The rollout of mobile network infrastructure to Scotland’s most remote hills and glens should be reviewed urgently by the new UK Government, a coalition of rural, wildlife and conservation bodies has said.

The organisations have written a joint letter to Sir Chris Bryant MP, minister of state for digital and data infrastructure, asking the government to review the ‘Total Not-Spot’ element of the Shared Rural Network programme put in place by the last administration.

Wild places charity The John Muir Trust, rural business organisation Scottish Land & Estates, RSPB Scotland, Mountaineering Scotland, the National Trust for Scotland, Ramblers Scotland and Woodland Trust Scotland are just some of those who have signed the correspondence.

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A number of community councils across the Highlands have also signed the appeal as well as estate businesses and organisations such as the Knoydart Foundation.

The Shared Rural Network programme is a collaboration between the UK Government and four big mobile phone operators (EE, O2, Three and Vodafone) which aims to achieve 95% 4G mobile phone coverage across Britain. The approach to achieving the coverage is target-led, top-down and crucially, is failing to consider whether people living in rural areas need the masts.

The Partial Not-Spot (PNS) programme is improving coverage and making seamless connectivity a reality for many users in communities across Scotland.

In Scotland, there are 260 sites classified as Total Not-Spots (TNS), which are often selected mainly to provide landmass coverage and meet the geographical targets of the programme, rather than prioritising coverage for communities or transport routes.

This has resulted in a scenario where extremely remote and ecologically fragile areas are set to accommodate unnecessary masts, along with related infrastructure and access roads, leaving a significant mark on these unique wild places.

The coalition has said that the widespread agreement between different organisations – all with diverse interests – highlights the compelling need for a review and to assess how the financial resources behind this segment of the Shared Rural Network programme can be better used.

Chief executive of Scottish Land & Estates, Sarah-Jane Laing, said: “The Shared Rural Network programme has been vital in improving mobile connectivity for many communities and businesses across Scotland but it risks undermining that achievement by placing expensive masts in locations where there is no demand for them and where the infrastructure will be a blot on the landscape – potentially irreparably damaging these special, often untouched, places.

“We are urging the government to undertake a review of the TNS programme and take a pragmatic approach rather than simply pushing forward in order to achieve ill-devised targets.”

Head of campaigns for the John Muir Trust, Thomas Widrow, said: “Decisions taken in Westminster are impacting beautiful and incredibly important wild places hundreds of miles away. As a charity whose purpose is to protect wild places, we are alarmed that damage will be inflicted on landscapes and wildlife with no evident public or environmental benefits.

“Rural communities and outdoor enthusiasts alongside environmental organisations are speaking with one voice – we need connectivity where we live and work, not in our most fragile and remote wild places.

“The new UK government needs to listen to this unprecedented alliance of voices and pause and review the TNS programme. Wild places, the biodiversity they shelter and the people they benefit deserve nothing less.”

Head of species and land management at RSPB Scotland, Duncan Orr-Ewing, said: “Whilst initially well-intentioned, the SRN mast roll out has subsequently raised significant concerns, with development proposals coming forward that we believe will impact some of our most threatened species and habitats, and in places where we believe that the case for these mast developments is weak.

“We stand together with landowners, communities and other conservation eNGOs in calling on the UK Government to review the current programme, and to listen to the genuine and deepfelt views of the various stakeholders in Scotland.”