Mobile operators to be stung for 10% of annual turnover if coverage falls short, digital sec warns

UK mobile operators will be fined up to 10 per cent of their annual turnover if they fail to meet the coverage obligations of the £1bn Shared Rural Network plans, digital secretary Nicky Morgan has claimed. Last week the country's major players pledged to stump up half the cash for a £1bn "Shared Rural Network" (SRN) to tackle …

[AndyMulhearn]

Toothless

So TFA says "If they cannot demonstrate that all reasonable efforts have been made to comply with the obligations" but who measures whether they've made all reasonable efforts to comply? Or is this just another bit of show for the Man in the street while the big four carry on as normal only in this case, having trousered £500 meelion of taxpayer cash?

[john.jones.name]

Re: Toothless

exactly... completely pointless

the only people who have any chance are those who still ironically have a public phone box still...

those make exceptional nano broadcast towers...

ironic after BT desperation in pulling them all out...

john jones

[Jon Blund]

Re: Toothless

OFCOM maybe? In Sweden it's a condition of having a license, to make sure there is coverage more or less everywhere (within reason) and Sweden is a lot sparser populated than the UK and twice the size.

[BebopWeBop]

Re: Toothless

Yes but Sweden seems to have a government that could give a damn (most of the time)

[Jon Blund]

Re: Toothless

Well I guess if you insist on voting for twats and cleptocrats you will find yourselves in a bad place.

[Venerable and Fragrant Wind of Change]

Well, I guess it's a firm and pretty-much unarguable incentive to the telcos to do the right thing.

But if any of them don't want to play, mightn't the government messing them about over their choices of supplier become a jolly good excuse? We've been waiting to go for years, but the government is holding us up.

[Andy The Hat]

Could someone explain please?

Lies, damn lies and statistics ... what does 95% coverage relate to? The percentage of the population? The percentage of the UK land surface? The percentage of defined towns/villages/cities with 'some access'? The percentage of defined towns/villages/cities with 'full access'?

Bit pointless if 'coverage' means 'if I walk to the end of my road, stand on one leg and wave my phone in the air like I just don't care ...'

[phuzz]

Re: Could someone explain please?

"what does 95% coverage relate to? The percentage of the population? The percentage of the UK land surface? The percentage of defined towns/villages/cities with 'some access'?"

That will be in the small print of the statistic. Go check OFCOM if you really want to know the details.

[BebopWeBop]

UK mobile operators will be fined up to 10 per cent of their annual turnover if they fail to meet the coverage obligations of the £1bn Shared Rural Network plans, digital secretary Nicky Morgan has claimed.

Alternatively, a discount is available for a donation to the right party.

[Cynical user]

Networks, you must do this. Networks, you must do that.

And in the next breath... networks, we're going to impose price restrictions on this. Networks, we're going to stop you charging for that.