Consumer Panel welcomes focus on mobile coverage in Ofcom mobile sector consultation
08 July 2009
The Communications Consumer Panel welcomes the focus on mobile coverage in Mostly Mobile, Ofcom's new consultation on the mobile sector. We are pleased Ofcom has responded to the Panel's calls to give mobile coverage increased priority.
Consumer Panel Chair Anna Bradley says that, "Recent Panel research has shown that mobile coverage is an important issue for consumers - being able to communicate by phone and use mobile broadband on the move is increasingly important for social and work reasons. But there are a great many not-spots and areas where the quality of coverage is poor. This is reinforced by the coverage maps Ofcom has now published which show substantial gaps in mobile broadband coverage."
The Panel welcomes Ofcom's acknowledgement that commercial provision of mobile phone coverage (often called 2G coverage) has probably reached its limits, particularly in rural areas, and we will be working with them to see how the consumer experience can be improved. To this end, we will be carrying out research into consumers' experiences of mobile coverage to feed into Ofcom's consultation. We also look forward to working with Ofcom to shape its forthcoming research into coverage problems and potential solutions.