Mobile operators to face fines for failing to meet coverage obligations, digital secretary warns
Maximum fine will be up to 10 per cent of mobile operators' turnover
Mobile operators in the UK will be penalised if they fail to meet the coverage obligations of the Shared Rural Network (SRN) plan announced last week.
The warning came from digital secretary Nicky Morgan during her statement in the House of Commons on Monday.
Morgan said that mobile operators will face a fine up to 10 per cent of their annual turnover should they fail to meet obligations under the SRN plans.
"If they cannot demonstrate that all reasonable efforts have been made to comply with the obligations, there are penalties for the operators," Morgan said.
The government will spend about £500 million to build masts in remote locations that currently lack coverage
Last week, the government announced the £1 billion SRN plan that is intended to end so-called mobile 'notspots' in the country and to achieve 95 per cent 4G coverage by 2025.
Morgan said that the UK's four major mobile operators, O2, EE, Vodafone and Three, have agreed to provide half the cash for the £1bn plan. The four companies will spend about £530 million on the scheme, under which masts will be shared in areas where only one provider has reception.
The four operators will form a new organisation that will enable them to share infrastructure over the next 20 years.
The new scheme is expected to extend mobile coverage to 280,000 businesses and homes, principally in Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
The government will spend about £500 million to build masts in remote locations that currently lack coverage, and to create its own network to be used by the emergency services.
The government believes better 4G connectivity will close the digital divide that exists across the country, boost regional economic growth and make flexible working easier. It will enable consumers to rely on their own provider's network to use their phones wherever they are.
In his speech, Shadow minister Liam Byrne MP criticised the continuing delays to the country's connectivity scheme. He also expressed his unhappiness over an increase of 4 per cent in the coverage that he said was not comprehensive enough.
Byrne also criticised the government over the fact that 80 per cent of the constituencies in the country "don't enjoy 4G coverage from all big four operators."