Response to Mobile Markets Review Consultation (HTML)

Consumer Scotland is the statutory body for consumers in Scotland. Established by the Consumer Scotland Act 2020, we are accountable to the Scottish Parliament. The Act defines consumers as individuals and small businesses that purchase, use or receive in Scotland goods or services supplied by a business, profession, not for profit enterprise, or public body.

Our purpose is to improve outcomes for current and future consumers, and our strategic objectives are:

• to enhance understanding and awareness of consumer issues by strengthening the evidence base
• to serve the needs and aspirations of current and future consumers by inspiring and influencing the public, private and third sectors
• to enable the active participation of consumers in a fairer economy by improving access to information and support

Consumer Scotland uses data, research and analysis to inform our work on the key issues facing consumers in Scotland. In conjunction with that evidence base we seek a consumer perspective through the application of the consumer principles of access, choice, safety, information, fairness, representation, sustainability and redress.

The Consumer Principles are a set of principles developed by consumer organisations in the UK and overseas.

Consumer Scotland uses the Consumer Principles as a framework through which to analyse the evidence on markets and related issues from a consumer perspective.

The Consumer Principles are:

• Access: Can people get the goods or services they need or want?
• Choice: Is there any?
• Safety: Are the goods or services dangerous to health or welfare?
• Information: Is it available, accurate and useful?
• Fairness: Are some or all consumers unfairly discriminated against?
• Representation: Do consumers have a say in how goods or services are provided?
• Redress: If things go wrong, is there a system for making things right?
• Sustainability: Are consumers enabled to make sustainable choices?

All of these principles are relevant to the elements of the consultation proposal that we are responding to.

As the statutory consumer advocacy body for consumers in Scotland, our answers are focused the questions most relevant to our remit. We set out some initial comments below before turning to specific questions.

The UK Government has set out a vision for the UK’s mobile sector, with 4 underpinning objectives to achieve a market that:

• Drives investment in comprehensive high-quality connectivity
• Delivers for consumers
• Supports innovation and growth
• Provides secure and resilient networks

In order to deliver growth, it will be important that consumers can have confidence in the telecommunications services that they are purchasing. There are two core routes through which it will be important for consumer confidence in the mobile market to be enabled, in order to support growth.

Firstly, actions taken in the mobile market which can deliver better value, lower-cost services for consumers have the potential to contribute to wider economic benefits by boosting consumer spending power, giving consumers more money to spend on other goods and services.

Secondly,  mobile markets provide vital infrastructure which enables consumers to engage with and purchase a much wider set of goods and services across the economy. A mobile market which consumers have confidence can have a significant influence in facilitating consumer  engagement across the wider economy.

The mobile market must work well for consumers at both a nations and regional level and reflect the diverse needs of consumers across the UK. Ofcom, as regulator, should be empowered and required to ensure that nations-level and regional contexts are duly considered.

Please provide evidence on how current market conditions affect consumer outcomes, and explain how this will change over time.

Current mobile market conditions do not always deliver positive outcomes for all consumers. In relation to coverage, the picture in Scotland is one of mixed progress. Connected Nations 2025[1] shows that:

• Some progress has been made in 5G standalone coverage and deployment, with  coverage outside premises from at least one MNO at 77% at  High Confidence level. The comparable UK figure is 83%.
• Overall 5G coverage is still growing, with 5G coverage outside premises at High Confidence across the four MNOs improving from 54-76% last year to 59-84% in 2025. The comparable UK figures is 64- 89%. 
• Scotland’s 4G coverage is still rising, but Scotland has the lowest levels of geographic coverage across the UK.
• Scotland has the highest level of 4G total not spots, at 10%, and 6% of voice and text total not spots.

While outdoor coverage from at least one mobile network operator (MNO) is at 90%, coverage from all four MNOs drops sharply to 68%. This has two main effects on consumers.

