The issue has emerged as new figures show a sharp difference between Scotland’s reported coverage in populated areas and the amount of land actually reached by mobile signals.
Ofcom figures show a gap
Ofcom’s latest Connected Nations Scotland report found overall 5G coverage outside premises from at least one operator had reached 93% at its High Confidence level.
But on Ofcom’s separate geographic measure, just 37% of Scotland’s landmass had 5G coverage from at least one operator at the same confidence level.
The regulator said Scotland had the lowest range of 5G geographic coverage of any UK nation, with individual operators covering between just 7% and 21% of its landmass.
Rural communities still struggling
The figures come as pressure grows on Mr Murray, the former Scottish Secretary, to address mobile not-spots in remote parts of the country. The Herald has reported previously on calls for Scotland to “close the gap” on persistent 4G blackspots.
Mr Murray told The Herald last month that some rural Scottish communities could remain without mobile coverage unless they were prepared to accept new mast infrastructure.
He said the government-funded element of the programme tackling areas with no mobile coverage had been reduced from £300 million to £150m “on the basis of what’s deliverable”, after opposition to proposed infrastructure in some communities.
Landowners warn of fallout
Property experts say persuading communities to accept new masts is only part of the challenge. They warn that efforts to improve coverage could be weakened by strained relations with the landowners and property owners whose sites are needed to host the equipment.
They told The Herald that reforms which cut the cost to operators of securing telecoms sites have left some landlords facing steep rent reductions and falling property values, potentially undermining support for masts in areas where coverage is weakest.
Alasdair Irvine, director at Inglis Howie Property Consultants, said the issue should be firmly on Mr Murray’s agenda, warning the current system had “dramatically shifted the balance of power in favour of operators”.
4G remains a major issue
The coverage dispute is not limited to 5G. Consumer Scotland warned last month that Scotland has the lowest 4G geographical coverage of all four UK nations, with just 71% of its landmass covered by all providers.
It said 9% remains a total 4G not-spot — where no operator provides coverage — more than double the UK average of 4%.
The consumer body said Scotland’s geography and its higher proportion of people living in remote rural areas risk leaving those communities behind as networks improve elsewhere. It has also backed greater use of crowdsourced performance data, arguing that predicted coverage alone does not always reflect what consumers experience on their phones.
Rules on masts under scrutiny
At the centre of the dispute is the Electronic Communications Code, which governs operators’ rights to install and maintain equipment on privately owned land and buildings.
Major reforms introduced in 2017 changed the way payments to site providers are calculated in an effort to reduce the cost of deploying digital infrastructure. But the UK Government has previously acknowledged that while the reforms lowered deployment costs, they also affected the willingness of some site providers to agree or renew telecoms rights.
Mr Irvine said: “We represent site providers across the UK, including many in Scotland, and we are consistently seeing the same pattern emerge.
“The current telecoms legislation has dramatically shifted the balance of power in favour of operators, leaving site providers hosting vital mobile infrastructure facing steep rent reductions and declining asset values through no fault of their own.
“In several cases we manage, landlords have seen long-standing, stable sources of income fall sharply overnight, with significant knock-on consequences for the value of their buildings.
“This isn’t an isolated issue – it is becoming widespread – and unless the legislation is reviewed, more landowners will find themselves exposed to the same unfair treatment.”
The scale of rent reductions is contested. Evidence submitted to Parliament has cited reductions of up to 90% in some cases, while the mobile industry argues the previous regime allowed a “telecoms premium” to inflate the cost of strategically important sites.
Mobile UK has argued that the reformed Code keeps site costs sustainable and allows more investment to be directed towards coverage and capacity.
A spokesperson from Mobile UK said: “The Code is successfully delivering essential mobile connectivity across the UK; since it was updated, strong collaboration with landlords has driven 37,416 upgrades and over 6,600 consensual renewals. These positive partnerships are vital to ensuring rural communities, businesses, and site providers all benefit from high-speed digital infrastructure.
“Our focus remains on working constructively to resolve key practical obstacles such as planning processes, site access, and local concerns around areas of natural beauty to keep expanding connectivity .”
Government says work continues
Under the Shared Rural Network, the UK Government and operators are investing in infrastructure designed to push 4G into some of Britain’s hardest-to-reach areas.
More than 150 publicly funded rural 4G mast upgrades are now live across Britain, while up to 44 new publicly funded masts are due to be built across Scotland by January 2027.
Despite the rapid expansion of 5G, 4G remains the workhorse of Scotland’s mobile network, carrying 77% of mobile traffic in July 2025.
A UK Government spokesperson said digital connectivity was “vital to Scotland” and insisted the current system struck a balance between the interests of landowners and the need to expand mobile networks.
They said: “We recognise the important role landowners, charities and community organisations play in supporting telecoms infrastructure, and the Electronic Communications Code provides a framework that balances their interests with the need to improve connectivity and support network deployment.”
The Government said landowners should continue to receive fair payments reflecting issues such as alternative land use and any losses incurred, while operators and site providers remain free to negotiate commercial agreements.
It added that it was working with Ofcom to improve the accuracy of mobile coverage reporting where consumers’ experience does not match published coverage data.
Ministers also pointed to the Shared Rural Network, under which up to 44 new masts are being delivered in Scotland through the Total Not Spots programme and as many as 70 existing sites upgraded through the Extended Area Service programme.
The Government said 55 Shared Rural Network sites are already live across Scotland.
The spokesperson added: “Through the Shared Rural Network, we are also continuing to switch on dozens of 4G mobile mast upgrades across Scotland, helping more people access better services, opportunities and reliable connectivity.”
They said the Government was also working with industry towards high-quality standalone 5G coverage in populated areas across the UK by 2030.