Ofcom calling on consumers for mobile consultation

Communications watchdog Ofcom has launched a consultation to determine whether the mobile industry is meeting our needs.

The outcome of the call for comment, which closes on 6 November, will help shape the regulatory future of the sector.

The number of mobile phones in operation in the UK some 70 million-plus exceeds the number of people living here, emphasising the device's criticality and prompting Ofcom's review.

Through the consultation, which falls under the regulator's umbrella efforts to evolve its policies in line with the converging world we're living in, Ofcom hopes to ensure consumers get the best deal as well as promoting greater competition and innovation.

"Mobile communication is now a central feature of modern life. As our flourishing mobile sector evolves, we want to help maintain strong competition and innovation alongside consumer protection," said Ed Richards, Ofcom's chief executive.

"With significant market and technology developments underway, now is the right time to ask some tough questions about the future approach to regulation. We look forward to a wide ranging debate on these issues."

Despite the high proliferation of mobile phones in the UK, not everyone is happy with what they're getting. Or not getting as the case may be. Ofcom reckons that more than 90 per cent of us fall in the happy camp but is keen to look at ways of addressing the rising number of mobile service-related consumer complaints in the future.

Furthermore, the regulator also plans to use the consultation effort to broaden mobile access and extend network coverage, looking at 2G not spots' and beefing up 3G access to boot.

"We'll be talking to users of mobile services - businesses as well as individuals. We'll talk to consumer and other interest groups. We'll talk to some people in the City. And of course we'll talk to people in the mobile sector - hopefully getting a wide range of people involved in retailing, service provision, applications, networks and making stuff (network equipment and handsets).So quite a busy time for us," Ofcom's David Stewart wrote in the new blog the regulator has set up on the issue of mobile communications.

"Written responses are at the heart of the consultative process. I'll be reading them all, along with other members of the team (and yes, even if there are thousands), and we'll be meeting with as many stakeholders as we can. But we also want to use tools like this blog to hear different points of view. After that, the onus will be back on us to weigh it all up, distill the evidence from the hype and come up with proposals for what we think Ofcom should do. But that's a way off - first we need to listen."