Shropshire hopes to lead the way on 5G

Currently Shropshire has 3G and 4G mobile coverage but this limits the number of mobile phone users it can reach.

According to Mark Barrow, the council's executive director of place, the current 4G provision supports 4,000 mobile phones per kilometre but 5G would support 'about a million'.

At a briefing held yesterday at Shirehall in Shrewsbury, Mr Barrow said that the council planned to 'pitch' to the Government to be part of a pilot scheme which will see 5G rolled out in certain parts of the country.

"Work is what we do here in Shropshire and we should not just be confined to one place," he added. "We can be competitive with everybody in the world and that's what this will bring about."

He added that he wants the county to be one of the first places in the country to get the high-speed mobile data network and that the council would be working with the West Midlands Combined Authority to explore the possibilities of bringing 5G to Shropshire.

Forefront

Council leader Peter Nutting said that the authority must not ignore the importance of high-speed mobile technology in attracting companies to the county.

Gemma Davies, head of economic growth at the council said: "We have our eye on 5G and we want to be at the forefront of that working forward."

Last year Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton were announced as the UK's first 5G testbed.

The multi-million pound trial of new high speed connectivity will pave the way for the future roll out of 5G across the UK, making the region the first in the UK ready to trial new 5G applications and services at scale.

The 5G Testbeds and Trials Programme forms part of the Government’s Industrial Strategy, aimed at continually driving the UK’s connectivity, telecommunications and digital sectors, and investing in the skills, industries and infrastructure of the future.