Mobile Operators Plea for More Support Ahead of UK Budget 2024
Trade body Mobile UK, which represents Three UK, EE (BT), O2 (VMO2) and Vodafone, has made a last minute plea for the government to use this week’s Spring Budget to introduce changes that would foster a more “positive investment environment” for mobile operators and thus boost their network upgrades.
According to Mobile UK, the mobile industry is facing several “pressing challenges“, including rising costs due to inflation, a decade of flat / declining revenues, rising demand for data “requiring massive investment in network capacity” (this is pretty much the norm for internet provision), and growing Government asks to deliver social goods, such as social tariffs, to ensure everyone is digitally included. Such pressures are not unique to mobile operators, with fixed line broadband providers facing similar strains.
The trade body is thus calling on the UK Government to address these challenges and commit to actions that will ensure the industry can thrive, placing it into a more sustainable and healthy position for the future. The key asks of Mobile UK will no doubt already be familiar to our regular readers, as they’ve all come up before.
For example, there’s a call for central funding of Digital Champions to help support mobile deployments at local authority level, as well as the usual attempt to weaken Net Neutrality rules (this has largely already been tackled) and for Ofcom to reduce or even remove annual licence fees.
Mobile UK’s Wish List for the Budget
➤ Put in place measures to help improve the investor outlook.
➤ Redirect or remove annual licence fees.
➤ Ensure certainty in the tax system.
➤ Increase resources in the planning to streamline and approve new mobile infrastructure.
➤ Invest in digital skills.
The trade body believes this would improve the investment outlook to help narrow the £25bn investment gap identified by the Digital Connectivity Forum (here), which may in turn spur investment in both 5G and stand-alone 5G. The Government’s recent Wireless Infrastructure Strategy (WIS) similarly set out an ambition for “all populated areas to be covered by ‘standalone’ 5G (5G-plus) by 2030” (here).
Hamish MacLeod, CEO of Mobile UK, said:
“The mobile network operators believe these actions will help unlock the full potential of the UK’s mobile industry. We hope to work with the Government to break down barriers and create a positive investment environment that supports the deployment of mobile infrastructure to help sustain people’s ultra-connected lifestyles, along with the recruitment of digital champions within local authorities.
We look forward to the chancellor’s announcement with the hope of seeing the inclusion of focus on infrastructure and the acknowledgment of its central role in strengthening the economy.”
However, some of the aforementioned areas aren’t ones that would traditionally be covered in budget announcements (e.g. net neutrality), and the government seem unlikely to direct Ofcom to slash licence fees at a time when they’re already having to deal with a significant strain on public finances.
As for softer planning rules, we’ve already seen some positive developments on this front, such as changes to support taller masts and making it easier to upgrade existing sites via Permitted Development (PD) rights. The other difficultly for the government is that they also have to balance fresh demands with issues of public opinion (i.e. new mobile masts and poles aren’t always super popular), which is much more relevant in an election year.
On the other hand, the government’s own mobile coverage commitments, such as via the £1bn industry-led Shared Rural Network project (i.e. geographic 4G coverage to 95% of the UK by the end of 2025) and the Wireless Infrastructure Strategy (i.e. “all populated areas to be covered by ‘standalone’ 5G (5G-plus) by 2030”) may struggle if more action isn’t taken.
The reality here is that the Spring Budget may not touch much on many, or possibly even any, of the aforementioned areas. But it certainly doesn’t hurt mobile operators to put the message out again.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook and Linkedin.
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Rising demand for data “requiring massive investment in network capacity“
– That sounds like a you problem
Some is regulation too though. Taller masts and streamlining planning permission for things like small cells would help.
Obviously, Vodafone, O2 and 3 throwing band 20 on a mast and saying wooooooo 4GEEEEEEEEE doesn’t help the cause.
lmao, No, it’s sounds like a you problem to be fair.
