BCC comments on the Government’s £1 billion Shared Rural Network

What is the No More Not Spots campaign?

Access to mobile voice call services is a basic requirement of business today: that’s why the British Chambers of Commerce launched a campaign calling for No More Not Spots.

A 2017 survey by the BCC found that 70% of UK firms experience ‘not spots’, areas of no mobile coverage by any operator, or ‘partial not spots’, where there is some coverage but not from all networks, in their local area.

The aim of this campaign is to end not spots for voice coverage for UK phone users where they live, work, travel or play.

Despite welcome progress in the rollout of mobile coverage, businesses across the country still report problems with unreliable mobile coverage.

Results from BCC’s infrastructure survey, conducted in February this year showed that a majority (53%) of responding businesses perceived the reliability of the UK mobile phone network to have improved over the last five years. But a substantial number (21%) did not agree that the network meets its needs for accessing new and existing customers, suppliers, and employees.

The reasons for patchy coverage are many and varied: from building and vehicle design to the number and location of masts and cells; from the topography of the built and natural landscapes to the technologies in phones.

Through this campaign, British Chambers of Commerce will mobilise the business community to identify gaps in coverage and work constructively with industry and government to resolve locally.