Rural Mobile Connectivity

Perran Moon Excerpts

Thursday 12th February 2026 Commons Chamber

[Perran Moon (Camborne and Redruth) (Lab)]

I thank the hon. Member for North Shropshire (Helen Morgan) for securing this debate for the second time.

In rural areas like my constituency of Camborne, Redruth and Hayle, the challenges of infrastructure and connectivity differ substantially from those in urban settings. Decision makers too often hold outdated assumptions or misunderstandings about the differences between rurality and remote coastal areas like Cornwall. Policy reform is urgently needed; if we can fix it in Cornwall, we can fix it anywhere.

Substandard critical infrastructure that normally attracts little attention from policymakers becomes visible to them only when it fails. As my hon. Friend the Member for Truro and Falmouth (Jayne Kirkham) said, that is precisely what happened on the evening of 8 January. Residents across Cornwall received red weather warnings, as winds of up to 111 mph blasted roofs from buildings, brought down telephone lines and ripped huge trees from the ground. Around 200 telegraph poles were brought down, hundreds of metres of cabling were destroyed by fallen trees, and entire areas became completely inaccessible. At the peak of the storm, more than 120,000 homes lost power.

The engineers and workers on the ground have been exceptional. I commend their commitment and professionalism, but the reality is that too many of my constituents still lack basic mobile connectivity. My hon. Friends the Members for Carlisle (Ms Minns) and for Truro and Falmouth have commented on the requirement for back-up power for masts and on the failings of both Ofcom and Openreach. I was pleased to meet Minister Baroness Lloyd yesterday, along with Cornish colleagues, to raise those issues directly.

Alongside the immediate disruption, we face the ongoing problem of the system reverting to business as usual after the crisis. According to Cellnex, based on data from Ofcom, all six Cornish constituencies appear at the bottom of the UK mobile connectivity list. The mobile market review, which runs until 21 April, is a crucial opportunity to change that. We fundamentally need a higher standard of service quality and robust and transparent measurement so that improvements in mobile connectivity actually translate into benefits for customers.

[Richard Foord]

The hon. Gentleman is talking about the frustrations in Cornwall, which my constituents really can relate to. This issue is peninsula-wide, across Devon and Cornwall. Only 52% of mid and east Devon is covered by 5G, compared with 62% nationally. Does he recognise that this is about our remote south-west peninsula?

[Perran Moon]

Yes, I do, but there are other parts of the United Kingdom with this issue. It is not just in south-west England and Cornwall, but in areas further north, as we have heard. There is an opportunity to really focus on those areas so that they are not left behind in the digital transition.

Here is why this issue is so important. The Government are investing tens of millions of pounds in critical minerals and renewables in order to unleash the Cornish Celtic tiger. That investment is designed to unlock private investment into those growth sectors, but investment will be directly hamstrung by the paucity of mobile communications. It is fair to say that in Cornwall, as well as other places, we are fed up with being left behind in the digital transition. When the Minister gets to his feet, will he please commit to taking this moment to work across Government to transform the weaknesses in Cornwall’s mobile communications into strength? That way, businesses can grow, and no one will ever again be left in the dark, with no way of communicating with the outside world.