Vodafone finally meets coverage obligation
Mobile service provider Vodafone has had the threat of action against it rescinded after the company confirmed that it has now met its obligation to provide coverage to 90% of homes in the UK.
Towards the end of 2013, Ofcom had announced that whilst the three other major network operators – Three, EE and O2 – had met their obligation to provide coverage to 90% of UK homes by June 2013, Vodafone had only reached 88.66% coverage by the stated time.
As a result of the warning, the network operator had to agree plans with the watchdog to ensure that it would reach its target by the close of 2013. Ofcom has confirmed that the plans were an eventual success.
It is believed that achieving success meant having to upgrade 129 of the transmitter sites that the network used. In a statement, Ofcom noted that it took the responsibilities of the licensees extremely seriously and that it would have issued penalties to Vodafone had the provider not been able to meet the necessary standards.
A statement released by Ofcom confirmed: “Having taken these factors into account, and the margin by which the target was missed, Ofcom has decided that it will not take any further action on this occasion.”
A spokesperson for Vodafone said: “We welcome Ofcom’s confirmation that our network coverage exceeds the 90% population coverage obligation, which was achieved before the end of 2013. We remain committed to delivering 98% population coverage across 2G, 3G and 4G by 2015 and are investing more than £900m in our network in this year alone.”