Street lights, bus shelters and traffic lights will host more mobile network equipment to help boost mobile coverage in parts of the North East as part of a new government scheme.
The Government has announced that eight projects will receive a share from the £4 million Digital Connectivity Infrastructure Accelerator (DCIA) to help improve mobile coverage in areas across England and Scotland.
Road signs and CCTV poles can be used to improve 4G coverage and they are also integral to the roll out of 5G, which requires a larger number of smaller ‘cell sites’ - where antennas and other telecoms equipment are placed to form a network - to ensure seamless coverage and to meet the demand for connectivity.
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The project means communities in 44 local authority areas, including Tyneside and Sunderland, can benefit from faster and more reliable mobile coverage.
Digital Infrastructure Minister Julia Lopez said: “Everyone gets frustrated when their mobile signal is poor, particularly when patchy coverage holds up important work and social calls and makes it harder to do stuff online.
"That is why we are determined to get the UK the connectivity it needs by rolling out better mobile coverage as quickly as possible.
“Currently, mobile companies are finding it difficult to get the data they need to check that a lamppost, bus shelter or public building is suitable for hosting their kit.
"These eight pilots will help solve this by modernising the way local authorities and operators work together in a way that ultimately delivers faster, more reliable mobile coverage for millions of people. It is all part of our joined-up strategy to deliver world-class connectivity to every corner of our country”
Gareth Elliott, Director of Policy and Communications of Mobile UK, said: "Reducing the time it takes to deploy mobile infrastructure is important to enable mobile operators to roll out 4G and 5G across the country and to meet ambitious government targets.
“The DCIA trial and its project winners will provide positive examples of how local authorities can use technology to speed up processes and develop effective relationships with mobile operators to improve coverage for all.”
It comes as the government moves ahead with plans to connect up to 187,000 rural premises via Project Gigabit - the government’s £5 billion programme to build top-of-the-range broadband infrastructure in hard-to-reach areas.
Broadband providers have been invited to submit bids for contracts worth up to £292 million to upgrade rural homes and businesses across Cumbria, Durham, Northumberland, Cambridgeshire, Dorset and Teesdale - with initial work expected to commence later this year.
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