If you’re hoping for a 3G or even 4G signal in Holwell, it’s looking increasingly like a long wait.

There is a Mobile Infrastructure Project (MIP) backed by the Government with £150m, but it appears to be targeting rural areas only where there is presently no signal at all, not upgrading areas already served.  And the MIP seems to be running into the sand – now years behind schedule, problems with planning and electrical power for new masts, lack of enthusiasm from the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to share facilities.  Knipton and Goadby Marwood are our local pilot areas, but I’ve not heard of any developments there recently.

I’m on 02 and find coverage outdoors in Holwell is ok for calls only; indoors (particularly behind thick stone walls) is very patchy, often only working at windows.  I would be interested to hear from others in Holwell their experience on different networks.

The arrival of fibre broadband in Holwell expected later this year/early next does bring some solutions, however:

• you can boost your mobile signal indoors using your broadband wifi network.  Different networks offer different products for this but my O2 booster works well throughout the house, even on the slow broadband we have at present;
• we could as a village look at an outdoors 3G solution like this http://www.vodafone.co.uk/explore/network/what-affects-your-coverage/rural-open-sure-signal/ but it would entail you switching to that particular network to benefit, and if – as I know some of us have done already – we boost our mobile signal indoors using broadband, do we really need 3G outdoors?

I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything more about the MIP.