Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of incentives to build mobile network infrastructure in rural areas.

Further to the answer given on 22 April 2026 by my Right Honourable Friend the then Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, to UIN 127285, the Government's ambition is for all populated areas of the UK, including rural communities, to benefit from higher quality standalone 5G by 2030. This is being delivered by commercial investment by the UK's mobile network operators.

The Government's Mobile Market Review Call for Evidence, which is now closed, sought views as to whether the existing regulatory framework supports future investment, innovation and competition in mobile networks across the UK.

Alongside this commercial rollout, the Shared Rural Network programme continues to play an important role in improving 4G coverage in some of the most rural areas where there was little or no coverage prior to the programme.