I would agree that the rises that networks push each year are annoying but they also face rising costs in line with this, and to be fair the cost of mobile hasn’t really gone up much inline with what networks have been allowing customers to do.
Obviously I know this platform isn’t quite interested in this sort of view.
I’ve been witness to how other countries have managed pricing of mobile plans and how there networks cope and its hard to compare to the UK market as we have a crippling number in population in such a small locality and that requires much more than say a US operator whos covering a small town or has a much more geographically spread userbase.
On the other hand, mobile pricing has been a little bit stupid in recent years, networks offering stupid low pricing and not managing user usage properly (though I’m seeing that is changing), we have lite users paying the same as heavy users and thats not right, and we have network dishing out free sims and super discounted unlimtied data plans to financially disadvantaged folks, but not managing how its used or who’m by…. and why? (I don’t know for sure), keeping people connected don’t need an Unlimited 5G plan, meanwhile Doris is paying £30 a month for a landline to keep in touch with the Bingo crew!
Regulations have sure played part in some of networks shortfalls on the physcial side of things, but as EE has proven, they should be selective of their customers, having a network that nobody can rely on but having more customers in the shorterm isn’t a good business plan but because of the way business is now, thats sort of how they have to run to become like EE.
Like electricty, you guys need telecoms now, so you’ll pay whats needed, all the mobile networks are doing is warning the government that they are going to be doing it and that the free rides either need to be compensated in some form.
The brass neck of them!
“….According to Mobile UK, the mobile industry is facing several “pressing challenges“, including rising costs due to inflation…” – and remind us, who massively ramped up their prices in the past few years to the absolute maximum that they could get away with…all under the guise of utilising said increased revenue to cover their costs and to increase investment, and yet here they are pleading poverty…the absolute gaul of them, they have no shame and there is no end to their greed!
I agree!
An industry that puts bills up on average CPI +3.9%, it is totally unacceptable that they go begging like this.
Screw the customer on the one hand and screw the tax payer on the other had. The industry behaviour recently has been appalling.
The revenue streams driven by the inflationary + 3.9% increases, increased roaming revenue (I don’t believe for a second the wholesale cost of anywhere near what the big players are charging), the cost savings from switching off 3G and more.
The industry needs much more effective competition and a regulator that is willing to be tough on them.
The state needs to cut taxes. Corporate, income, capital gains… When the state steals less money, investment comes
Quoting Suella Braverman on the triggernometry podcast last week “we are heading for electoral oblivion if we do not correct course”
Exactly. And stop socialising benefts through the endless ‘social’ tariffs they are now forced to offer.
@John
The Tories “are heading for electoral oblivion” regardless, largely thanks to extremist absolute horrors such as Cruella de Braverman and the rest of the barrel scrapings who’ve capped off their fourteen omnishambolic years in power.
Good riddance!
You listen to that vile woman. Speaks volumes!
It’s glorious how just mentioning the brown lady’s name triggers the leftys
@Abdul
Mussolini is to the left of that disgraced extremist, which makes pretty much everyone else a ‘leftist’ by comparison. Also her ethnicity and sex are irrelevant, rather it’s her deeds and words are what make her absolutely objectionable.
NPCs were absolutely fuming about Priti Patel a few years ago as well. How dare ethnic minority women actually try to do their jobs rather than work towards the liberal globalist utopia
You appear to be playing the race card and talking about an ‘anti-woke’ couple of politicians.
Both breached the Ministerial Code. One of them went free lance on foreign policy. Braverman’s entertainment well known. An ideologue with low grade legal experience made AG to rubber stamp everything that came her way, legal or not.
Both of them obsessed with taking back control of our borders and both completely failed having been more interested in appealing to the Reform vote and getting out of the ECHR than actually dealing with the very real issues.
They praise a points based immigration system then urinate into the tent furiously when, as in Australia, numbers go up.
