Competition Authority Probes Motorola’s Role in UK 4G ESN

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced that they intend to look at the role of Motorola’s existing Airwave network in delivery of the new 4G based Emergency Services Network (ESN) contract, which could result in the launch of a formal market investigation into the company.

At present the emergency services (police, fire etc.) interface via the Motorola-owned Airwave network, which is believed to cost the UK around £3bn and harnesses the TETRA (Terrestrial Trunked Radio) network technology. However, TETRA is slow (dialup / ISDN like data speeds, but it could technically go a bit faster) and expensive, although it does deliver excellent voice coverage (c.97% geographic reach).

The high cost of Airwave is often highlighted as one of the main reasons why the UK government, in 2015, decided to replace it with a 4G solution (the first country to do so). The Home Office originally expected that emergency services could start using the ESN in September 2017, allowing Airwave to be replaced by December 2019, but the contract ended up being billions over budget and years behind schedule.

As a result, it has become necessary to keep the Airwave network running for several years longer than planned. But at the same time Motorola, since 2016, has also adopted the dual-role as a key supplier for the ESN contract (i.e. they had previously entered into a contract with the Government to provide software for the ESN, but then later acquired Airwave in Feb 2016).

The Government, the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee have thus expressed concerns regarding Motorola’s position and incentives to deliver ESN, particularly given the continuing high profitability of the Airwave network.

The CMA said they were concerned that Motorola could stand to make excess profits of about £1.2bn in the period from 2020 to 2026 – a cost which will ultimately fall to the British taxpayer. This issue has arisen because the planned replacement of the Airwave network with ESN has been delayed from 2019 to the end of 2026.

The CMA’s initial review of the evidence available indicates that the supply of the Airwave network in Great Britain is “not working well, resulting in significant detriment to customers and the taxpayer.”

Andrea Coscelli, CEO of the CMA, said:

“At the moment, Motorola is the only provider of critical mobile radio network services used by our emergency service workers and is involved in both the current and future set-up. We’re worried that the company could be cashing in on its position, while taxpayers are left to foot the bill.

The CMA is minded to launch a market investigation to dig deeper into its concerns and will now consult with a range of stakeholders, including the Government, on its plans.”

The probe is still in an early stage, but despite that the CMA has already identified two potential solutions in its consultation that may, in principle, be available should a market investigation confirm its initial concerns: regulate Motorola’s rate of return in relation to the Airwave network or require Motorola to sell the Airwave network. The current consultation is open until 2nd September 2021.