Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to ensure that people can make emergency phone calls where they have (a) limited and (b) no mobile phone signal in Bolsover constituency.

It is essential that people can contact emergency services when they need them, and the Government works closely with Ofcom and telecommunications providers to support resilient access to emergency communications.

Where a mobile customer has limited coverage on their own network, emergency 999 and 112 calls automatically connect through an alternative available mobile network where one is available. This emergency roaming capability helps maximise the likelihood that an emergency call can be completed even when a customer's own network signal is unavailable.

People can also make calls using WiFi Calling where they have access to a broadband connection and a compatible device and service. Further information is available from Ofcom and mobile network operators on emergency calling, including the circumstances in which emergency roaming and WiFi Calling may be available.

In areas where there is no mobile signal available from any network, mobile emergency calls cannot be connected. In those circumstances, fixed line services remain an important means of contacting the emergency services. Communications providers are required under Ofcom's General Conditions of Entitlement, made under the Communications Act 2003, to ensure continued access to the Public Emergency Call Service through 999 and 112.

More broadly, the Government continues to work closely with network operators to improve mobile connectivity across the UK, in line with the ambition for all populated areas, including rural communities, to have access to higher quality standalone 5G coverage by 2030.