Forecast: 4G can generate £6m+ for rural communities
June 26, 2024
An independent study carried out by connectivity consultancy FarrPoint has analysed the socio-economic impact of four EE 4G mobile sites on the rural communities they serve across the UK. The report finds:
- A range of social and economic benefits, worth between £249,000 and £6.9 million to different types of rural communities over 15 years.
- Significant additional social wellbeing and safety benefits brought about by mobile connectivity.
- Reliable mobile signal is helping transform local industries, with small businesses, freelancers and tourist populations all deriving economic benefits from 4G coverage.
- Although all masts provide a benefit, in two of the locations analysed, the cost to the operator of delivering and maintaining the 4G mobile network is more than the economic uplift the community realise from the coverage.
Greg McCall, Chief Networks Officer at BT Group commented: “Every rural community can benefit from modern mobile connectivity. This report provides evidence of how it is helping local businesses grow, supporting rural employment opportunities, and enabling more people to experience the benefits of the digital economy. That’s why we’re proud to have delivered on the coverage targets we committed to, helping to close the digital divide and ensure that the benefits of 4G connectivity are more widely felt in every corner of the UK.
Significant community benefits but benefit for mobile networks vary
In the last five years, EE has invested hundreds of millions of pounds to help improve coverage in rural communities; expanding its 4G network by a further 10,000 square kilometres and extending fast and reliable mobile connectivity to more than 1,700 additional rural locations.
This included building more than 300 new 4G masts, strategically placed to support the growing needs of Britain’s countryside communities while having minimal impact on the natural environment. Doing so not only helped transform the everyday lives of local people in these rural locations, but also enabled EE to meet its legally binding coverage commitments under the Shared Rural Network (SRN) and deliver 4G coverage to more than 50 isolated communities as part of the Scottish 4G Infill (S4GI) project.
FarrPoint’s analysis shows there is a significant positive economic impact in every rural community that received 4G coverage from EE. At two of the sites (Mallaig and Melton Mowbray), the scale of the social and economic benefits to the local community considerably outweighs the cost of the network investment (c. £553,000 per rural mast on average).
However, the same is not true of the masts in Dunseverick and Trawsfynydd where, even though the communities still reap substantial benefits, the cost for EE to build and maintain its 4G service is higher. This is largely because the lower population density of these locations – or presence of other networks – means less people use the individual masts.
4G in the UK
Today, 4G is the mobile technology relied upon by the majority of the population. Due to historic investment throughout the country, EE’s 4G network is the largest in the UK, available on more than 19,500 mobile masts covering more than 88 per cent of the UK’s entire landmass.
While masts like the specific ones in Wales and Northern Ireland that serve smaller rural communities have higher overall costs, they are – in relative terms – a small proportion of EE’s entire mobile network which does generate an economic return, as well as significant benefits for the people and places it connects.
That’s why, despite the technical, geographic and financial challenges to deliver fast and reliable 4G connectivity to remote areas, EE continues to deliver more than any other UK operator to connect rural communities.