Winterslow village enters 4G fastlane

Stuart Fisher (L), a Vodafone UK Network Manager, John Glen MP (R). Fisher shows Glen the computer and equipment cabinet for the Winterslow Vodafone 4G mast.

John Glen, MP for Salisbury, welcomes Vodafone network improvements made in the rural Wiltshire village.

John Glen, MP for Salisbury, recently joined Vodafone staffers and Councillor Richard Rogers (Winterslow) in the village of Middle Winterslow to celebrate the installation of a new Vodafone 4G mast. It ensures that customers living in, working in or visiting the rural Wiltshire community (and its surrounding areas) have access to stronger Vodafone 4G coverage.

During the visit, Mr Glen and Mr Rogers learnt more about Vodafone’s ongoing investment in its UK network, including recent improvements in rural communities in his own constituency, as well as the ongoing work done by Vodafone to keep up with continued data traffic growth in cities and towns.

Following the visit, Mr Glen said: “It was fantastic to join Cllr Rich Rogers and the Vodafone team in Winterslow to learn about the positive impact which the 4G mast will have in improving rural connectivity, having worked together on this for several months. Residents in a 5km radius will be benefiting from provision and I will continue to work with all providers across our rural communities to deliver results.”

Councillor Richard Rogers said: “Following several months of productive discussions with Vodafone and Cellnex, who operate and maintain the mast, it’s truly gratifying to witness its successful activation. Residents have already reached out to confirm improved mobile signals, a promising sign for our community. I’d like to express my sincere thanks to both John Glen MP and Tom Sheppard from Vodafone’s Government Affairs team, whose invaluable assistance played a crucial role in understanding the extent of the problem and getting the mast activated.”

Mr Glen and Mr Rogers was given a tour of the mast by Stuart Fisher, Vodafone’s Network Manager who said: “It was great to meet and show them around the newly upgraded mast. It’s fantastic to have been able to give them both an update on our other activities across the Salisbury constituency.”

Back in 2014, Middle Winterslow was the first rural community in Wiltshire to be chosen by Vodafone to take part in a ‘community-led’ network initiative called the Rural Open Sure Signal programme. At the time, Middle Winterslow had little or no mobile coverage from any UK network. As a result of working with the community and Mr Glen, Vodafone was able to install four small cell mobile technology units across the village to provide the much-needed 3G mobile signal to homes and businesses in the area.

The Winterslow visit is the latest in a series of MP visits to Vodafone masts including Damian Hind (MP for East Hampshire) who visited a mast in Bordon and Jerome Mayhew (MP for Broadland) who visited a mast in Norwich.