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November 07, 2014

Government pushes for better mobile coverage

Government pushes for better mobile coverageThe government has pledged to eliminate poor mobile coverage that currently blights a fifth of the UK.

It is addressing the problem of so called “partial not-spots” – areas of the UK that have coverage from some but not all of the four mobile networks (EE, O2, Three and Vodafone). As a result of this, consumers can find themselves with no coverage.

Culture secretary Sajid Javid has launched a consultation to address the problem. He said: “It can’t be right that in a fifth of the UK, people cannot use their phones to make a call. The government isn’t prepared to let that situation continue. This consultation will complement the work industry is doing and allow the government to hear from the wider telecoms sector, businesses and the public.”

Businesses that want to take part in the consultation must respond by 26 November 2014.

Meanwhile, a survey by RootMetrics has found that nearly half of SME owners (46%) are losing one or more important mobile phone call on a daily basis due to the poor service.

Ranking performance on a scale of one to five, with one being the worst and five the best, small business owners revealed the level of service on their mobile (1.51) is worse than their landline (2.22). This is despite the fact that businesses are investing more in mobile devices than traditional office equipment.

Nearly a fifth of small businesses (19%) now provide all their staff with a mobile device; in London, 32% of firms are now providing all their employees with a mobile.

Bill Moore, CEO and president of RootMetrics, said: “Small businesses increasingly rely on their mobile devices to conduct business, with many of these businesses now spending more on mobile contracts than on traditional essentials like heating, air conditioning, and office computers. Yet clearly many are unhappy with the performance they are experiencing.”

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