VODAFONE AND RURAL OPEN SURE SIGNAL PROGRAMME

That this House celebrates that Vodafone's Rural Open Sure Signal Programme has the potential to improve mobile telephone coverage to 3G standard for many not-spots in rural and island areas where a conventional mobile telephone signal does not reach, but where there is broadband, can utilise that broadband connectivity with femtocell technology of Open Sure Signal to provide localised coverage of a 500 metre radius to 3G standard; praises Vodafone for developing this initiative and calls on other companies to investigate the possibility of similar schemes; and looks to the expansion of, particularly, rural broadband to further help the development of more such schemes.