National Infrastructure Commission says UK is being held back by poor mobile connectivity and calls for end to ‘digital deserts’

Britain’s 4G mobile phone coverage is worse than that in Albania, Panama, Peru and Romania, with users able to connect barely half the time, a government infrastructure watchdog has found.

In a major new report, the National Infrastructure Commission said the UK is being held back by poor mobile phone connectivity, as it called for an end to “digital deserts” in places that should have adequate signals such as rail routes, roads and city centres.

Countries including the US and Japan already have data volumes four to five higher than the UK, the report found.

The commission, chaired by Andrew Adonis, the crossbench peer and former Labour minister, said the government must now ensure that the next generation of 5G spectrum does not have the failures that dog 4G coverage.

“Britain is 54th in the world for 4G coverage, and the typical user can only access 4G barely half the time,” Adonis said. “Our 4G network is worse than Romania and Albania, Panama and Peru. Our roads and railways can feel like digital deserts and even our city centres are plagued by not spots where connectivity is impossible.

“That isn’t just frustrating, it is increasingly holding British business back as more and more of our economy requires a connected workforce.”

In a list of recommendations, it argued there should be a new dedicated cabinet minister in charge of the UK’s digital future, ensuring mobile connectivity is competitive with the rest of the world.

On top of that, it called for ministers and Ofcom, the media regulator, to work together to ensure a set of standards known as a universal service obligation no later than 2025.

The crucial priorities for coverage are key rail routes, major roads such as motorways and all towns and cities, Adonis said.



“5G is the future – ultra-fast and ultra-reliable, it has the potential to change our lives and our economy in ways we cannot even imagine today. But the UK is currently languishing in the digital slow lane,” he added.

“5G offers us a chance to start again and get ahead. If government acts now we can ensure our major transport networks and urban centres are 5G ready in time to give British industry every chance to lead the world in exploiting its applications.

“But none of this will matter unless we bring our mobile network up to speed. The existing system does not provide the level of coverage we will need in our connected future. We need a new universal service obligation which ensures that the mobile essentials – like text, talk and data – are available to us wherever we need them.”

Grant Shapps, the former Tory chairman who now leads the British Infrastructure Group of MPs, said the report should be a wakeup call for the government, as he accused them of being too willing to listen to the excuses of mobile phone operators about poor signal.

“This confirms what we have been saying for a long time. Over the years, ministers have been far too easy on the glib promises given by the telecoms providers and I think that has been combined with ineffective and weak regulation from Ofcom,” Shapps said.

“Britain cannot afford to repeat the outcome of the 5G network that we have had with the 4G network and so the British Infrastructure is calling on the prime minister to appoint a cabinet minister to oversee the recommendations of this report and make sure this person is accountable for delivering 5G throughout the UK.

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“Unfortunately there has been a very long history of believing what the telecoms companies say rather than questioning it. The fact the report was commissioned is a good thing but Britain should be all about infrastructure in this post-Brexit world and here is a real wake-up call to make sure it actually happens this time.”

The National Infrastructure Commission was established last year by George Osborne, the then chancellor, to advise the government on critical challenges related to the UK’s networks such as transport, telecommunications, energy and utilities.

5G networks are not expected to become available until 2020 but Ofcom has already begun preparations for auctioning off the spectrum.

The round of 4G auctions raised less than Osborne had hoped for in 2012 and much of the UK is still plagued with “not spots” of poor signal.

In a recent report backed by 90 MPs from all parties, the British Infrastructure Group proposed an amendment to the government’s digital economy bill to allow Ofcom to fine mobile operators that did not meet the targets of a 2014 agreement.

That deal gave the four large network operators (MNOs) another chance to fix mobile “not spots” after they said they would pump £5bn into improving coverage across the UK by December 2017 in return for the government not pursuing a system of national roaming.

BIG said it found little evidence to suggest that the mobile sector would meet the targets of this agreement to provide coverage to 90% of the UK’s geographic area, and called for a progress update to be published by the end of 2016.