Transcript I beg to move, that this House recognises that rural businesses and rural communities across the UK are isolated and undermined by slow broadband and the lack of mobile voice and mobile broadband coverage; urges Ofcom to increase the coverage obligation attached to the 800MHz spectrum licence to 98 per cent.; and calls upon […]