Vodafone Says UK Ranks Poorly in Study of Ten Major Mobile Markets

Broadband and mobile provider Vodafone has published their new Mobile Market Index (MMI), which benchmarks the UK against nine international peers (inc. USA, Germany, France, Spain, South Korea, Australia, Norway, Singapore and Hungary) to assess the environment facing Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) in each.

Overall the UK places 8th in the new Mobile Market Index, above France and Spain, for Operating Environment (i.e. reflecting the factors that affect a mobile operator’s ability to operate and invest) and 9th for Consumer & Market Outcomes (i.e. outcomes consumers and operators experience as a result of the operating environment). But take this all with a pinch of salt as it reflects Vodafone’s own vested interests in the changes they’d like to see.

Otherwise, the Index highlights how UK operators face the “second highest energy costs and planning red tape“, while the UK is ranked 7 out of 10 for the pipeline of relevant skills. The cumulative impact of these pressures affects the service MNOs are able to provide the UK in comparison to other countries.

“The current environment limits operators’ ability to monetise the full extent of their network and invest sustainably in the digital infrastructure the UK needs to meet the demands of the future. Without action to support investment into UK networks, the Index suggests that the UK risks falling behind its global peers in supporting digital public services, national resilience and economic growth,” said the report.

Operating Environment

Consumer & Market Outcomes

The Index argues that affordability and competition should remain central, albeit alongside a stronger focus on investment, resilience, security and advanced network capability.

VodafoneThree Networks Director, Andrea Dona, said:

“Since the merger we have raised the bar for connectivity in the UK, eliminating thousands of not spots and providing millions of people with access to our fastest 5G speeds.

But we cannot afford to lose momentum. Fast, reliable and quality mobile networks are a fundamental driver of economic growth and prosperity. Which is why we support the UK Government’s efforts to examine the barriers holding back our mobile networks. Bringing the UK’s investment environment up to the standard of our international peers could help to support public services, eliminate digital divides and enable communities to thrive.”

VodafoneThree said it would like to see three policy changes resulting from the Mobile Market Review, including planning reform (i.e. modernise the planning system for the era of 5G connectivity and speed up advanced network rollouts), energy reform (i.e. mitigation on energy costs like other sectors receive) and support for enabling 5G network slicing technology (i.e. Ofcom’s net neutrality rules currently limit network slicing to prevent abuse).

Broadly speaking these points reflect many of the same recommendations that frequently crop up from the mobile sectors via various other reports (e.g. here, here, here, here, here and here). The Government, both through existing legislation, their 10-Year UK Infrastructure Strategy (10YIS), proposed changes to planning rules (here) and the complementary Mobile Market Review (MMR), are already progressing some improvements on the planning side of things. But it remains to be seen how much progress is made on energy and network slicing etc.