I couldn’t care less about the colour of their skin. Braverman had no business anywhere near the AG position, epitomy of a yes woman applying a laughable legal veneer to illegality, LinkedIn profile fiction, Patel incapable of following basic rules of propriety and honesty.
They’re both incompetent ideologues promoted well above their capabilities who’ve wasted tons of our money and parliamentary time on nonsense rather than boring, but effective solutions.
As far as the NPC comment goes posting on any vaguely related topic on here then running away when asked for evidence over a claim you made doesn’t make you a player character, sorry. The regular comments on Sadiq Khan don’t make you a PC. Why not treat yourself to a nice rant on the WEF?
https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2024/02/starlink-test-cheaper-but-slower-leo-satellite-broadband-plan.html#comment-301774
Makes great reading where your immediate response is to blame taxes, then it’s to only blame taxes in some places as in others even though the taxes are sky high the pricing isn’t so the whole premise falls apart.
Then of course the wonderful one where you claim various taxes are higher in Canada, triggering higher Starlink prices so government hates the people when they’re actually lower than here.
Do I get to be a PC for writing something that’s actually correct rather than immediately blaming everything on taxes then partly backing up having been shown to be parroting from the Libertarian handbook, again?
https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2024/02/starlink-test-cheaper-but-slower-leo-satellite-broadband-plan.html#comment-301898
‘Tax to GDP ratio is considerably higher in the UK than in Canada and way lower in the UK than in France just FYI. Suspect you’ve just Googled the marginal income tax rates ignoring that Canada has a bunch of deductions, credits, etc, available. Regardless the tax to GDP ratio is where it’s at.
I imagine the actual answer is nothing more interesting than that France’s fixed line prices are mostly lower than the UK’s, in no small part thanks to government regulation, while Canada’s pricing for fixed line is higher than the UK’s. Starlink are a business: they’ll charge whatever they think the market in question will tolerate.
However when all you have is a hammer everything looks like a nail. When you hug the nuts of libertarians government seems the root of all problems and the answer to none.’
Such a deliciously arrogant vibe when misinformed ideologues describe others as NPCs while spouting endless inaccurate nonsense.
It’s insane how XGS is wrong all the time but then decides to attack me in order to defend:… theft and the online lynching of a former minister
Makes the argument towards meritocracy, but then the DEI joke flies over his head. 2 things are true here at once: they trigger leftists, they have been promoted beyond their competence through DEI.
You want to defend Sadiq Khan too? Between raising taxes on the poor by lying and saying paying him improves the weather, as well as the ghastly rainbowification of london, he has used the slur “uncle Tom”, a term to describe black supreme judge Clarence Thomas, as an insult to refer to conservative muslims
Taxes ARE the big elephant in the room. For a second ignore the fact that the tax burden has never been as high since WW2, look at the wishlist posted in the article:
Put in place measures to help improve the investor outlook = taxes are too high, cutting them would improve investor outlook
Redirect or remove annual licence fees = taxes are too high, cutting them would allow funds to pay fees
Ensure certainty in the tax system = taxes are too high, cutting them would solve this
Increase resources in the planning to streamline and approve new mobile infrastructure = regulations are too high, cutting them would solve this
Invest in digital skills = taxes are too high, cutting them would allow for more resources to invest in training
It is THAT simple. Only authoritarians want the cancerous state to solve every single problem but the fact is that the entire wishlist is caused by an excessive state size
Correcting course will lead to the same outcome now…..I think that’s why they’re going with the scorched earth policy, poisoning the well for whoever takes over after them now.
Let’s see if they correct course or keep going full scorched earth
If it is the later then expect MPs to defect
In the US they are definitely going for broke with insane inflation, more Ukraine money laundering, sicking the feds on Texas, more political persecution of the opposition…
John – taxes have never been as high on everyday working people but the taxes on corporations and wealth are not the same.
After WW2, taxation was high and was used by the Labour government to invest in the economy and people. High taxes were used to build housing stock, to fund the NHS etc.
