80 per cent of rural homes in 'not spot' areas for 4G coverage, report finds

Britain’s 4G mobile phone coverage is worse than that in Albania, Panama, Peru and Romania, with users able to connect barely half the time, a government infrastructure watchdog has found.

A new investigation by the Government’s National Infrastructure Commission has found that 80 per cent of rural premises are in a “not-spot” for 4G coverage.

Countries including the US and Japan already have data volumes four to five higher than the UK, the report found.

The Commission found that the UK is in 54th position in global rankings for 4G, with typical users able to access the service only 53 per cent of the time.

In a list of recommendations, it argued there should be a new dedicated cabinet minister in charge of the UK’s digital future, ensuring mobile connectivity is competitive with the rest of the world.

The NIC, which is chaired by former Labour Cabinet member Lord Adonis, called on the Government to step in to ensure that basic talk, text and data services are available to all Britons, wherever they live, work and travel, and to make the country ready for next-generation 5G communications.

Some 20 per cent of urban homes and 80 per cent of rural premises are currently in not-spot areas for 4G coverage and only 8 per cent of A and B roads have full 4G connectivity, the report found.