Farron welcomes £150 million investment in rural mobile phone coverage

Local MP Tim Farron has welcomed the announcement by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander that the government is offering an extra £150 million investment in providing greater mobile network coverage across rural areas.

The new mobile infrastructure development will enable rural users to access not only the 2G network, but 3G as well; and will provide a foundation for a future 4G upgrade. It is thought that the improvement will significantly improve communication for businesses and consumers across theCumbria.

Tim has consistently pushed for improvements in mobile coverage - up from previous official targets of 95%. It is believed that this latest investment will increase the percentage of users receiving adequate coverage and assist the 5-10% of people who live in an area with poor or non-existent reception.

Tim said: "I know that poor mobile phone signal is a problem which still affects many homes and businesses in our area. With more people relying on mobiles, the standard of reception is becoming more and more important."