Vodafone UK staked a claim to being the country’s first operator to share unused spectrum to offer high speed broadband in remote areas lacking fibre connectivity.

StrattoOpencell, a mobile signal service provider, will use the operator’s 2.6GHz spectrum, which claims to yield download speeds up to 120Mb/s. The agreement is for three years.

Operators in the country have been able to share spectrum since July following a ruling by regulator Ofcom.

StrattoOpencell will first connect a holiday site in Devon by deploying 4G outdoor small cells, before rolling out to high density areas such as stadiums and city centres.

Nick Jeffery (pictured), Vodafone CEO, said: “By offering some of our 4G spectrum to StrattoOpencell, we are helping to extend fast and reliable mobile network access for people in rural communities. Mobile connectivity in rural areas is just as important as it is for those in towns and cities, which is why we continue to work with others to help improve rural connectivity for all.”

Philip Marnick, group director of UK regulator Ofcom, added: “Our new sharing approach aims to help more people access the airwaves they need to create local networks around the UK, including improving connections in rural areas. Vodafone and StrattoOpencell are the first to take advantage of this. We look forward to seeing how others use our new spectrum access approach to support innovation and enable local communities to have better connections.”