Stuart Anderson MP has stepped up his campaign to improve mobile connectivity after new research ranked South Shropshire 635th out of 650 constituencies in the UK.
Stuart Anderson MP said:
“Mobile connectivity can unlock rural prosperity, support local communities, and enhance public services. However, South Shropshire is being left behind. Research puts us 635th out of 650 constituencies for mobile quality, with 15% of homes and businesses digitally excluded. For our rural economy to grow, our farmers, businesses, and families need the same reliable signal people take for granted in cities. The government says 95% 4G coverage has been met, but that doesn’t match what people experience on the ground when calls drop, payments fail, and businesses can’t rely on cloud software. I have urged Ministers to prioritise South Shropshire, extend the Shared Rural Network, set real quality targets, and force operators to be open about where they actually invest.”
Stuart’s renewed campaign comes as new analysis reveals that the UK ranks last among major G7 and European economies for 5G network quality. Fixing it could add up to £159 billion to the economy by 2035 if the networks built are genuinely high quality. Cellnex 2025 analysis shows 15% of premises in South Shropshire are “digitally excluded” — with no coverage, only 4G, or poor/unusable 5G. That is more than 7 times the UK average of 2%. On 5G, only 38% of premises have access to high quality ‘Full 5G’, compared to 86% nationally. For those who do have access, 100% can only get it from one network. No premises in South Shropshire can choose between all four networks.
Earlier in the year, a survey of more than 2,000 people by Cluttons/YouGov found 45% of people struggle to access 4G or 5G for at least half the time they are on the move. The same percentage said they feel frustrated with mobile connectivity outside the home at least once a week. While the government says its 95% geographical 4G coverage target has been met, Stuart said people’s lived experience does not match the statistics. Critics warn the rollout has focused on “easier and more profitable areas”, leaving rural areas with persistent ‘not-spots’ Stuart has written to the Minister of State calling for urgent action.
Stuart is urging the government to accelerate and extend the Shared Rural Network beyond 2027 with new funding, and to prioritise areas like South Shropshire so the constituency can move out of the bottom 20 in the UK. Without continued investment, Stuart is worried that progress made so far will stall and rural communities will be left further behind. Stuart is also calling for the government and Ofcom to set tiered quality standards instead of a single national target. That means 100Mbit/s in towns and cities to support remote working and modern business tools, 50Mbit/s in villages and smaller towns which can be delivered by upgrading existing masts, and 10-20Mbit/s in remote rural areas to provide a usable baseline for telehealth and essential services. Stuart also wants the government to require new masts to be multi-operator and to support neutral hosts like Cellnex to deliver coverage faster. At present, too many areas can only get signal from one network. Stuart said building shared infrastructure would immediately improve choice and competition for residents and businesses.
Additionally, Stuart is demanding spectrum transparency. He said mobile operators should be required to publish whether they have switched on all the airwaves they are licensed to use in each area. The public deserve to know if poor service is due to a technical limitation or a commercial decision not to invest. Finally, Stuart is calling to overhaul coverage reporting so it reflects real-world use, and to publish constituency-level data annually. This would allow progress to be tracked against the government’s 2030 goal of “Higher Quality 5G in all populated areas” and ensure Ministers can be held to account on progress.
