SNP MP, Angus MacNeil, has tabled a parliamentary question regarding 4G mobile phone coverage.
The UK Government announced a deal in December that will deliver 90% geographic coverage from each mobile operator by 2017.
Mr MacNeil asked when Westminister promise of 90% mobile phone coverage for 4G will apply to the Western Isles.
Angus MacNeil said: “The UK Government has ambitious targets of 90% geographical coverage for 4G.
“I am anxious that this 90% should apply to the Western Isles also, particularly as 2G and 3G failed to achieve anything close to 90% geographical coverage.
“In the recent storms we saw just how important mobile phone coverage is, particularly when many people were unable to use their landlines following the lightning.”
Macneil raises 4G mobile coverage for islands
18 January 2015
He added: “With the arrival of the high speed fibre there is the potential for the islands to have a 4G network but the UK Government has to be aware the mobile phone market, as they currently regulate it through Ofcom, has failed miserably as regards mobile phone coverage.”
Mr MacNeil said: “The high speed fibre will help improve broadband in many areas, but it can also enable 4G which due to the high data speeds enable people to get online where cable cannot reach them.
“Recently we have seen that mobile
telephones are no longer a luxury, but are a social utility and it is high time that the UK Government recognised that in island and rural areas. For too long they have allowed piecemeal patchy network to exist in our islands, something that would not be tolerated in other northern European countries.
“The Faroe Islands for instance, with a mountainous geography, more challenging than ours, manages to have comprehensive coverage, including their two under sea tunnels.”