VMO2 strikes Starlink deal to boost rural mobile cover

RURAL communities are in line for a coverage boost after Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) struck a deal to use Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites.

The telecoms group has begun using Starlink’s low earth orbit (LEO) satellite technology to deliver mobile connections to remote locations, such as the Scottish Highlands.

Mr Musk’s company operates a network of about 5,000 satellites, which orbit 350 miles above Earth and beam down signals. The technology will be used to carry calls, texts and data to mobile masts in areas where fibre cables, which usually underpin networks, are too difficult or costly to install.

VMO2 said the deal, reached through its parent company Telefonica, will help tackle signal “not spots” that have blighted rural communities. It comes as a £1bn government project to improve rural coverage faces a two-year delay.

VMO2, Vodafone and Three have warned ministers that they will not hit an initial deadline of June for expanding their 4G coverage to reach 88pc of the UK’S landmass. The National Audit Office has also warned that the overbudget Shared Rural Network (SRN) programme, set to be fully complete by early 2027, is running behind schedule.

The mobile networks have written to the Government asking for more time to build masts, blaming the pandemic and planning permission difficulties for delays, but it is understood ministers have not yet agreed to any extension.

Jeanie York, the chief technology officer at VMO2, said: “We’re leaving no stone unturned when it comes to improving rural connectivity … by constantly finding new ways to deliver.”

Earlier this year, The Telegraph revealed BT is also in talks with Starlink over ways to improve rural coverage.

‘We’re leaving no stone unturned in improving rural connectivity … by finding new ways to deliver’