Trust calls for urgent review of mobile network infrastructure

The John Muir Trust, alongside a coalition of rural, wildlife and conservation bodies, has called for the rollout of mobile network infrastructure to Scotland’s most remote hills and glens to be urgently reviewed by the new UK Government.

The organisations have written a joint letter to Sir Chris Bryant MP, Minister of State for Digital and Data Infrastructure, asking the government to review the ‘Total Not-Spot’ element of the Shared Rural Network programme put in place by the last administration.

The John Muir Trust, rural business organisation Scottish Land & Estates, RSPB Scotland, Mountaineering Scotland, the National Trust for Scotland, Ramblers Scotland and Woodland Trust Scotland are just some of those who have signed the correspondence.

A number of community councils across the Highlands have also signed the appeal as well as estate businesses and organisations such as the Knoydart Foundation.

The Shared Rural Network programme is a collaboration between the UK Government and four big mobile phone operators (EE, O2, Three and Vodafone) which aims to achieve 95 per cent 4G mobile phone coverage across Britain. The approach to achieving the coverage is target-led, top-down and crucially, is failing to consider whether people living in rural areas need the masts. 

The Partial Not-Spot (PNS) programme is improving coverage and making seamless connectivity a reality for many users in communities across Scotland.

In Scotland, there are 260 sites classified as Total Not-Spots (TNS), which are often selected mainly to provide landmass coverage and meet the geographical targets of the programme, rather than prioritising coverage for communities or transport routes.

This has resulted in a scenario where extremely remote and ecologically fragile areas are set to accommodate unnecessary masts, along with related infrastructure and access roads, leaving a significant mark on these unique wild places.

The coalition has said that the widespread agreement between different organisations – all with diverse interests – highlights the compelling need for a review and to assess how the financial resources behind this segment of the Shared Rural Network programme can be better used.

Thomas Widrow, head of campaigns for the John Muir Trust, said: “Decisions taken in Westminster are impacting beautiful and incredibly important wild places hundreds of miles away. As a charity whose purpose is to protect wild places, we are alarmed that damage will be inflicted on landscapes and wildlife with no evident public or environmental benefits.

Rural communities and outdoor enthusiasts alongside environmental organisations are speaking with one voice – we need connectivity where we live and work, not in our most fragile and remote wild places.

The new UK government needs to listen to this unprecedented alliance of voices and pause and review the TNS programme. Wild places, the biodiversity they shelter and the people they benefit deserve nothing less.”