PARTS of the upper Towy Valley are to be left without a mobile phone signal despite Government promises that 98 per cent of the country would receive coverage as part of a landmark £150million deal with phone operators because the work cannot be completed on time.

Myddfai and the surrounding area will remain a mobile “not-spot” even though proposals to erect a transmission mast have already been approved by planning authorities.

The company created to deliver the service has conceded it is unable to complete the work ahead of the March 31 deadline.

Arqiva, the company tasked with addressing “not-spot” as part of the Mobile Infrastructure Project (MIP) announced in July 2013, announced last week it was no longer proceeding with the Myddfai scheme because of time constraints.

The MIP deal between the UK Government and the four main mobile phone companies promised to provide a minimum of second-generation (2G) connection to residents in 'not-spot' areas. Carmarthenshire was listed as Phase Three in a five-phase project.

However, the agreement had an in-built cut-off point whereby all masts erected as part of the programme were required to be fully functional by the end of the 2015/16 financial year.

A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, said: "We understand this will be disappointing news for the local community.

"Unfortunately it would not be possible to complete within the timescales of the project.

“We're committed to making sure there's better mobile coverage across the UK, and that people in rural areas are not left behind.

“Thanks to a landmark agreement we secured from all the Mobile Network Operators, areas - including parts of Wales - currently with no mobile coverage will be cut by two-thirds."

Carmarthen East and Dinefwr MP Jonathan Edwards, who has led a Connecting Carmarthenshire campaign, has written directly to the Secretary of State calling for his personal intervention to secure the Myddfai mast, adding that all issues which have delayed the project could be addressed if the deadline was pushed back.

"I have been informed that all components of the project will not be met by the March deadline at the Myddfai site,” he said.

“This is deeply disappointing and I have made representations to the Secretary of State to ask he personally intervenes to see the Myddfai site completed.

"The (MIP) project has already fallen short of expectations with several sites across Wales not being realised.

“It seems as though the technical challenges of the scheme, such as the transmission connection to a mobile operators' network in our rural area, were too great to be overcome within the budget and timescale set out by the government.

"If the government was not so intent on ending the scheme in March then all of the hurdles could be overcome to get the Myddfai site up and running. I want the government to pull out all the stops for north Carmarthenshire."

Last week, Arqiva announced that a mast in Llanfynnydd would be completed ahead of the deadline, providing signal coverage to 24 current “not spots” in the Towy Valley.