The Issue...

The Panel has been concerned for some time that many UK consumers, including small businesses, continue to experience problems making and receiving mobile phone calls. The Panel recognises that mobile internet and mobile broadband services may suffer from even greater problems with coverage than basic voice and text. However, these are relatively new services and the technology that supports them is still being rolled out by operators. Also, although usage is growing very quickly, mobile internet and mobile broadband services are not yet as integral to the lives of most UK consumers as voice and text services.

Improving coverage will take time and, in the meantime, consumers and small businesses need to be able to check where they can expect to get coverage before they commit to a mobile phone contract. The Panel's October 2009 research showed that coverage was a more important factor than cost for consumers when choosing a mobile operator.  Consumers are currently encouraged to rely on coverage checkers, but these do not provide a completely accurate picture of where they will and will not get coverage. The data provided is not standardised and it does not help with very local issues such as indoor coverage. The Panel is concerned that, because of the importance of coverage in the purchasing decision, some consumers would sign up for mobile contracts on the understanding that they would get a certain level of coverage but would then find that this was not the case. They would then be left paying for a contract without being able to use their phone in the way they had expected. This is why the Panel called for people to be able to cancel their mobile contracts if they find they cannot get the coverage they need. 

Our objective...

To encourage the publication of better, more comparable information about coverage, encourage Ofcom to explore how mobile coverage could be improved, and influence industry to make it easier for consumers to cancel contracts on the basis of coverage.

Our Current Position...

The Panel remains concerned about the availability of reliable coverage information.  Inaccurate coverage information will be confusing and potentially disadvantageous to consumers.  The Panel wants Ofcom to work with industry to provide consumers with accurate, comparable information on the level of coverage they can realistically expect.

The Panel wants mobile operators to start focusing on quality of service and coverage rather than price and retention of profitable customers.  Members feel the lack of interest from mobile operators in improving coverage is a key issue which must be tackled. While improving information on mobile coverage will help to encourage mobile operators to improve coverage, it has limited expected benefits where there are complete or partial mobile not-spots. The Panel wants Ofcom to look at ways to address the market failure that has resulted in complete or partial mobile not-spots.  This includes considering whether spectrum auctions can provide any solutions to the mobile not-spot issue.

The Panel also wants Ofcom to identify, describe and assesses the social and economic impact of mobile not-spots on citizens via its research.

In terms of contract cancellation on the basis of coverage problems, the Panel wants mobile operators and retailers to:

1.       Improve their cancellation policies by:

• making cancellation policies simple and consistent across their own products and retail channels; and
• introducing a minimum 14-day cancellation period for coverage problems across the industry.

2.       Improve the information given to consumers about policies that allow contracts to be cancelled due to poor coverage by providing better:

• training for sales advisors so they can explain policies when asked; and
• in-store information about policies to support sales advisors  

Our Impact...

Using the research results from Can I cancel?, the Panel persuaded Ofcom to work on how to improve mobile coverage for UK consumers.  In December 2009 Ofcom published a statement to conclude the Mobile Sector Assessment and confirmed its intention to carry out research on coverage problems and then consider how they could be addressed. Ofcom identified improving mobile network coverage as one of four consumer priorities in its 2010/11 annual plan.

Using the research results from Can I cancel?, the Panel called for operators and retailers to make their policies simpler and more consistent, and recommended a 14-day minimum returns period for customers with coverage problems. It also called for operators and retailers to improve staff training, so that sales advisors could give the correct information about cancellation policies when asked.

Throughout 2010 the Panel has developed stronger relationships with mobile operators leading to some operators responding positively to the identified need for training and requirement to improve coverage.  When launching the research the Panel contributed to increasing consumer awareness through nationwide media coverage on radio, online and press and via direct consumer contact.

Many consumers will now find it easier to cancel their contracts if they do not get the coverage they need, thanks to changes made in company policies following pressure from the Panel.  Four of the mobile operators and retailers surveyed in the Panel's research are making positive changes to their cancellation policies and the others have retained their existing policies, which in most of these cases already met the Panel's recommendations. All have reviewed the training and information given to sales advisors about the cancellation policies.

