Farnham and Bordon MP discusses mobile phone coverage with Vodafone

Gregory Stafford MP met with Vodafone recently discussing the latest results of his survey on mobile coverage across Farnham, Bordon, Haslemere, Liphook and the surrounding villages.

Ahead of the meeting, Gregory provided Vodafone with a list of specific addresses that had reported poor or substandard signal; Vodafone described this as "enormously helpful" as they mapped the addresses onto their live coverage database to further understand where the issues lie.

In the coming weeks, Vodafone will be merging with Three, which is set to bring an expanded network and give Vodafone's engineers a better understanding of what capacity they have to improve signal in the area.

Noticing some 'blackspots' in the constituency, particularly in the villages and more rural areas between Haslemere and Farnham, Gregory hopes to act as a facilitator of important conversations in future about the rollout of new and upgraded infrastructure.

After the meeting, he told constituents in his weekly newsletter:

I’ll be working with Vodafone to help open up conversations with landowners and local authorities to get the right kit in the right places. Every mobile operator I’ve spoken to has found the survey results extremely useful. 

Coverage issues raised in more built-up areas, including central Farnham, are not going unnoticed. Vodafone have committed to bringing further updates on this specifically, after the coming merger with Three, meanwhile Gregory is taking up issues in Parliament over concerns of the impact of major new housing developments on the existing mobile networks. As such, he has submitted the following questions to the Deputy Prime Minister on the issue:

(1) Whether mobile network operators were consulted on the deployment of communications infrastructure in areas of planned housing growth as part of the process to inform the December 2024 revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework?

(2) Whether her Department assesses the impact of new housing on the mobile telecommunication networks at any stage post-approval?

(3) If she will make an assessment of the potential merits of updating the NPPF to include guidance on the integration of passive telecommunications infrastructure at the masterplanning stage of new residential developments?

(4) What assessment she has made of the potential merits of requiring housing developers share (a) occupancy projections, (b) site layout data and (c) construction timelines with mobile network operators to allow for forward planning of network capacity?

(5) If she will consider issuing guidance to local authorities to treat mobile network operators as statutory consultees for large-scale residential developments?

Click on each of the questions above to see the Government response.

Gregory will continue his meetings with other providers in the coming weeks.