For those non-mathematicians out there, the land area of Wales is just over 8,000 square miles and therefore claims suggest that there are only 16 square miles in Wales where you are unable to use a mobile phone.

Fooled? I thought not, and neither were OFCOM, which as a result is set to launch an investigation into the quality of mobile phone coverage in Wales.

My first response to this audacious claim was to conduct a survey of my own, asking people to name villages and towns across our readership where they could not receive signal.

However, it quickly became apparent that it would be harder to find a location that offered acceptable coverage than finding one that offered no signal.

Residents of Tregynon, Bettws, Llanymynech, Welshpool, Rhayader – I'm sure you can sympathise where I am coming from. And you're not the only ones!

"I very much welcome this decision because according to statistics it has been suggested that mobile phone users in Wales don't get as good a deal as those in England," said Nerys Evans, Plaid AM for Mid and West Wales.

"I have spoken to many constituents in Powys and many people find it difficult to receive a signal in certain areas.

"I know from experience that when you travel around Powys there are difficulties with the mobile phone reception. This is another example of our rural communities suffering when it comes to the provision of new technology."

More detailed statistics suggest that mobile phone users in Wales get a poorer deal than those in England, where only last week mobile and broadband coverage was compared unfavourably with that in India and Malawi.

Rhodri Williams, from Ofcom, stated how they have received a number of representations expressing concern about the claim that 99.8 per cent of Wales has mobile phone coverage after the point was made to him that many people travelling between North Wales and South Wales by car or train experience difficulties with mobile phone reception as they pass through rural areas.

According to international mobile phone industry trade association Groupe Speciale Mobile, both Wales and the UK as a whole have 99.8 per cent coverage for so-called 2G coverage – the basic phone and text service.

Wales fares worse than the UK – predominantly England – when it comes to districts served by at least four mobile phone operators. For the UK as a whole, 81.6 per cent of districts have that degree of choice. In Wales the figure drops to 57 per cent.

When it comes to so-called 3G coverage, where mobile phone users are able to browse the internet and send 'richer' messages from their phones including videos, Wales is at a considerable disadvantage to the UK as a whole.

Across the UK, 91.4 per cent of districts have 3G coverage, while in Wales the figure is 74.1 per cent. The contrast is even starker for those districts having coverage from at least four 3G operators – 67.6 per cent in the UK, and only 32.3 per cent in Wales.