The Shared Rural Network and rural 4G explained

The government announced the SRN on 9 March 2020 as a deal with EE, O2, Three and Vodafone to invest in new and existing masts. The original announcement said the masts would be overseen by a company the operators jointly own, Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited. Progress against the targets is measured by Ofcom. Separately, the government's August 2026 announcement said its coverage figures were provided by Mova, a joint venture wholly owned by EE, Virgin Media O2 and VodafoneThree.

The money came from both sides:

• The operators committed £532m, under legally binding contracts, to close almost all partial not-spots (explained below).
• The government committed more than £500m (ISPreview puts it at £501m) to tackle total not-spots, where no network had 4G.

The SRN says sharing one site between all four networks reduces the number of new masts needed. It is about 4G: its targets and coverage figures are all for 4G, not 5G. And it isn't only for customers of the big four. The SRN says EE, Three, Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone are the only UK operators with a physical mobile network. Every other mobile provider runs on one of these networks, so improvements reach their customers too.

The SRN splits the problem into two kinds of gap.

• A partial not-spot is an area served by at least one, but not all four, networks. You get 4G there only if you happen to be with a network that covers it.
• A total not-spot is an area with no 4G from any network.

The SRN says only 66% of the UK, by geography, had 4G from all four networks before work started. By January 2026, over 96% had 4G from at least one network (see the progress figures below), so total not-spots are now a small share of the country.

For home broadband, partial not-spots are the bigger deal. A 4G home broadband plan is sold on one network, so living in a partial not-spot means the plan you want may not work at your address even though a neighbour's phone on another network has a signal. Closing partial not-spots widens your choice; closing total not-spots gives some places a first signal of any kind.

The programme works in three ways, and which one reached your area shapes what to expect.

The SRN's headline aim in 2020 was 95% 4G geographic coverage of the UK by the end of 2025, plus guaranteed new coverage for 280,000 premises and 16,000km of roads. The 2020 announcement said Ofcom would turn the targets into licence conditions and could fine an operator up to 10% of its gross revenue for missing them. As ISPreview reported in September 2024, the licence obligations commit each operator to 4G across 88% of UK landmass by the end of June 2024, with a second, higher threshold due by 31 January 2027, plus thresholds for each nation. At the first deadline Ofcom found that EE, Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone had met the 88% threshold and their nation thresholds, but Three had not met the UK-wide figure or its threshold in Scotland; the SRN says Ofcom confirmed in November 2024 that Three had met its requirements.

Progress so far:

• September 2024 (Ofcom, as published by the SRN): Ofcom reported 94.9% of UK landmass covered by at least one network and over 78% by all four. Partial not-spots had fallen from about 25% of the UK in 2020 to about 17% in July 2024.
• June 2025 (GOV.UK): the government said the SRN had hit its overarching target a year early, with over 95% of the UK within range of 4G, and had already met the road and premises targets due in January 2027.
• January 2026 data (Ofcom's Spring 2026 update, as published by the SRN): coverage from at least one network above 96%, up from 91% before the SRN; coverage from all four networks 84%, up from 66%.
• September 2026 (SRN): the SRN said an extra 37,000 square kilometres now get coverage from all four networks compared with 2020.

Targets by nation

The table uses the SRN's FAQ figures. Other sources differ slightly: the 2020 announcement gave Scotland 74% from all four and Wales 95% and 80%, and the SRN's forecast page gives England 99% from at least one network by the end of the programme.

The SRN's percentages are about land area outdoors, not homes indoors, and they use a standard set for calls and basic data. Ofcom's 4G coverage definition for the programme is a signal strong enough for a 95% chance of completing a 90-second call and a 95% chance of a download speed of at least 2Mbit/s.

That tests whether a phone works, not whether a household can stream and video-call at once. By contrast, "decent" broadband under the Universal Service Obligation means at least 10Mbps download and 1Mbps upload. So an area counting as "covered" in SRN terms tells you a signal is there; it doesn't tell you what a home broadband hub will manage indoors.

Two things follow:

• Geography isn't premises. A 96% figure is about land. A farmhouse in a fold of a valley can sit in the remaining few per cent without signal, or at the weak edge of a covered area.
• Indoor coverage was only an expected side-effect. The 2020 announcement expected better indoor coverage in around 1.2 million homes and business premises as a side-effect, but the targets don't measure it.

