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Industry trade body Mobile UK, which represents Three UK, EE, O2 and Vodafone, will today publish a new report from Assembly Research that once again calls on the government to “secure the UK’s economic growth goals and maintain its competitive standing” by supporting their wish list of demands to help boost the roll-out and coverage of mobile networks (4G, 5G etc.).
The current government previously made clear that they would be making a “renewed push to fulfil the ambition of full gigabit and national 5G coverage by 2030” (here). Naturally, broadband and mobile operators have not been shy about producing their own wish lists for what this could mean (here, here, here and here), which for mobile operators has often been reflected in calls for a more flexible planning system, lower licence fees for radio spectrum and easier engagement with local authorities.
However, the story so far has been one of disappointment, at least for the mobile operators. Despite their lobbying, the government’s new Planning and Infrastructure Bill (PIB), introduced on 11th March 2025, and Autumn Budget, largely seemed to ignore mobile networks, preferring instead to focus on other sectors, such as energy, housing and transport.
Meanwhile, reports from earlier this year (here) also appeared to indicate that the government might be looking to cut some of its £501m of support for the £1bn industry-led Shared Rural Network (SRN) programme and its efforts to extend 4G coverage into remote rural areas. But the exact outcome of those discussions remains unclear.
Suffice to say that the new report – ‘Mobile Infrastructure Investment: The UK’s Route to Growth‘, commissioned by Mobile UK and conducted by Assembly Research, marks another attempt by mobile operators to have the government recognise their impact on the economy (it claims that every £1 invested can generate £5 for the wider economy) and “take immediate action to stimulate increased investment“. This includes the usual batch of familiar recommendations.
Key Recommendations by Mobile Operators
While the Government has successfully incentivised private sector investment in the fixed broadband market, Mobile UK asserts that a similar policy focus is now essential for mobile infrastructure.
The Assembly Research report identifies crucial areas where government intervention will significantly boost investment and benefit the economy, including:
➤ Repurposing ALFs [annual licence fees] to improve mobile coverage and capacity.
➤ Revising planning rules to facilitate network deployments.
➤ Implementing the PSTI Act now and in full.
➤ Introducing a business rates holiday on new mobile infrastructure.
➤ Evolving the UK’s net neutrality regime.
➤ Supporting operators’ plans to switch off 2G services.
➤ Appointing digital champions to help expedite 5G rollouts.
➤ Tackling not-spots via the Shared Rural Network programme.
The operators appear to be hoping that they can encourage the government to address these “missed opportunities” via the upcoming Spending Review and Infrastructure Strategy.
Hamish MacLeod, Chief Executive of Mobile UK, said:
“The Government has rightly identified growth as its top priority and called on the UK’s telecoms industry to help strengthen the economy. Now, it’s crucial for the Government to prioritise mobile infrastructure, enabling operators to accelerate investment in coverage and capacity.
This will be fundamental to underpinning growth and fostering innovation throughout the UK economy, and the upcoming Spending Review and Infrastructure Strategy are key moments to demonstrate this commitment.”
The government has so far talked up a big game around areas like planning reform, although they’ve also suffered somewhat of a public backlash to recent tax rises and other changes that could make them even more risk-averse than usual. This is a problem because mobile infrastructure has always been a bit of a hot potato, with many people often objecting to the construction of new mobile masts and related kit, despite their importance.
We’d be surprised if the forthcoming Spending Review delivered many big changes for the operators, although it would be equally surprising if the future Infrastructure Strategy overlooked the sector. Some of the things that the new report desires also stray into tedious areas like Net Neutrality (i.e. measures to prevent serious blocking or slowing of access to legal websites / internet services), which can be very divisive topics and has only recently been reviewed by the regulator.
Elsewhere, Ofcom are currently looking to reduce Annual Licence Fees (ALF) in some radio spectrum bands, albeit not by as much as mobile operators really want (here) and it remains to be seen whether the government might encourage the regulator to opt for a more radical change.
The reality is that mobile operators probably won’t get everything on their wish list. But it currently remains unclear whether they’ll get anything substantive at all. This is despite the importance many of us place on our ability to access a good quality mobile and data service.