Firstly, it is crucial that consumers understand the real life coverage that each operator can provide in the local areas that they live and work in. We recognise that the UK Government has emphasised the importance of improving the information about coverage that is  available for consumers, which we welcome.[2]  Where coverage falls short of that promised by operators, consumers should be able to switch easily and without penalty.

Linked to the effective operation of switching, consumers in Scotland are less likely to be able to switch providers confidently, given the relatively poor nature of 4G coverage, when compared to other regions. Consumers in Scotland may also be more affected by issues of reliability or resilience. Specifically, consumers in Scotland, and especially in rural areas, experience more frequent, and longer lasting power cuts. Where these affect mobile infrastructure this can have cascading impacts on consumers, meaning that they cannot access mobile broadband or voice services.[3] This is especially crucial given that the move to digital calling relies, in part, on the use of mobile services as a backup to fixed landlines running over VOIP.

We consider that there is a case for investment in stronger resilience measures to be put in place in rural areas. This could include drawing on technological developments such as satellite services, which could be used to better support network resilience where terrestrial networks are disrupted, as a result of storms or power cuts, for example. The development of direct-to-device (D2D) services, which use LEO satellites, enabling satellite-to-device communication without the need for dedicated satellite phones, may be one method of supplementing existing services. This underlines the need for any consideration of future connectivity priorities to be informed by an understanding of space connectivity and its integration with 5G and fixed connectivity. We previously called for Ofcom to continue to work with partners to improve monitoring and reporting on network resilience[4] and were pleased to note that the UK Government’s Statement of Strategic Priorities for Ofcom suggest Ofcom reviews how power outages may affect fixed voice and broadband networks in the UK to ensure there is an up-to-date and holistic approach across the whole network. [5]

In context of an evolving market, what additional measures could the government consider to further protect and empower consumers including from cost living pressures.

Our comments in the answer above in relation to resilience also apply to this question.

We strongly welcome the recently developed Telecoms Consumer Charter[6] and the underlying desire to ensure that consumers feel confident, informed and empowered when engaging with the telecoms market.  We welcome the steps taken to ensure transparency, support those who are struggling to pay and strengthen trust so that consumers can continue to benefit from excellent services at fair prices. Measures to improve information for consumers on pricing and contractual issues should provide a clear indication to providers of how consumer protections apply to their working practices.

On affordability we note that:

• Providers commit to ensuring available social tariffs, for those on means tested benefits, are easy to find and signposted  to eligible customers in communications …. ensuring they are easy to locate, understand and take-up
• Government encourages more providers to offer social tariffs where they are able to do so
• Providers commit to supporting all customers who are facing financial difficulty by offering practical support such as the ability to move to cheaper packages without charge or penalty or manageable payment plans

Ofcom data shows that 532,000 customers were using a social tariff in June 2025, up 26,000 from the previous year. However, despite this positive progress, 70% of eligible households are still unaware that these social tariffs exist.[7] The majority of social tariffs are in the fixed broadband market, with only 3% of social tariff take-up for mobile. This may be due to the availability of low-cost standard SIM-only and pre-pay deals, which in some cases may be cheaper than the social tariffs on offer. However, given that many consumers will access the internet via their mobile contracts (some exclusively so) it is critical to ensure that consumers can take advantage of these social tariffs, wherever they live. We encourage Ofcom to monitor and report on mobile social tariff coverage across the UK, by area and to actively encourage providers to offer such services where they are not currently available.

The mobile market also requires consumers to make a number of decisions, regarding whether to pre-pay, pay monthly, use out of bundle services, or use handset or SIM only deals. Getting the best deals is dependent upon consumer awareness and take-up of switching, and we encourage continued monitoring and reporting of switching, along with measures, such as those under the Charter, to ensure that providers make consumers aware of better deals.

To what extent has the current regulatory framework supported investment, innovation and competition in the mobile market? Please include detailed evidence to support your response.

To what extent is the current regulatory framework equipped to support investment, innovation and competition in mobile networks going forward? Please provide detailed evidence to support any specific changes you consider are required

The lower coverage figures and higher not-spot figures in Scotland highlighted above demonstrate the challenges in delivering strong connectivity in less densely populated areas. We recognise the work that has taken place through schemes such as R100 and the Shared Rural Network. However, more remains to be done.

