Debate contribution: Mobile Coverage in Rural Areas

Debate contribution by Mrs Deborah Erskine on 24 September 2024.

MLA

Mrs Deborah Erskine

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

24 September 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Mobile Coverage in Rural Areas

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4644922

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. The development of mobile infrastructure is key to ensuring that our communities are more connected and that technology can play a role in boosting our business and civic life. Unfortunately, I am aware that planning applications are stuck in the system, which means that the roll-out of the Shared Rural Network is stunted. I am aware that, to July 2024, in council areas across Northern Ireland, seven mobile infrastructure planning applications have actually been pulled out of the system by investors because of how convoluted the process was, the delays and the time that it was taking to get through the system. That means that seven areas in Northern Ireland have been held back from getting the infrastructure that they need and deserve and the connectivity that they need to be able to meet the demands of the 21st century. Mobile UK is an association for the UK mobile network operators EE, O2, Three and Vodafone. Its aim is to identify barriers to progress and work with all relevant parties to bring about change. One of the main issues that it has identified is the planning system. It recognised that there is a workforce crisis in the system, whether that is in the planning departments or related to statutory consultees. It also found that uncertainty around planning policy and delays in decision-making are causing private investors to go elsewhere. Often, planning decisions for mobile infrastructure in what are known as "hard-to-reach areas", which is a term that I hate — rather, I detest it — can take up to two years to complete. We need to change that narrative. There appears to be a lack of awareness and weighting in the planning system of the social and economic benefits of mobile connectivity to society, leading inevitably to objections in the planning system. Mobile UK has been trying to put that case to the Minister, I believe. So far, however, it has been unable to do so. Despite Mobile UK's being a member of the task force, it appears that its concerns have largely been ignored so far. We cannot continue to point only at the mobile action plan (MAP) and the barrier busting task force (BBTF) when there is a blatant need to review the likes of permitted development rights and planning issues. Such a review would unlock connectivity and improve the Shared Rural Network. While my party will support the amendment, I find it interesting that Sinn Féin has removed criticism of its Minister. However, I welcome the inclusion of the Economy Minister, given that it is a cross-departmental matter. It seems that there is a lack of leadership in building mobile infrastructure: planning sits with the Department for Infrastructure; telecoms policy sits with the Department for the Economy. Therefore, there seems to be no clear lead to resolve the issues that are affecting further roll-out. Yes, permitted development rights were updated in 2020, but the changes were superseded by those in Scotland and England. Their changes to permitted development rights took into account the need to speed up roll-out and technological changes. If we overcame the challenges in roll-out, it would be a game changer for the Northern Ireland economy, which is now a leader in the likes of broadband roll-out. We could do that again. The Future Communications Challenge Group (FCCG) estimated the economic impact of 5G roll-out. It expects that, by 2023, it could be worth £164 billion to the UK economy and that the sectors most likely to benefit would be manufacturing, construction and agriculture. We are lagging behind on that investment in our economy. My party is committed to ensuring the transformative aspects of better mobile connectivity across Northern Ireland. It was a commitment in our manifesto. Certainly, I would like to see better mobile connectivity in my household and, particularly, in my rural constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone. It is imperative that we tackle the digital divide between urban and rural parts of Northern Ireland. As I said, we simply cannot hide behind or point towards the Northern Ireland barrier busting task force oversight group. Yes, the mobile action plan was published in June 2022, and the task force first met in December of the same year. However, since then, the planning subgroup, which was tasked to deal with and deliver specific barrier-busting themes, has met only twice. How can we say that a key barrier to getting better provision is being tackled if it has met only twice since then? The amendment points to the work of the Department for the Economy in leading the barrier busting task force, but when I asked for a timeline for the completion of the mobile action plan through the task force, there were no specific dates. I was told that it would be discussed at the next meeting. I do not want to see Northern Ireland being left behind. We need mobile infrastructure for the reasons previously outlined. When it comes to health, our ambulance drivers need it for life-saving technology and equipment. We are also starting to look at the implementation of the all-island strategic rail review. 5G is being developed for rail, and it would be good to look into that when we are looking at building more and better rail links. We will need to include that in our delivery plans or else we will have rail systems in Northern Ireland that will need to be updated before tracks are even laid. I trust that you can see the need to act. While it takes, as I said, criticism about the lack of engagement on the planning-related issues regarding mobile infrastructure out of our motion, we will support the amendment, as it is imperative that we all work together on the matter.

970 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:06 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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