Time to invest in digital infrastructure in rural communities to Power Up The North - The Yorkshire Post says

Yet, whilst a handful of cities in the UK have seen the recent launch of the new 5G network, according to the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), those living rurally are still struggling for even basic mobile reception.

It is why more than 40 MPs and Peers have pledged their support for the association’s #4GForAll campaign, which aims to improve mobile coverage in the countryside and end what they describe as a ‘rural-urban digital divide’.

Not only will better 4G support rural areas and businesses across the country, as York MP, and Chair of the All Parliamentary Group for Rural Business, Julian Sturdy rightly points out, but that in turn will support wider economic development.

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The rural communities at the heart of Yorkshire and much of the North deserve as much, particularly given that farmers in this region were in many respects the original Northern Powerhouse.

This newspaper is backing their cause. Through the Power Up The North campaign in collaboration with rival publishers, we are calling on Britain’s main political parties to give formal backing to the Northern Powerhouse policy agenda - and that includes setting out detailed plans to accelerate investment in the North’s digital infrastructure, particularly in rural communities.

The CLA director for the North says for too long, rural users have been dealt “a poor hand” when it comes to mobile coverage. For the sake of a fair and prosperous future for all areas of the North, that cannot be allowed to continue.