The most significant improvement is that Carphone Warehouse now has a single policy allowing consumers 14 days to cancel if they have coverage problems, rather than relying on the policies of the five mobile operators, and Phones4U has committed to implementing a single policy in 2011.   These third-party retailers previously had many different policies, which made it much more confusing for consumers and sales advisors. The policies variously depended on which network the contract was for, whether the contract was bought in a store, online or over the phone, and required consumers to pursue their problem with coverage through complex internal processes that sales advisors were not always trained to explain.

Following the advice provided to Ofcom in October 2010 regarding the presentation of its mobile coverage progress report and research, Ofcom made a number of changes to its published document - Mobile Not Spots - an update on our work. The Panel also received a letter for Colette Bowe which stated that the Ofcom Board still considers mobile coverage to be an issue of great importance.  Colette explained that Ofcom's objective in this area is to improve its understanding of the issues via research into not-spots and then use this understanding to consider whether there are any solutions within Ofcom's powers to improve coverage. In addition by gaining this knowledge Ofcom may be able to publish improved mobile coverage information and support any initiatives aimed at tackling the problem.  Colette felt that the work it has done so far takes Ofcom very close to achieving these objectives, however Ofcom will continue with its work programme in the area. 

Future Action to be Taken...

The Panel is delighted to see the industry responding to its contract cancellation proposals, which will make it simpler for consumers to know they can get redress for coverage problems. But it would still like to see all the providers offering a minimum of 14 days for all retail channels with transparent information about this right at the point of sale. As at November 2010, four companies in particular fall short of meeting all the Panel's recommendations. Vodafone and T-Mobile both offer 7-day returns periods, but the Panel hopes that they will consider implementing 14-day cancellation periods in light of the improvements made by their competitors. Three and Orange do not make their policies easily accessible to consumers. The Panel hopes that these operators will realise that making consumers aware of cancellation policies does not represent a risk when those policies are properly constructed. It hopes they also realise that the benefits in terms of customer experience and loyalty make it worth advertising these policies.

The Panel recommends that continuing engagement with mobile operators and retailers is undertaken in 2011 by Ofcom to develop industry minimum standards.  The Panel recommends that the regulator takes action on mobile coverage cancellation policies, to protect the interests of consumers.

The Panel's mobile coverage research shows that mobile coverage is very important to people and large numbers of people and small businesses experience problems with coverage. The Panel wants Ofcom to continue work with industry to provide consumers with accurate, comparable information on the level of coverage they can realistically expect and look at other ways of improving coverage where there are complete or partial mobile not-spots.   The Panel intended to continue to engage with Ofcom on this issue to ensure that it keeps this issue high on its agenda, due to its importance to consumers. Therefore the Panel is looking to continue this engagement and assess Ofcom's progress.

Our Actions, Outputs and Stakeholder Engagement...

At its meeting in March 2009 the Panel discussed with Ofcom a draft of the second Mobile Sector Assessment consultation document. The Panel expressed concern that coverage was not one of Ofcom's priorities. It followed this up with written advice saying that it would like to see coverage referred to explicitly in Ofcom's list of priorities together with a commitment to carry out research to understand coverage problems better and act on the findings.

In June 2009 the Panel submitted an initial response to the consultation, reiterating its advice on coverage and signaling its intention to carry out research to find out the views of consumers and small businesses and so test its belief that frustration with coverage was widespread.  This research was commissioned in July 2009.  In September 2009 the Panel had another discussion with Ofcom colleagues, who outlined their plans to carry out research to explore the nature of coverage problems.  The Panel encouraged Ofcom to also work with the mobile operators to explore how information about coverage could be improved.

In October 2009 the Panel submitted a detailed response to Mostly Mobile, Ofcom's mobile sector assessment second consultation, drawing on the findings of its research, which it published simultaneously.  This research showed that around a third of people who use mobiles regularly had difficulty with mobile coverage.

