Vodafone, Three and O2 customers warned they may miss out on a big free upgrade

VODAFONE, Three and O2 customers have been warned they could miss out on a huge free upgrade next year.

Bosses from three of the four UK mobile network operators have written to the government asking for an extension to their deadline in order to meet their coverage commitments.

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Network operators have an interim target of 88 per cent geographical coverage by June 2024, as set out in the Shared Rural Network (SRN) scheme.

It appears they are struggling to build new masts in time with the operators running into problems securing planning permission for the masts.

In some cases it has taken up to 500 days to receive planning permission, sources told The Telegraph.

It is not clear if the fourth network operator EE was invited to co-sign the letter but hasn’t.

The SRN scheme is a government initiative set up to eliminate so-called “not-spots”.

Under the first phase, there is a push to expand full 4G coverage – places that have a choice of all four operators – as much as possible.

Those are referred to as partial not-spots and are the focus of the letter, which has been seen by the paper.

Currently, there is no public money provided to help that phase but the ultimate goal is to provide coverage to remote locations in the UK that currently have none.

For that, the government is putting in £500million from the tax-payer with the final goal being to reach 95 per cent geographical coverage.

It’s hoped the SRN scheme will be completed by early 2027, but that timeline appears to have been put in doubt if three of the four operators are struggling to keep up with the pace.

In statements sent to The Telegraph, Three blamed the pandemic for it falling behind, Vodafone stated it remained committed to the project and O2 insisted it was really close to reaching its individual targets.

It’s reported that EE had offered access to some of its sites at normal commercial rates but it appears the other network providers preferred to collaborate over building new ones.

Vodafone and Three recently reiterated their ambitious 5G coverage as a key reason to allow the two companies to merge.

Vodafone and Three denied they had neglected the SRN and insisted the merger had no impact on their day-to-day operations.

A Three spokesman said: “We are on track to deliver the overall January 2027 target for 4G geographic coverage under the SRN programme having already built 100 sites and secured planning on 80pc of the new sites that we have committed to.

“However, we have recently written to the government asking for an extension to the June 2024 interim target which was agreed immediately prior to the Covid lockdowns and has been impacted by delays associated with the pandemic.”

A Vodafone spokesman said: “We remain committed to delivering on all elements of the SRN programme and have successfully introduced 4G to rural locations across the UK as part of the wider project which is due for delivery by January 2027.”

A spokesman for Virgin Media O2 said: “We’re continuing to invest and deliver these upgrades at pace and we expect to either meet or come very close to meeting our own individual target.

“We are in regular discussions with government and industry, and remain committed to delivering the full benefits of the SRN as soon as possible.”

A government spokesman said: “All four Mobile Network Operators have been set clear coverage targets as part of their licence obligations, which they are on track to meet and are managed by Ofcom.

“We are in regular communication with them regarding their progress, which the regulator will assess in 2024.”

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