The UK gov's £1-billion plus roaming charge

The UK government is paying Virgin/O2 to put a phone mast in Coire Mhic Nobhuil

Q: The UK government wants to put a phone mast where? 

Nick Currie descending into Coire Mich Nobhuil from Liathach, photo Rob Bruce

This is Coire Mhic Nobhuil. It is surrounded by mountains over 900 metres high and almost 4km from the nearest road. A renowned beauty spot, it is popular with hillwalkers. It also lies within the UNESCO-recognised Wester Ross biosphere where a lot of work is being done on regeneration, rewilding and fostering natural habitat. 

Q: Who needs a mast here? 

The short answer is - nobody. When mountaineers and ramblers from all over the world come across a 25-metre lattice tower in this nature-filled glen, they will be angered and perplexed. Their phones will ping as they pass by - but few, perhaps, will take advantage of this new taxpayer-funded Virgin/O2 facility to check emails, post selfies and so forth. 

Q: Are there other similar plans afoot?

Yes.  This is just one of 25 masts which phone companies, working on behalf of the UK government, intend to place in wilderness areas of Wester Ross. There are many others across the Highlands and Islands to come - to fulfill the UK government’s random and we may say, eccentric, target to cover 95% of the UK landmass - not population - with phone signal. 

Q: Sorry what target? 

The UK government has signed a £1 billion contract with private companies to provide signal to 95% of the UK landmass by 2025

The UK government’s Shared Rural Network is contracted to cover 95% of the UK landmasss - not population - with phone signal by 2025. The UK government deal with four Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) EE, O2, Three and Vodafone will cost at least £1 billion. The bill for hard-to-reach areas will be footed in its entirety by the public purse.

No doubt there will be eye-watering roaming charges for covering the Scottish mountains with expensive - and pointless- hardware.

Q What other arrangements are in place to deal with phone connectivity issues?

The UK’s SRN programme is on top of - and not in collaboration with - two existing programmes. 

The Scottish Government has the Scottish 4G Infill Programme. That has been part-funded through the EU, which gives the money to the Scottish government and allows local consultation on how services are provided.

There is also a separate emergency services network (ESN) programme based on consultation with fire, ambulance, mountain rescue etc about appropriate connectivity in rural/ mountain areas, and wherever possible the infill and the emergency services masts do double duty.

Q Don’t people in the Highlands always complain about lack of mobile coverage?

There are places where people do need better phone signal.  Many residents of the Highlands are familiar with the dash up the hill or the precarious lean out of the upstairs window that can be required when your bank asks for two-factor authentication. You might have internet - thanks to satellite or a radio- based community network like Applenet, without having phone signal - and some providers don’t support wifi calling. 

Ironically I was trying to write this earlier on a train to Inverness but the Wifi kept cutting out. Locals are not opposed to improving connectivity in general - it is an important part of supporting people to live and work in the area. But targets should be based on the needs of existing or potential residents.

A blanket geographic target is not a sensible way to proceed in a mountain wilderness.

Q Won’t changing technology make these masts obsolete quite soon?

Yes. Hillwalkers can already get phone signal on the slopes of the hills above Coire Mhic Nobhuil. New technology like Starlink and other small satellite clusters will make this mast obsolete very soon. It won’t be long before all phones divert to satellite when there is no phone signal.

Q What impact will the mast have on the coire?

Firstly, there is the visual impact of the completed structure - which has the added stress factor of knowing that it delivers zero benefit. It is not like a wind turbine or something that you know is at least useful and helping to fend off climate catastrophe. 

In fact, the mast would be powered by a diesel generator - and the diesel would be flown in by helicopter.

This will damage local climate harm-reduction efforts. The generator will also have a sound impact - the continuous thrum of a diesel engine will echo through the glen. 

There has been no environmental assessment of the impact of the structure on the area’s plants, animals and birds, some of them endangered.

Conclusion: Roaming charges that put Michael Matheson in the shade

This mast will be a white elephant erected to fulfill the UK government’s meaningless target. The Shared Rural Network is run by private mobile providers, but funded by the UK Department for Science Innovation and Technology in a deal worth at least £ £1 billion, put in place by a Conservative government which Scotland played little part in electing. 

The private phone companies have contracted to invest £500 million in new masts, in areas where this will boost their business. But the UK government has to pick up the tab for hard-to-reach areas. This has not been properly thought through. The bill for covering areas of mountain wilderness will be astronomical.

The UK could have handed a population share of the budget for this to the Scottish government to boost the work it is already doing - that was the approach the EU took. Since Brexit, the UK government increasingly chooses to spend infrastructure money (but much less than Scotland got from the EU) in Scotland directly, bypassing Holyrood, even in devolved areas.

Virgin might as well just erect a 25-foot two-fingered salute with a Union Jack on it in Coire Mhic Nobhuil. It would make the same statement - and provide the same amount of benefit.

For more information about the plan see 23/04138/FUL on the HC planning portal - https://wam.highland.gov.uk/wam/

Looking north towards the Torridon hills from Maol Chean Dearg, phot Rob Bruce

If you want to see more of Rob’s photos, pop into ‘Magical Landscapes’ at the Dundas Street Gallery in Edinburgh from Dec 9 to 12, noon to 6pm.