The UK government has reiterated its commitment to improve rural connectivity in both the mobile and fixed line sectors, revealing a new strategy to drive investment across the UK.
The government says that the new strategy will be crucial to helping the country deliver 100 per cent fibre to the home (FTTH) fixed line broadband coverage by 2033 and increasing geographic mobile coverage in the country to 95 per cent.
The new strategy will help to guide the UK's telecoms regulator, Ofcom, on how it should proceed in the coming years.
“As the UK’s telecoms regulator, Ofcom has a critical role in realising our shared connectivity aspirations for the UK. As well as ensuring the necessary improvements to broadband and mobile services, consumers must also be protected. I urge Ofcom to tackle harmful business practices and remove barriers to switching.”
The new strategy calls on Ofcom to ensure that its forthcoming 700MHz spectrum auction focuses on "materially improving mobile coverage across the UK, particularly in rural areas and on the UK’s major roads," as the government looks to eradicate nuisance blackspots.
The strategy also calls for Ofcom to nurture favourable investment conditions for private sources of funding to invest in the UK's fibre to the home network infrastructure.