There is a strong role for UK and Scottish Governments in working together to stimulate demand for digital public services delivered using communications technology. We support Governments working together to show leadership in the take up of new services, including for 5G.  We agree that this will increase investment confidence and as a result, support the deployment of standalone 5G. We note that DSIT is currently working across the public sector to aggregate demand for 5G solutions from central government.

Decisions being taken now in relation to 5G investment should be consistent with plans for future 6G development. Deployment of 6G will commence in the 2030s and should offer higher capacity, greater speeds and lower latency alongside improved security, in a more environmentally efficient way. It remains unclear what actions will be taken by Governments to ensure that 6G rollout takes place in an equitable way across the UK, ensuring that consumers in more remote areas do not miss out on opportunities. Government action and commitments will be important to set the correct investment signals for MNO going forward.

Policy and regulatory interventions can provide certainty and confidence for investors to put money into economic sectors, developing new services and products. This can achieve ‘win-win’ outcomes for businesses and consumers. Those businesses which meet certain standards to deliver positive consumer outcomes generate a significant competitive advantage. For consumers, regulation can help to give them confidence in a sector, which can support positive economic growth by boosting consumer spending power and giving consumers a solid, reliable foundation upon which to make purchasing decisions. Consumer confidence can also be boosted by having effective monitoring and enforcement. Consumer Scotland supports the use of concurrent powers by Ofcom and the CMA to protect consumers against unfair practices, or misleading or inaccurate communications by 
providers.

What further can the government do to ensure that the regulatory framework empowers and protects consumers

In addition to the formal requirements on operators under the Charter, which reflect existing consumer protection law, we consider that Ofcom should work with operators to address specific concerns about customer care, ensuring that complaint handling processes are fit for purpose and that redress pathways are clear and offer a consistent experience for consumers. This is particularly important for vulnerable consumers, including those with disabilities and those who are financially vulnerable.

We recommend that the UK Government should commit to further measures to encourage operators to adopt a more consistent approach. This could, for example, include changes to licence conditions. Measures may also be needed to give providers confidence to share data, where appropriate, with other key service providers,  to ensure that vulnerable consumers are accurately identified, and get a consistent level of support.

Underpinning this work is the need to ensure that regulations are informed by the groups and individuals they are likely to impact. Ofcom must engage with those affected by regulatory changes, and with the Communications Consumer Panel on issues likely to affect consumers of telecoms services, giving due weight to the Panel’s views and opinions.

If Ofcom and the UK Government are to accurately assess the effect of regulatory measures, or regulatory gaps on consumers, it is crucial that this process engages effectively with consumer bodies and can take account of a diverse range of communications services, user experiences and voices. Consumer bodies in turn require staff time and resources, for example, in commissioning research and conducting engagement activities, to provide an informed input to consultations and engagement with Ofcom. The telecoms sector is an outlier amongst regulated utilities in not having a levy funded consumer advocacy mechanism. Such a mechanism exists in the gas, electricity, postal services, water and heat networks sectors. The UK Government has previously consulted on the potential for a formal consumer advocacy mechanism in the telecoms sector and we would encourage DSIT to revisit this issue to explore how the establishment of more formal consumer advocacy and advice mechanisms can inform the work of government, the regulator and industry, ensuring that the consumer experience is understood and central to the policy and regulatory decision process.

Are there any other areas of the net neutrality regulations you consider may warrant updating? Please explain what impact the change would have on: a. Functioning of networks b. Innovation across the digital ecosystem (both content and communications markets) c. Competition d. Consumers e. Investment required in networks

Consumer Scotland supports the zero rating of public sector services for consumers. Such a move would allow access to essential information about NHS, transport, local authority or welfare services and would ensure that consumers are not placed at risk of experiencing harm or detriment by being unable to afford the data charges associated with accessing this information.