Budget 2016: key pledges for the mobile industry
In last week’s Budget, Chancellor George Osborne outlined a number of pledges that will affect the mobile phone industry.
One of the pledges ensures that companies will find it easier to build the necessary mobile masts that are needed for better coverage. The planning restrictions are set to be reduced, so companies will have more flexibility and freedom in developing their infrastructure.
This will mean a change in the law that helps the Government to overcome the issues that became clear when the mobile infrastructure project began. The £150 million project is designed to ensure that everyone in the UK can get mobile coverage. The project struggled in the early days when there were problems with planning permission, site access and extreme locations, resulting in the number of masts in use being far lower than the Government’s targets.
Vodafone has said that faulty masts could not be fixed easily due to problems accessing the sites. MPs have voiced concern in the House of Commons about landowners who charge rents to provide access to the masts. MPs representing rural areas have asked for changes to the law so that customers who have a poor reception can change their providers without penalty.
This year’s Budget has also seen a change in the regulations on unlocking mobile phones. Companies will now not be able to charge for unlocking a mobile phone if customers are outside of their contracts. This was mentioned first in the Autumn Statement last year, with the Chancellor calling upon providers to do more about changing this practise. There will now be a consultation on this issue.