Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure farmers will continue to be able to use GPS equipment after the 3G switch-off.

The government welcomes legacy networks being switched off in a responsible way, as this will increase network efficiency, minimise energy consumption and free up spectrum for 4G and 5G networks and beyond.

Ofcom has published details of how it expects the mobile network operators (MNOs) to conduct the switch off in line with their regulatory obligations, and the mobile network operators have committed to offer broadly the same level of coverage via their 4G networks as they currently offer on their 3G (and 2G) networks.

Given MNOs’ assurances that 4G coverage should be available in place of 3G following switchover, farmers currently using 3G for navigation should therefore be able to rely on 4G coverage or, failing that, satellite navigation systems.

The Shared Rural Network aims to extend 4G coverage to 95% of UK landmass by the end of 2025, while further coverage improvements in the more hard-to-reach areas will continue to be delivered until the start of 2027. 4G coverage is already available to over 93% of the UK landmass.