Current status: Answered by Paul Wheelhouse on 15 March 2019
To ask the Scottish Government how it will address the lack of 4G mobile phone coverage in areas of Shetland where there is no commercial interest.
As the member is aware, regulation and legislative competence in respect of all telecommunication matters is reserved to the UK Parliament and UK Ministers. The Scottish Government is intervening, on economic development grounds, to try to address "notspot" areas that have arisen, across large areas of rural Scotland, as a consequence of the failure of the UK wide approach to market regulation, but is, as the question alludes to, only able to intervene where there is no commercial proposal to establish coverage,
The Scottish Government is investing up to £25 million in the Scottish 4G Infill Programme (S4GI) to deliver 4G infrastructure and services in selected “notspots”.
Initial target locations for S4GI include three sites in the Shetland Islands, located at Ham, Ayres of Selivoe and Bruray.
Preparatory work is underway to secure landowner agreements and planning permission. However, as with other target locations, masts will only be built when there is a firm commitment in place from at least one mobile network operator to deliver services from each site. We continue to engage proactively with mobile operators to encourage them to support the programme. We will publish quarterly progress updates via the Scottish Government website.