Swindon area accesses 4G mobile internet

The highest town in Wiltshire, Highworth, recently gained access to 4G internet. A report uncovered that while 6G internet services are now anticipated in the UK and 4G mobile services have been available in the UK for 12 years, the Swindon area has only lately managed this milestone.

The fast mobile internet service became accessible in Highworth in late 2024 due to a collaboration between the local council and telecoms company Vodafone. The town, which is sited just six miles from the centre of Swindon, has been plagued by poor mobile connectivity for years, mainly because of its geography, period properties and for being based within a conservation area.

Simon Apps, town Councillor for Highworth, commented:

“As a hilltop town, the signal from the existing mast sites struggled to reach, and when combined with the thick-walled buildings dating back to the Queen Anne and Georgian periods, the chances of picking up any signal inside any of the High Street or Marketplace shops were practically non-existent.”

The councillor worked with Highworth’s mayor Julie Murphy and Pete Rodriguez, South Regional Network Manager at Vodafone, to develop a fix. The solution was a mini-mast the size of a shoe box that attaches to the side of property and uses OpenRAN technology instead of a traditional mast that would impact the natural beauty of the location.

Following deployment, a spokesperson for Vodafone has confirmed that it now supplying a dependable 4G mobile internet signal to customers based on Highworth High Street.