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back to article UK's landmark mobile not-spot deal already falling apart

The made-of-straw “landmark deal” to fix the not-spots in mobile phone infrastructure - which has made the UK the poor man of Europe in mobile coverage - is already starting to crumble. The necessary planning regulation to make it easier for the networks to roll out coverage to 90 per cent of the UK is being clumsily rushed …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I could never understand..

    why the mobile companies were not forced as part of their license agreement with the government to form a joint company to provide the masts and associated infrastructure.

    This would surely have enabled the coverage to be optimum for all parties, make for easier planning consents, and be benificial to the customer?

    6 2 Reply
    1. Richard Jones 1
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      Flame

      Re: I could never understand..

      I up-voted you, however, one lot would say it was anti competitive and the other lot would want a Ministry for Aerials. This would then be stuffed full of even more people who knew even less about the subject but were taken off the unemployment register anyway.

      1 0 Reply
    2. Trigonoceps occipitalis
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      Gimp

      Re: I could never understand..

      cf. Network Rail and the train operating companies, look how well that works out.

      2 3 Reply
  2. JimWin

    Re: I could never understand..

    There would be no Ministry for Aerials. The broadcasters share the TV transmission network that is operated by the IBA. Hence a single network operator servicing all broadcasters. The same model really ought to be used for mobiles - one network provider paid for by the mobile operators to create and maintain the shared network. So I agree with Amiee.

    And re Network Rail - well the train companies of old did create and manage their own tracks. It took years to harmonise the track gauge (though Brunel was probably right using wide gauge track, but that's another story).

    3 0 Reply
    1. James 100
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      Re: I could never understand..

      We're almost half way to that anyway, between Vodafone-O2's "Cornerstone" and EE-Three's MBNL.

      I'd be happy to see Cornerstone and MBNL pooling resources to cover more remote areas - though of course, with one part of MBNL buying part of Cornerstone, things could be messy for a while now.

      I would be wary of too much consolidation, though: having watched the coverage of different networks, it's largely the case that a gap in one network matches a gap in the others anyway. Most of the exceptions seem to be where a network is having technical problems (dead backhaul, failed cell kit, congestion): if that equipment were shared across networks, that would mean (a) more customers affected and (b) no ability to bypass the problem by switching networks, as dual-SIM handsets and roaming SIMs can do right now.

      0 0 Reply

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