The UK Government is to sign a deal with mobile network operators that should greatly improve mobile coverage in Scotland.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) in Scotland has welcomed the move, stating that action to improve the country’s mobile connectivity is long overdue.

The £1 billion investment will see 95% of Britain’s landmass having access to 4G coverage by the end of 2025, signalling a huge leap forward in connecting people across the UK.

The Government has said its ambition for the future would be to ensure everyone can benefit from fast services, “from those running small businesses to people shopping or booking travel online to speaking to friends and family”.

The deal guarantees coverage to 280,000 premises and 16,000km of roads in Britain, as well as indirect improvements over time, including a boost to ‘in car’ coverage on around 45,000km of road and better indoor coverage in around 1.2 million business premises and homes.

The Government has also signalled that it plans a significant investment in broadband infrastructure, to be announced at this Wednesday’s (11th of March) Budget.

Andrew McRae, FSB’s Scotland policy chair, said: “For far too long, significant swathes of Scotland have been poorly served by the UK’s mobile networks. That has led to neighbourhood businesses missing opportunities and wasting time, as well as problems for local people looking to access commercial and public services. Therefore, this new deal is to be warmly welcomed – it must deliver for local places north of the border.

“The coronavirus outbreak shows just how important good digital connectivity is to our collective resilience. Employees and the self-employed that can work from home can only do so if they’ve got decent digital connections.

“New spending to ensure that the UK is well-connected is therefore a sensible and forward-thinking move. It’ll be vital, however, that this new programme works hand-in-glove with the Scottish Government’s established programmes.”

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According to the Connected Nations 2019 Scotland Report from Ofcom, in 2019 20% of Scotland had no decent 4G coverage from any operators, especially in rural areas, while around 12,300 premises in Scotland were unable to access either a decent fixed broadband service or get good 4G coverage indoors.

Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “For too many people in the countryside a bad phone signal is a daily frustration.

“So today we’re delivering on the Prime Minister’s 100-day promise to get a £1 billion landmark deal signed with industry to end poor and patchy mobile rural coverage

“This is an important milestone to level up the country, improve people’s lives and increase prosperity across the length and breadth of our UK.”