The high taxes of today are being used to offset corporate risk. Were paying through the nose for PFIs in the NHS, were paying through the nose to give rebates to hydrocarbon producers, we’re letting huge tech firms pay little to no tax for operating in the country for “investment” and “competition”.
We need higher taxes, not lower ones. Reducing tax doesn’t create growth or even drive it. It helps wealthy people get wealthier. Proof is the last 15 years of Tory rule. Cameron – cut the deficit not the NHS. Deficit? Highest it’s ever been. NHS? Worse than it was after it had been battered pre 1997.
We need higher taxes, but those taxes need to be on the very wealthy. Those earning hundreds of thousands a year, those earning huge sums in capital gains, those massive corporate interests. Not on the everyman.
But given your rhetoric about unrelated issues that have nothing to do with tax, like culture wars etc, I doubt very much that you have any knowledge or understanding and are content to be gaslit and surrender in Stockholm syndrome.
False equivalency. Fact is that taxes are at record highs for businesses AND individuals (and individuals who run businesses)
The state should not use taxpayer funds to build houses, especially not for people who never even paid taxes. Labour has turned London social housing into housing foreigners. Here’s a crazy unsustainable statistic that cements what I just said: currently 50% of all social housing in London is being used to house foreigners
Taxes harm the poor disproportionately because they are the ones consuming the end products with higher prices, they are the ones with less sources of income that get taken away by the state. The wealthy have much more mobility to just go to countries where they have less money stolen. Why would a software engineer work in the UK when he can just move to Florida, earn 3x more and at the same time have much less money stolen from him?
Reducing the amount of money that the state steals makes EVERYONE wealthier, case in point: Singapore. But keep yelling culture wars every time normal people push back against children being told to do frankenstein surgeries to treat their mental illness
Mobile network are useless in UK why should the budget give them money?
Have they stopped pushing for terrible “sender pays” laws?
Those poor mobile operators. They might actually have to compete for customers, offering, shock, value for money?!
Meanwhile EEs cheapest plan is £16 a month for 2gb data
I’m seeing £14 for 2GB or £16 for 25GB for new customers on the EE website, dropping to £9.10 (for 5GB) and £11.20 respectively for existing customers. The 2GB plan seems poor value for money vs other options, but it’s good to see existing customers being rewarded (I’m not an EE customer, was interested as the price quoted seemed v.high)
Which can be had for £3.75 a month on a EE MVNO.
The mobile operators supply 1000’s of SIM cards which operate for 6 months for free to the ‘national databank’ to be distributed to those in need via network of various community centres and digital skills hubs etc.
Unfortunately, a thriving black market has emerged with a huge proportion of these SIM cards ending up on eBay.
You only need to search 6 month Vodafone SIM card on there to see 1000’s for sale. You know it’s them as they have the ‘everyone connected’ social branding.
But these SIM cards are not free. They come at a cost to paying customers and shareholders.
So please, let’s not use tax payers money to expand these schemes.
Offer free public wi-fi in venues such as libraries, community centres, and in public spaces. Join it all up for a seamless roaming experience. That is a better solution.
Mark – I do believe Sadiq khan is planning to do something like that over London. Only time will tell how well it works
Corporate greed knows no limits since COVID, gave them all a green light to fleece any and everyone.
Here’s my wish list:
* Give me a usable mobile signal in populated areas
Oh what’s that? You can’t be bothered?
If MVNO’s can sell the same products as mobile operators at a 6th of the cost they charge on the same networks and still make a profit, then the mobile operators can’t be in need of any support.
➤ Increase resources in the planning to streamline and approve new mobile infrastructure.
This isn’t a Budget issue. The current government wimped out of getting rid of ‘prior approval’ which is a huge problem, allowing NIMBY local authorities to block development, and at the same time wimped out of taller cell sites. The consumer pays more and gets less as a result.
Building their Networks infrastructure is affecting their profits.. we cant have that now can we. Get the public to fund them. Despicable.