The Department for Culture, Media and Sport have announced the first areas of the UK that will benefit from its Mobile Infrastructure Project and Powys will among the areas that stand to benefit most from the project, with the first sites due to “go live” by the end of this year.
The Mobile Infrastructure Project (MIP) will extend mobile phone coverage to these areas where no coverage is currently available, providing a sustainable technological solution for people living and working there.
The project is a partnership between the UK Government, who is providing the capital funding, Arqiva, who will build the new site infrastructure and the four Mobile Network Operators (EE, Telefonica, Three and Vodafone) who will be providing coverage from the sites and funding their operating costs for the twenty-year life of the project.
The UK Government believes that extending mobile phone coverage will provide hundreds of millions of pounds of economic benefits as well as resulting in positive social impacts, such as increased safety and security in terms of emergency response.
Montgomeryshire politicians, Russell George AM and Glyn Davies MP, have both welcomed the announcement, which they believe will make a real difference to the lives of those living and working in rural Mid Wales.
Comment Mr Davies said:
“This is good news for the people of Montgomeryshire and good new for the Mid Wales region.
“This project will see mobile phone coverage extended to areas of rural Powys where currently none exists.
“It will also provide a significant boost to local economies across the region and allow people to do business in a much easier way.”
Mr George, who is also the Chair of the National Assembly’s Cross Party Group on Digital Communication, said that after a recent meeting with executives from Arqiva to discuss infrastructure challenges in Montgomeryshire, he was told that an announcement was imminent. He said:
“Wales has tended to be well behind UK curve when it comes to the development of digital communications infrastructure and we continue to play catch-up, which certainly hasn’t helped our general economic performance.
“We desperately need to strengthen and enhance our digital infrastructure if we are going to ensure our rural communities are viable places to live and work in the future.”
