New high-speed 4G link for Telford

The arrival of the new technology in the Hadley area means all customers with compatible devices and bundles will be able to connect to the internet more quickly, more reliably and in more places.

The roll-out of 4G is part of a £2 billion national investment by Vodafone, which will also help businesses in Telford improve productivity by enabling employees to connect to work internet servers while on the move.

It makes Telford one of the best towns in the country for internet coverage – contrasting with more rural areas of Shropshire where both internet and mobile phone coverage is patchy and in some places non-existent.

Coverage in 4G is already available in Telford on other mobile networks including O2, EE and Three.

Telford & Wrekin Council leader Kuldip Sahota welcomed the news.

He said: "This is great news for the people of Telford and Wrekin. I welcome it wholeheartedly. The sooner the better they install it so people can benefit from it.

"It will also be great news for the business community."

The news comes as communications watchdog Ofcom said the UK must "do better" rolling out superfast broadband and 4G.

Chief executive Sharon White said the watchdog's proposals aimed to ensure people up and down the country who did not have decent mobile or broadband coverage "get the reliability, quality and speeds they need".

Both Vodafone and O2 had set a target of providing 98 per cent of the population with 2G, 3G and 4G coverage by the end of last year.

The operators first set the ambitious target back in 2012, when O2 chief executive Ronan Dunne and the now former head of Vodafone Guy Laurence announced the pair had agreed to combine their 18,000 network towers and masts to create a single national grid.

They stated at the time that the move would help reduce significant running costs, estimated at more than £1 billion by analysts, speed up their 4G roll-out plans and achieve the 98 per cent by 2017 target set by Ofcom two years early.

But figures obtained in the middle of last year showed both operators remained well short of their target, with just 63 per cent population coverage.

A spokesman for Vodafone UK today said the work in Telford is part of the work to meet the targets set by Ofcom.

He said: "The rollout of 4G services is part of approximately £2 billion Vodafone is spending on its network and services in the UK.

"This includes network improvements across its 3G network aimed at both indoor and outdoor coverage, the nationwide provision of HD Voice technology on its 3G network and the introduction of its WiFi Calling service.

"The Vodafone Rural Open Sure Signal programme is also aiming to bring 3G coverage for the first time to 100 remote communities across the UK."