Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that mobile coverage up to 4G levels is provided in rural areas to ensure communication resilience in the event for lightning.

It is for mobile network operators (MNOs) to plan their networks to provide the best service for their customers, including appropriate measures to provide resilience in a variety of scenarios.

The issue of mobile coverage is a key concern for Government and on December 17 Government announced a landmark deal that locks in £5bn of investment by MNOs and will deliver 90% geographic coverage from each mobile operator by 2017. The agreement will be made legally binding through amended licence conditions and will improve mobile coverage across the UK. Details of the agreement are available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-secures-landmark-deal-for-uk-mobile-phone-users.