Sajid Javid outlines plans to boost rural mobile phone coverage

Poor mobile phone reception in the British countryside is to be tackled under government plans that could force telecom groups to open networks in rural areas to rivals' customers.

But the plan has sparked opposition from both the telecom industry and Theresa May, the home secretary, who has reportedly warned Sajid Javid, the culture secretary, that his plans might leave the country at greater risk from terrorism.

About a fifth of the UK suffers from mobile "not-spots" where there is coverage from some, but not all, of the four mobile networks. Ministers outlined various options on Wednesday to ensure full national voice coverage, including enforcing "national roaming" where phones would move on to another network when service was not available.

Mr Javid said: "I'm determined to ensure the UK has world-class mobile phone coverage as investment in infrastructure will help drive this government's long term economic plan."

However, the telecom industry argues that national roaming, in particular, would constitute "extraordinary interventionism" in a fiercely competitive sector, according to one sector executive. Executives have warned privately that any attempt to force them to open up their infrastructure could result in legal action.

Talks have been held with Vodafone, EE, Three and O2 in an attempt to find a voluntary solution and will continue during the consultation process.

Mr Javid said he would be "prepared to mandate a solution in line with wider government interests, should insufficient progress be made".

This would mean directing regulator Ofcom, through secondary legislation, to vary licences to enable roaming in areas where there were partial not-spots.

He will also have to mollify Ms May, who according to the Times, has written to Mr Javid to warn him that national roaming "could have a detrimental impact" on the intelligence services' ability to track terrorists.

When asked about the letter on Wednesday, Mr Javid did not deny he had received it but told the BBC: "The home secretary fully supports the strategy we're setting out today," adding that the government "would never do anything" that would put national security "in jeopardy".

"The important thing in this consultation is about hearing the voices of everyone," Mr Javid told the Today programme. "The reason this is a consultation is because we want to look carefully at each solution."

News of Ms May's reported intervention comes a day after Robert Harrigan, the new chief of the electronic surveillance agency GCHQ, warned in an article for the Financial Times that big US tech companies have become facilitators of terrorism in their desire to protect consumers' privacy.

Mobile licences were acquired at a high cost by the operators, which are likely to argue against changing the terms, in particular as the consultation proposes national roaming at an extra capital spending cost of £64m-£128m as well as an annual operating cost of £26-£32m for each operator. There are, however, some additional revenue benefits resulting from national roaming.

The industry is in favour of an alternative proposal in the consultation process of infrastructure sharing - where mobile networks would be able to put transmitters on each others' masts. Mobile groups have also called for easier planning laws to enable them to build more, and higher, masts.

The consultation document said the government would need to see more ambitious site sharing arrangements, including potential coverage obligations. It also raises the prospect of open networks to "virtual" telecom providers such as Tesco and Virgin.

These companies typically have a deal with a single network to offer branded mobile services but the government suggests that virtual networks could be able to access all four networks.

Mobile operators have raised objections to national roaming, including problems in ringfencing voice communications and worries about how outages would affect networks. Mobile customers would also need to swap Sim cards to make them "unlocked" in rural areas.

EE said the "flawed concept of 'national roaming' " would "deteriorate network reliability for tens of millions across the UK, plus it also risks prices rising, which customers understandably won't tolerate".

The problem of poor mobile phone reception was first raised at cabinet level at the start of the year after MPs, including prime minister David Cameron, found they could not use their phones in rural areas.

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