A 4G or 5G home broadband hub is a router with a SIM inside that connects to a nearby mast (see can 4G or 5G replace fixed broadband?). Here's what the SRN changes.

More networks to try

If your area was a partial not-spot, or near an upgraded emergency services mast, you may now be able to get a signal from networks that couldn't reach you before. That matters because home broadband over mobile is sold per network. EE, Three and Vodafone all sell home broadband that runs over their mobile networks. For example, an address that only had an EE option may now be worth checking with the others too.

4G or 5G: check what the product needs

The SRN adds 4G, and the providers' products don't all treat 4G the same way (checked October 2026):

• EE sells 4G as well as 5G home broadband plans and says a 4G device may be the better choice if your area doesn't have 5G. Its hubs are for use indoors at a fixed location, and some plans have data caps.
• Three sells 4G as well as 5G home broadband hubs, and says its 5G hubs may work outside its 5G coverage areas, although speeds may vary.
• Vodafone says whether you can get its 5G Broadband depends on strong 5G coverage at your address, so use its address checker rather than assuming new 4G coverage qualifies.

For how 5G networks themselves are changing, see 5G standalone explained.

A weak indoor signal isn't always the end of it

The signal can be stronger outside a house than inside it. Vodafone offers a self-installed Outdoor Hub with its 5G Broadband where that's the case, but only where it has strong 5G at the address. Three sells a 5G Outdoor Hub for a wall, pole or window, and says its 5G hubs may operate outside its 5G coverage areas, although speeds may vary, so ask Three what it offers at your address. For weak 4G, the Welsh Government lists 4G or 5G broadband with an external antenna as an option. If you're thinking of a mobile signal booster instead, read whether mobile signal boosters are legal first.

New coverage near a remote home can be marginal. Three says speeds aren't guaranteed and depend on hub position, line of sight to the mast, hills, the number of nearby users and the thickness of walls and windows. It also says homes in the same area can get different coverage, so it estimates each address individually. Treat any new mast as a reason to test, not a promise.

Coverage maps are predictions, so work through these steps first.

1. Check each network on Ofcom's mobile coverage checker. The SRN points people to it as the way to see 4G coverage from each operator. GOV.UK guidance notes the checker's "indoor coverage" result shows the quality of connection you can get inside a property, which is the one that matters for a hub.
2. Check the operators' own coverage checkers for EE, Three, Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone.
3. Look at the SRN website. srn.org.uk has regional coverage forecasts and a map of proposed new masts, so you can see whether more is planned near you.
4. Test where the hub would sit. If someone at home has a phone on a network you're considering, check its 4G signal and run a speed test where you'd put a hub. You can also use our broadband speed test. A phone isn't a hub, so this is a first look only.
5. Run each provider's home broadband address checker, then put the questions below to them.
6. Read the contract summary. Check the length, the data terms and how to cancel if the signal doesn't hold up. Our guide to the broadband contract summary shows what to look for.

When you've narrowed it down, compare deals at your postcode to see what is on sale where you live.

Questions to ask a provider

• Does your checker show 4G or 5G at my exact address, indoors or only outdoors?
• Would I get an indoor hub or an outdoor one, and who fits it?
• Is the plan for this address only, and is there a data cap or a heavy-use review point?
• If the signal is poor once it's installed, how and when can I cancel, and what would it cost?

The USO link is worth knowing. BT says you can request a USO connection only if, among other conditions, you can't get a connection through a 4G hub in your region. So if new SRN coverage makes a 4G hub viable at your address, it could affect a USO request. Our guide to the broadband Universal Service Obligation covers the full rules.

The remaining gap is small: Ofcom's Spring 2026 update, as reported by ISPreview, found 39,000 premises still couldn't get decent broadband (10Mbps download, 1Mbps upload) even when 4G, 5G and fixed wireless were counted. For the full set of options, see our guide to rural broadband options; in Wales, our guide to broadband support schemes in Wales covers the help available there.

For home broadband, the SRN's main gift is choice: where you were stuck with one network, you may now have several. It doesn't promise a hub will work at your address, so check every network, test where the hub would sit, and keep a fixed-line, fixed wireless or satellite option in mind. If you want to read up on a name first, see all the broadband providers we cover.