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Culture minister Ed Vaizey says 16 of 600 planned cell sites are up and running.
The U.K. government last week admitted that its £150 million plan to eradicate mobile notspots has failed.
Called the Mobile Infrastructure Project (MIP), it was unveiled in October 2011 by Chancellor George Osborne. It was designed to extend mobile coverage to as many as 60,000 premises by funding the deployment of new masts, and was due to be completed by the end of March.
"I do not think the programme has been a success, and I do not think that ministers often say that about their programmes," said Ed Vaizey, minister for culture and the digital economy, during a debate last week that was transcribed and published on Parliament’s official Website. 
In 2013, infrastructure provider Arqiva was tasked with mapping the U.K.’s notspots and identifying and acquiring suitable sites for new masts. Under the MIP, the government pledged to cover the cost of constructing the masts and deploying the radio and transmission equipment, while mobile operators would cover the operating costs.
It was originally envisioned that as many as 600 cell sites would be needed; however, Vaizey revealed that to date just 16 have been built, and that 60 are expected to be up and running by the end of March.
Identifying where the notspots are and issues stemming from the planning process for new mobile sites were two of the hurdles highlighted by Vaizey last week.
"Trying to establish where a notspot is—that is, exactly where we will get no mobile coverage—can be difficult when dealing with radio frequencies," he said.
"The next issue was planning," he explained. "We had not anticipated just how difficult some of the planning issues are, particularly when we were dragging four operators with us, metaphorically kicking and screaming. Although we were paying for the mast, we were asking them to meet the operating costs going forward, which include the land rental as well as the transmission costs for what is, by definition, an uneconomic area."
Vaizey said the government has decided not to extend the MIP beyond the March deadline, but said he is willing to meet ministers who are pushing to improve mobile coverage in specific communities.
"If we had a series of proposals whereby a community was genuinely willing to have a mast and the council was onside, it would be incumbent on the government to consider those proposals," he said.
