Latest update on the Shared Rural Network (SRN)

With a new Government elected in Westminster, another opportunity to pause and review the Shared Rural Network (SRN) rollout of 4G digital telecommunication masts in unpopulated areas was seized last week by campaigners from the coalition of concern including Mountaineering Scotland.

A coalition of 46 signatories have written to Sir Chris Bryant MP, the new Minister for State for Digital and Data Infrastructure, to bring to his attention to an opportunity to avoid the needless damage to large areas of some of the wildest places and most inspiring landscapes in the UK, and release hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to other Government priorities which will deliver better value for money.

This coming together of 46 outdoor recreation and conservation organisations, community councils and trusts, landowners and land managers, including recent addition Scottish Land and Estates, shows significant public concern in how this ‘Total Not-Spot’ programme is being managed across Scotland. 

We all want better digital connectivity for rural communities and along the road network, yet we are continuing to see expensive investment put into placing 4G masts in wild and remote places that are of very limited benefit - at best a convenience for occasional passing walkers and cyclists - while many rural properties remain without adequate digital connectivity.

The letter has been copied to Ian Murray MP, the new Secretary for State for Scotland, requesting a meeting to discuss the implications of this blunt programme of mast coverage that is expensively missing the point of network operators sharing telecoms masts for the benefit of rural communities.

Watch for our next update...

Meanwhile, Mountaineering Scotland have produced an interactive map and list of SRN planning proposals in the planning system to provide easy access for the public to view and add their own objections, and which has been featured in the latest article on the SRN by Dan Bailey for UK Hillwalking.