Britain wants mobile phone operators to tackle 'not-spots'

SPANNER IN THE WORKS: Network operators such as EE and Vodafone, who have spent billions of pounds on building their networks, are fiercely opposed to sharing them with rivals.

The British government said it could force mobile phone network operators to improve coverage in rural parts of the country for simple voice calls and text, eliminating so-called "not-spots". 

One possible solution would be to introduce a compulsory national roaming plan which would switch users' phones to whichever network gives the strongest signal, the government said, in announcing a range of proposals.