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Devon town to be connected in mobile phone roll out [Western Morning News (England)](Western Morning News (England) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) A Devon mobile phone reception black hole is one of 100 areas in the UK to benefit from a national project to improve technology access in remote places. Newton St Cyres was chosen along with 11 other areas to pioneer the national roll out from mobile phone network Vodafone. Once completed, the project will see up to one million people with improved mobile coverage. The telecom giant said it would spend Pounds 1 billion on the project this year. Vodafone's initial Rural Open Sure Signal trial has seen the connection of 12 rural communities across the UK, from Walls in the Shetland Islands to Newton St Cyres in Devon. Jeroen Hoencamp, Vodafone UK chief executive said com-munities connected so far have been enjoying social media using mobile internet whilst businesses, from GPs to a mussel farmer, now have mobile signal to help make their businesses work better. He added: "Bringing mobile coverage and mobile internet to rural areas gives communities a real boost - both economically and socially. "I'm looking forward to seeing the successful communities light up and start to experience the benefits mobile connectivity will bring to each and every community involved." It comes as mobile connectivity has been identified as playing a vital role in keeping communities in touch and helping to support rural economies. The economics of getting mobile coverage into rural areas by traditional methods, however, can mean that some communities have less opportunity than others to benefits from mobile connectivity. Ofcom's latest annual communications market report recently highlighted that half the UK population now use their mobile phone to access the internet. Ed Vaizey, minister for culture, communications and creative industries, said it was important other rural areas applied to be one of the 100 communities to be helped by the Vodafone project so they benefit from the latest internet technology. He said: "Mobile coverage can make a huge difference particularly to more rural and isolated communities. "Vodafone's Open Sure Signal technology offers communities the chance to transform their lives by bringing them technology many of us take for granted." As well as using Rural Open Sure Signal to plug 100 rural "not- spots", Vodafone is spending more than Pounds 1 billion on its network and services across the country this year, including extending its 4G coverage to 259 cities and towns and thousands of smaller communities across the UK. That investment comes on top of the Pounds 802m the company spent acquiring the widest portfolio of mobile spectrum in last year's auction of new capacity by Ofcom. Applications for the Rural Open Sure Signal programme close on October 14, 2014. For more information on the programme and how to apply visit www.vodafone.co.uk/rural (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |