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Monday, February 22, 2016

Only 16 masts installed via UK Mobile Infrastructure Project

The UK Government’s £150 million Mobile Infrastructure Project has only seen 16 masts installed since it launched – despite its original ambition to cover around 600 sites. Most of the budget remains unspent.

Weaverthorpe in North Yorkshire was the first village to benefit from this project to reduce areas of non-existent mobile coverage, often described as ‘not spots’.

Ed Vaisey MP, the Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy, admitted “I do not think the programme has been a success”.

He explained that planning regulations and local opposition had caused problems, as had the issue of running costs for the sites. “One difficulty of the programme is that the companies do not want to participate in it - I do not say that pejoratively - because they are landed with the operating costs of the masts. We, the Government, pay the installation costs, but the companies are landed with the operating costs for masts that are, by definition, uneconomic.”

Mr Vaisey added “we have erected 16 of the masts and are hoping to get 60 up and running”.

However, he also pointed out that the 2014 changes to the UK operators’ licence agreements means that geographic coverage will be improved. Combined with the additional sites, this means the percentage of ‘not spots’ (no mobile coverage) across the UK is expected to fall to 2% by the end of 2017.

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Opinion Articles

Last week at The Fonecast: 12th November 2012

Let the tills ring out...

Mark Bridge writes:

We’re moving into that time of year where product announcements are replaced by promotional campaigns and sales figures. Apple revealed it had sold three million assorted iPad tablets in just three days, while Samsung said its Galaxy SIII smartphone had sold more than 30 million units since its launch in May.

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Last week at The Fonecast: 5th November 2012

Expecting the expected

Mark Bridge writes:

Last week I referred to the previous week as having been ‘big news but no big surprises’ - and in many ways the past seven days have seen much of the same.

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Apple, Google Maps run afoul of South Korea

VOA News writes:

Some map applications are stirring up trouble, virtually erasing South Korea's claims to an island chain also claimed by Japan.

​​Both Apple and Google have removed the Korean name for the islands from their English and Japanese map services.

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New 'Shatoetry' app lets users send messages in William Shatner's voice

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Mark Bridge writes:

Look, I’m a fan of William Shatner. I enjoyed his autobiography on oh-so-many levels. And now the man known to many as Captain Kirk or T J Hooker has launched an iPhone app. It’s one of the few occasions I wish I had an iPhone.

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Last week at The Fonecast: 29th October 2012

Big news but no big surprises

Mark Bridge writes:

In many ways it’s been a week of big news without big surprises. Apple announced the much-rumoured iPad mini, which is just like an iPad but smaller. It also introduced a fourth-generation update to its larger iPad, promising more speed and more 4G connectivity.

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