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The government is to spend £150m on bars — signal bars. Chancellor George Osborne plans to invest the cash in better mobile phone reception in areas where signal leaves something to be desired.
Osborne promised to improve coverage for “up to 6 million people” in areas where there is little or no mobile phone signal, in a speech to the Conservative Party conference in Manchester. When the improvements are complete, 99 per cent of the UK will be covered by a mobile signal.
The idea is to aid businesses in areas with poor signal, as well as providing for people in rural areas to benefit from these new-fangled mobile telephone thingies you see on the telly. It’s certainly an issue occupying our minds as London mayor Boris Johnson recently suggested the 2012 Olympics will place “maximum strain” on phone networks.
The government will begin snapping up sites for new masts for phone masts in 2012. Where the masts go up will be decided “in consultation with local communities”, but the Treasury has circled parts of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on its big mobile phone map for investment. Further details will be issued by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport “in due course”.
It’s good news for people used to wandering the moors waving their phones in the air in a fruitless search for bars, but also ignites an old debate: should we, through our taxes, pay for improvements that others will benefit from? We’re civic-minded folk here at CNET UK and would love it if our rural cousins got broadband and 3G to read the latest technology news and reviews — but should we pay for it? After all, we already pay our phone and broadband bills.
And why does the government have to fork out? Should regulators encourage mobile phone networks to improve and expand their coverage? Transmit your thoughts in the comments section below or on our Facebook page.
Meanwhile, the government has also earmarked £145m for improvements to the UK’s e-infrastructure to aid business growth. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills wants to spend the money on high-performance computing, including software development, cybersecurity and university research. £50m will also be spent on researching graphene, a diamond-hard miracle material that could be used for super-thin touchscreens.
