A Towy Valley pub, which is seen as vital community hub, has been chosen by a telecommunications giant to take part in a pioneering pilot.

The Royal Oak Inn, Rhandirmwyn, is one of only two pubs in Wales, and one of only four in the UK, to take part in Vodaphone UKs Rural Community Pub programme scheme to provide reliable indoor mobile coverage and internet access for rural areas.

Run in partnership with initiative Pub is The Hub, the pilot has been designed to inject lifeblood into rural community by using pubs to provide the area with reliable indoor mobile coverage for the first time.

The pilot will involve the installation of Vodafone’s Premium Sure Signal which will connect to the pub’s’ existing fixed broadband connection and provide reliable, deep indoor 3G voice coverage and high-speed 3G mobile internet access for employees and their regulars.

The average pub is estimated to contribute £80,000 to the economy annually; however, some rural communities and the pubs which support them can struggle to receive decent quality mobile coverage via traditional means.

This can be due to a number of factors, including the extreme geographic nature of the area, difficulties with local planning permission or the absence of a fixed fibre connection required to link a mobile mast back to the core network infrastructure.

The Rural Community Pub pilot and Vodafone’s innovations, such as its successful Rural Open Sure Signal (ROSS) programme, help bring reliable coverage to rural communities without the need for a traditional mast.

The Royal Oak Inn, a popular destination for both the community and tourists, not only provides a pub, restaurant and accommodation but also hosts the village’s only shop.

It was visited earlier this summer by the Duchess of Cornwall.

Pub is The Hub is a not-for-profit organisation, inspired by HRH the Prince of Wales in 2001 which offers independent specialist advice on rural services diversification or community ownership of pubs.

The scheme is expected to go live within the next couple of months.

Jorge Fernandes, Vodafone UK Chief Technology Officer, said: “We are delighted to be able to help these rural pubs extend and broaden the vital range of services they provide to the communities they serve through the use of the latest mobile technology.

"Pubs up and down the UK are key to the economic and social well-being of rural communities and the country. By combining our innovative programmes, such as Rural Community Pubs and ROSS, with our current network improvement programme, we are calling time on no rural mobile coverage.”