Commission For Rural Communities Calls For UK Mobile Broadband Improvement

The UK Commission for Rural Communities has today published a new report that aims to highlight the impact that poor mobile broadband and mobile phone coverage has on rural communities.

Founded in 2005, the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) is a government funded body that helps to ensure that UK policies, programmes and decisions take proper account of the circumstances of rural communities.

With the CRC taking a particular focus on disadvantaged people and areas suffering from economic under-performance.

The report, “Rural mobile phone coverage – issues and recommendations”, contains six recommendations for the government, which includes the introduction of a Universal Service Obligation (USO) for mobile operators.

The report also adds support for the government’s spectrum liberalisation plan, which would allow mobile operators to make use of their 2G spectrum for increased 3G mobile broadband services.

11.10 Spectrum liberalisation.

Ofcom recently advised the Government that mobile operators should be able to use their 2G spectrum to carry 3G services. This is likely to bring significant benefits including faster mobile broadband speeds, improved indoor coverage and wider mobile coverage in rural areas. It would also address the capacity issue and the additional demands that 3G expansion is putting upon the spectrum currently allocated to 3G use (2.1GHz).

11.13 A Universal Service Obligation (USO) for mobile.

[This] would help bridge the coverage (and equity) gap between rural and urban areas. Imposing a minimum level of coverage would compel operators to offer ubiquitous coverage and may prompt a culture shift among providers that ubiquitous coverage is actually desirable and adds value to their brand, as in the case in other countries, including Norway.

It would translate the status of digital communications to utility status. The European Union consulted on the feasibility of a USO for digital communications earlier this year.

In addition to offering their support for a USO, the CRC also comments on the government’s current Universal Service Commitment (USC), which aims to provide a minimum broadband download speed of 2Mbps to everybody in the UK by 2015, warning that it “may not be sufficient to meet European standards”.

The European Union are aiming to make basic broadband services compulsory by 2013, with the aim of a minimum 30Mbps requirement by 2020.

Commenting on the report, CRC’s Executive Director, Graham Russell said:

“Mobile phone technology – like broadband – is embedded into every aspect of life and has become almost an essential utility for people and for businesses. Yet there are rural places which still cannot receive a good mobile phone signal, with significant implications.

Small businesses are the backbone of the rural economy but they need decent connectivity in order to be accessible to customers and to keep in touch with their offices. Employers are cutting costs and increasingly want their employees to work flexibly including from home, but this can be difficult for people with poor mobile reception.”

Click here to download the full Rural mobile phone coverage – issues and recommendations (PDF)