At the same time as publishing the research, the Panel wrote to the mobile operators calling on them to provide more accurate and comparable coverage information so that consumers can make a better informed choice about which network to choose. The Panel also asked operators to ensure that consumers had a ‘try before you buy' option, allowing them to cancel their contracts if they could not get good enough coverage. The Panel followed up these letters by meeting the mobile operators in November 2009.

Many operators and third-party retailers did already have policies that allowed consumers to cancel if they did not get adequate coverage. So the Panel wanted to test the extent to which these policies were made known to consumers. Therefore instigated mystery shopping research to look at the accuracy of information consumers are given when asking about whether or not they would be able to cancel a mobile phone contract, if they found that they could not get the coverage they needed. The research looked at the seven largest mobile phone operators plus the two largest third-party retail chains.

While undertaking this research the Panel engaged with the Mobile Broadband Group, mobile operators and retailers regarding mobile operator policies and key messages identified from the research, prior to publication.  The Panel also engaged with Consumer Focus and Which? prior to publication and with relevant journalists at publication.

In July 2010 we published this research Can I cancel?  Mobile coverage and contract cancellation with recommendations for how cancellation policies could be improved by operators.  The research suggests that there is a strong risk that consumers will not be given the correct information about cancellation policies before they sign a contract. The research found that over half (56%) of people buying a mobile phone contract in-store did not receive accurate information about cancellation policies in the event of coverage problems.

Can I cancel? also found that operators and retailers had significantly different policies. In some cases operators would not allow customers to cancel contracts even if they had no coverage at all. And where consumers could cancel their contract the time limit allowed varied dramatically. Shoppers also had considerably different experiences depending on which operator or retailer they visited.

In November 2010 the Panel published an update to its work on mobile coverage cancellation policies. This showed that many consumers will now find it easier to cancel their contracts if they do not get the coverage they need, thanks to changes made in company policies following pressure from the Communications Consumer Panel.

Throughout 2010 the Panel has monitored the ongoing work of Ofcom on mobile coverage with routine engagement. In May Ofcom updated Members on its current research programme on mobile coverage (not-spots) and mobile broadband. The Panel encouraged Ofcom to consider using other data gathering exercises to give an overall picture of coverage problems, so that future efforts could be focused on the highest priority areas where consumer demand is high. The Panel also recommended that Ofcom explore coverage solutions as soon as possible by piloting possible solutions in problem areas.  Again Members encouraged Ofcom to work with the mobile operators to explore how information about coverage could be improved, and suggested that Ofcom publish accurate mobile operator relative coverage information as a lever to get operators to recognise coverage problems and start improving coverage.

In October 2010 Ofcom updated Members on its approach to mobile coverage and network quality issues, including a summary of the research on the impacts of not spots. The Panel expressed concerns that the action which Ofcom was proposing to take will do little if anything to meet the objective set out in its Annual Plan of making progress on mobile coverage.  The Panel was so concerned that it followed up this advice by a letter to Colette Bowe and Ed Richards. 

The Panel expressed the following concerns and recommendations:

• Ofcom is relying on information too heavily as a remedy. It should balance the resource implications of pursuing mobile coverage information as a solution against the limited expected benefits and look at ways to address the market failure that has resulted in complete or partial mobile not-spots;
• there are other remedies available that have not been properly considered. Ofcom should consider how to build on the Panel's success in making it feasible for consumers to ‘try before they buy';
• the method used to measure coverage in Ofcom's analysis is misleading and any coverage statistics used should be fully explained so as not to be misleading;
• Ofcom should revisit the conclusions of the Illuminas report before it is published to ensure that any conclusions are accurate and justifiable;
• Ofcom's mobile coverage and spectrum teams do not appear to be adopting a joined-up approach and there could potentially be benefit from working together. It should consider whether the upcoming spectrum auction can provide any solutions to the mobile not-spot issue and cover this in the report; and
• the wider social and economic impact of mobile not-spots has not been rigorously analysed. Ofcom should ensure that its research appropriately identifies, describes and assesses the social and economic impact of mobile not-spots on citizens.

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