Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department made of the proportion of (a) Copeland and (b) Cumbria covered by (i) 2G voice and low data rate mobile coverage, (ii) 3G high-speed data mobile coverage and (iii) 4G very high-speed data mobile coverage.

According to Ofcom's Infrastructure Report 2014 coverage from all four mobile network operators (MNOs) is the same for Copeland and Cumbria. Specifically, 90% of premises have 2G coverage, 61% have 3G coverage and none have 4G coverage. Improving mobile coverage is a priority for the Government and as a result of the Government's landmark agreement with the MNOs in December 2014 each MNO will provide voice and text coverage to at least 90% of the UK landmass by 2017. Furthermore, as part of its 4G licence condition Telefonica is required to provide indoor coverage to at least 98% of UK premises by 2017. These measures will significantly improve mobile coverage in the UK.