Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2014, Official Report, column 125W, on mobile phones: Herefordshire, which mobile network operators provide reception in Fownhope.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
We do not hold this information. The mobile network operators provide coverage checkers which can give an indication of possible coverage by postcode.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2014, Official Report, column 125W, on mobile phones: Herefordshire, when the notspot data held by Ofcom was updated for 2014.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The not spot data was updated by Ofcom in March 2014 with information from the mobile network operators.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2014, Official Report, column 125W, on mobile phones: Herefordshire, for what reason it was decided to proceed with the planning process for Fownhope Mast before checking Ofcom's latest notspot data.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
No planning application was made for the Fownhope mast site. The Mobile Infrastructure Project is working to tight timescales and Arqiva, our delivery partner for the Mobile Infrastructure Project, has been working to engage local communities and give early notice of where planning applications will be made
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2014, Official Report, column 125W, on mobile phones: Herefordshire, if he will take steps to review the accuracy of the report by Ofcom that there is mobile reception in Fownhope.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The report from Ofcom shows that there are some ‘not spot' areas in Fownhope which have no coverage. However the number of not spots has reduced to a level where the Mobile Infrastructure Project can no longer can no longer go forward with plans for a mast. In areas where there is uncertainty over coverage, DCMS officials have commissioned drive testing to check the level of coverage.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2014, Official Report, column 125W, on the Press, when he expects a date for meeting victims of press abuse and their representatives to be finalised.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
DCMS, in line with government procedure, publishes details of ministers' meetings with external organisations, on a quarterly basis. When published, details can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications?departments%5B%5D=department-for-culture-media-sport&publication_type=transparency-data
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to ensure that all notspot data will be properly checked before masts are proposed and plans are made public.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The notspot data is collated and held by Ofcom and has been updated for 2014 with information from the Mobile Network Operators. In areas where coverage is thought to be marginal, or there is uncertainty over coverage, DCMS officials have commissioned on the ground drive testing to assess the level of coverage.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he plans to take to ensure that the people have adequate mobile signal coverage in light of the decision not to proceed with a mast at Fownhope.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Mobile Infrastructure Project can intervene in areas where there is no mobile coverage from any operator, and where the cost of the build of a mast considered alongside the numbers of premises that would benefit from the additional coverage provides value for money. Recent changes in coverage provided by the private sector have proved beneficial to Fownhope, but unfortunately this means that the Mobile Infrastructure Project can no longer go forward with plans for a mast.
The Mobile Infrastructure Project can only intervene in areas where there is no coverage from any operator, and where an intervention achieves good value for money for the taxpayer. Government is looking at what else can be done to extend coverage.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether any masts proposed as part of the Mobile Infrastructure Project other than that at Fownhope have been withdrawn after a reassessment of notspot data.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
DCMS officials and Arqiva, delivery partner for the Mobile Infrastructure Project, are incorporating changes in the notspot data into the project's planning. Once this planning is finalised any changes will be communicated to planning authorities
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has been made on the Mobile Infrastructure Project in Herefordshire.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
Work has been ongoing in Herefordshire to search for appropriate locations for potential masts, and for each mast to: come to an agreement with a landlord, find an option to transmit signal back into the existing mobile networks, and ensure that the mast can be connected to a source of electricity
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether the Mobile Infrastructure Project in Herefordshire is on course to be delivered on schedule.
Answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot
The Mobile Infrastructure Project has faced challenges in finding ways to connect signal from masts back into the existing networks, and DCMS officials are assessing the impact of these challenges on overall progress and schedules.