Get Us Connected: Meeting called to thrash out Shropshire's poor mobile reception

The meeting has been called by Shropshire Council leader Keith Barrow, who says it is time for progress to be made to help rural areas currently cut off.

It follows the launch of the Shropshire Star's Get Us Connected campaign, in which more than 2,000 people signed a petition that was handed to the Government.

The conference will feature business leaders and aims to tackle the mobile network crisis which leaves large areas of the county without a signal, severely hampering businesses and causing inconvenience to tens of thousands of phone users.

Interested parties will come together on Wednesday to receive a briefing from Ofcom, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Mobile Operators Association.

The four major mobile phone networks pledged to improve services following the launch of the Get Us Connected campaign.

Councillor Barrow backed the Shropshire Star's call for action and pledged to work for a solution.

He today said the phone reception in Shropshire was something that could be expected from a Third World country and must be dealt with.

He stressed the importance of working together, as he had discovered people were getting nowhere complaining as individuals.

He said: "The poor quality of mobile phone signals has been a problem in parts of Shropshire for some time.

"Mobile phones are now a vital and important part of everyday life for people, especially those in rural areas who need their phones for business, to contact family and friends, to browse the internet, and more.

"It's therefore hugely important for local people and the local economy that mobile phones can be used whenever and wherever they are."

A spokesman for the Mobile Operators Association added: "The mobile network operators will outline their plans for improving the scale and quality of mobile coverage in Shropshire over the next few years.

"They welcome a chance to discuss some of the ways coverage can be accelerated and the practical way that national and local politicians can support that to happen."

After being re-elected following the recent General Election, MPs in the county, including North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson, pledged to continue to fight to improve mobile phone coverage in the county.

Mr Paterson said: "I am delighted by any initiative that improves mobile phone coverage.

"The current system is not coping, it is deteriorating. Part of the problem is that there is an increasing demand because more of us are now sending photos on our phones.

"When I was with DEFRA I travelled to a lot of rural parts of England and mobile phone signal was a big problem in a lot of areas. But Shropshire seems particularly bad.

"Along with broadband it is one of the key things that I will be campaigning for."