Access to reliable mobile services has become essential to how people live and work across Ceredigion. As people increasingly use apps and websites to watch video, listen to music and communicate on the move, the amount of mobile data we use has increased significantly in recent years.

Ceredigion County Council recognise that there are areas of the County that cannot receive a reliable 4G phone signal, with almost 1 in 10 properties currently unable to receive a service with the topography of the region and lower population density being barriers to improving mobile coverage.

It is understood the impact that this can have upon daily living and upon businesses across the region, and this is why Ceredigion County Council are working with mobile network operators towards achieving improvements in the accessibility and reliability of phone signal across the County.

It is possible to check the indoor and outdoor coverage that you can expect from each of the main providers by accessing Ofcoms coverage checker.

The Shared Rural Network (SRN) is a deal with EE, O2, Three and Vodafone investing in a network of new and existing phone masts, overseen by a jointly owned company called Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited, they would all share.

It will provide guaranteed coverage to 280,000 premises and 16,000km of roads across the UK. It is also expect to produce further indirect improvements over time, including a boost to ‘in car’ coverage on around 45,000km of road and better indoor coverage in around 1.2m business premises and homes.

The deal will lead to increases in coverage in some areas by more than a third, with the biggest coverage improvements in rural parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

It means all four mobile network operators will deliver 95% combined coverage across the whole of the UK by the end of 2025 and consumers can rely on their own provider’s network wherever they are. In Wales it is expected that 80% of the Country will have coverage from all 4 Main Network Operators (MNO's) and 95% from at least 1 MNO, compared to 58% and 89% respectively in 2020. The biggest benefits will be seen in rural areas such as Ceredigion.

Further details upon the project can be found upon the UK Governments website.

The Home Office is leading a cross-government programme to deliver the new Emergency Services Network (ESN) critical communications system. This will replace the current Airwave service used by the emergency services in Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) and transform how they operate.

Further details regarding the project to improve Emergency Services communications can be found upon the UK Government website.

Mobile UK has put together information to explain some of the actions the industry is taking, information on how to get into contact with each mobile operator, and some additional useful advice that may be helpful on their website.

5G

5G is next generation of mobile internet connection and offers much faster data download and upload speeds.

5G operates on the same radio frequencies that are currently being used for your smartphone, on Wi-Fi networks and in satellite communications, but it enables technology operate considerably quicker and for more devices to access the mobile internet at the same time.

Beyond being able to download a full-length HD movie to your phone in seconds, 5G is really about connecting things with greater reliability and without lag – so people can measure, understand and manage things in real time which can have benefits for businesses as well as home users.

Further information regarding 5G can be found upon the Ofcom and Mobile UK websites.

Useful Links