Increase to mobile coverage obligation moves nearer

Efforts to persuade Ofcom to raise the mobile coverage obligation from 95 to 98 per cent of the UK population are currently being examined by a Commons Select Committee, according to Rory Stewart, MP for Penrith and the Border, who tabled the debate in the Commons last May.

Stewart, speaking at a Westminster eForum event, "Delivering the UK's Broadband Future", represents a constituency that has a high percentage of home-workers and relatively isolated small businesses.

He told the audience of government and telecoms companies and interest groups that increased coverage "is vital in terms of economic growth".

The Treasury recently pledged a further £150m of funding to increase coverage to fill known "not-spots", which include poor coverage in urban areas, as well as rural.

Stewart's original motion, signed by 100 cross-party MPs, focused on the much-delayed 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum auction, which is now planned for early next year.

Simon Towler, head of spectrum, broadband and ICT policy, Department of Culture, Media & Sport (DCS), said he hoped the auction would be held as soon as possible in 2012 "so there are no further delays".

Efforts to accelerate the timetable for the auction and to widen the coverage obligation were widely welcomed by the seminar delegates.

"We fully support a 98 per cent obligation," said Alistair Davidson, managing director of government, mobile and enterprise at Arqiva, a business-to-business broadband infrastructure provider that operates a UK-wide network of some 8,000 masts and towers, mostly for TV transmission.

"The 95 per cent obligation is unambitious. Even if FTTP/C is rolled out to all exchanges, that would still leave a million premises without 2Mbit/s coverage," he added.

Mobile operator Everything Everywhere recently said that any advantage it derived from the spectrum auction would be ploughed back into UK networks, heading off criticism from MPs that the Orange-T-Mobil combo would benefit disproportionately.

The joint venture is currently involved in trials with BT to provide fast broadband to hard-to-reach homes in the Newquay area of Cornwall using LTE mobile technology.