Ring it on: Rural Scots get mobile signal boost as 50th UK Government-funded mast goes live

Dozens of 4G mast upgrades have been activated thanks to UK Government funding through the Shared Rural Network, helping put an end to poor phone signal for rural communities across Scotland

Better mobile coverage will support rural businesses to respond to customers, manage deliveries and keep staff connected, while helping local communities access services, stay in touch and get help more quickly in emergencies

Recent upgrades include popular destinations such as the Isles of Arran, Islay and Jura, Dukes Pass in Trossachs National Park and Tarbert on the Kintyre 66 route — with the 50th site now benefitting Highland communities on the remote Ardnamurchan peninsula.

Finding a decent mobile signal in rural Scotland is now easier than ever, with 50 UK Government-funded 4G masts now switched on to boost signal in some of the country’s hardest-to-reach communities. 

Scotland has some of the UK’s toughest mobile coverage challenges. Its rural landscape, remote islands, scattered communities and mountainous terrain make improving mobile signal more complex and costly than elsewhere, contributing to Scotland being the least connected of the UK’s four nations, according to coverage predictions submitted to Ofcom by mobile network operators.

That is why the Shared Rural Network – a partnership between the UK Government and mobile network operators to improve mobile signal in rural areas across Great Britain – is targeting some of the places where coverage is hardest to deliver. UK Government funded upgrades are now providing 4G coverage from all four mobile network operators across more than 1,900 sq km of rural Scotland, an area larger than Edinburgh and Glasgow combined. 

The 50th mast was activated near the remote West Highland settlement of Branault on the Ardnamurchan peninsula, where stronger 4G will help residents, visitors and local businesses stay connected, access online services and get help more quickly in an emergency, regardless of which mobile network they use.