To consider the service provided by the mobile telecommunications companies.  A briefing note will follow.

The Broadband Manager explained that whilst Shropshire Council recognised the important economic and social benefits from a robust and accessible mobile phone network in the County, it had no direct responsibility for mobile phone signal issues or provision.  Responsibility lay wholly with the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) who were private companies.  He continued that it was recognised that Shropshire was impacted by poor signal coverage, which was not confined to rural areas.

Members noted that areas where no mobile coverage is likely to be provided by the MNOs are defined as ‘not spots’.  The Treasury had made funding of £150m available to the Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) to fund the Mobile Infrastructure Project (MIP) to enable MONs to address some of the identified Not Spots.  Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) had been tasked with managing the MIP at a national level and they had appointed Arquiva as their main contractor. 

Nine provisional Not Spot sites had been identified in Shropshire for inclusion in the project.  In September 2015 BDUK confirmed that they would no longer be pursuing any of the Shropshire sites due to the impending closure of the project.  The Council has written to the County’s MPs to ask them to raise this issue with the Minister.

Members noted that the Council continued to work closely with Ofcom and DCMS but as it has no direct responsibility in this area it had few options other than to lobby the providers and Government.   

The Programme Manager continued that the Council could not access the data held by the MONs on signal provision as this was commercial sensitive information.  He suggested that to establish the extend of the problem in the County, it would be necessary to either employ the services of a specialist consultant or use a form of crowd surfing where the public could provide the data through a specialist app installed on their mobile phones. 

In response to a Member’s question regarding Cabinet Member responsibility for this issue, the Commissioning Director replied that as this area was not within the remit of the Council it did not fall into any of the Portfolios.  He continued that the erection of masts required planning permission but this was not perceived to be a problem and support was usually given for applications. 

The Programme Manager explained that it was difficult to hold providers to account for poor service.  The Deputy Leader added that a meeting had been arranged for 8th January 2016 and both Operators and MPs had been invited to meet with Cabinet Members to discuss the situation and the way forward.  In response to a request he agreed that the possibility of inviting other Group Leaders to this meeting would be considered.

Members noted that new licensing arrangements by Central Government may improve signal coverage. 

A Member suggested that as central Government had withdrawn funding from the project that Shropshire Council may consider providing its own funding due to the importance of signal provision within the County.  A Member commented that the MNOs should be encouraged to exhaust all other possibilities before this is considered.

RESOLVED:

That Members agreed that a robust mobile phone network was important for the County and they would support work undertaken to achieve this.