UK's poor communications infrastructure could give it an "economic disadvantage"
Large parts of the UK have inadequate broadband coverage and 3G mobile access, the industry regulator's first report on the country's communications infrastructure has found.
The findings, which reveal alarmingly that good 3G mobile coverage is almost exclusively confined to London, are likely to have huge implications for IT jobs in the UK.
Approximately 7.7 million UK properties do not have a choice of all five 3G mobile networks, Ofcom found.
About 73 per cent of properties and 13 per cent of the UK's landmass are able to receive a signal outdoors from all five 3G networks. However less densely populated areas have lower coverage.
Approximately 900,000 UK premises do not have a choice of all four 2G mobile networks the regulator discovered.
Some 97 per cent of premises and 66 per cent of the UK landmass can receive a 2G signal outdoors from all four 2G networks, Ofcom concluded in the review, which it's required to submit to the Government every three years.
It presented the data, supplied by communications providers, in a series of maps.
The report comes after the Government pledged to deliver superfast broadband to 90 per cent of people in local authority areas. They also want everyone to have access to a minimum of 2Mbps.
'Super Fast' broadband services are generally defined as those that run at over 24Mbps.
English counties will be given £294.8m under this £530m plan, which will hopefully lead to the creation of more Telecom jobs and GIS jobs.
Their Scottish counterparts will get £68.8m. Wales will be handed £56.7m, while Northern Ireland will receive £4.4m.
Ofcom says it's working with the Government to consider how to use £150m it has allocated to help address what have been dubbed mobile "not-spots".
Rob Bamforth from Quocirca, a research and analysis company which focuses on the European market, warned that the UK will be placed at an "economic disadvantage" if it doesn't improve its mobile coverage.
"From a business perspective it's not good enough if you can't get a signal, particularly as the need for connectivity is increasing with remote working.
Mathew Howlett, analyst at Ovum, which advises on the commercial impact of technology and market changes in IT services, stressed that monitoring needs to occur in between Ofcom's three-year reports.
"One of the interesting things from this report is that fixed line is still seen as the number one means of accessing the internet for consumers and business users," he said.
The findings, which reveal alarmingly that good 3G mobile coverage is almost exclusively confined to London, are likely to have huge implications for IT jobs in the UK.
Approximately 7.7 million UK properties do not have a choice of all five 3G mobile networks, Ofcom found.
About 73 per cent of properties and 13 per cent of the UK's landmass are able to receive a signal outdoors from all five 3G networks. However less densely populated areas have lower coverage.
Approximately 900,000 UK premises do not have a choice of all four 2G mobile networks the regulator discovered.
Some 97 per cent of premises and 66 per cent of the UK landmass can receive a 2G signal outdoors from all four 2G networks, Ofcom concluded in the review, which it's required to submit to the Government every three years.
It presented the data, supplied by communications providers, in a series of maps.
The report comes after the Government pledged to deliver superfast broadband to 90 per cent of people in local authority areas. They also want everyone to have access to a minimum of 2Mbps.
'Super Fast' broadband services are generally defined as those that run at over 24Mbps.
English counties will be given £294.8m under this £530m plan, which will hopefully lead to the creation of more Telecom jobs and GIS jobs.
Their Scottish counterparts will get £68.8m. Wales will be handed £56.7m, while Northern Ireland will receive £4.4m.
Ofcom says it's working with the Government to consider how to use £150m it has allocated to help address what have been dubbed mobile "not-spots".
Rob Bamforth from Quocirca, a research and analysis company which focuses on the European market, warned that the UK will be placed at an "economic disadvantage" if it doesn't improve its mobile coverage.
"From a business perspective it's not good enough if you can't get a signal, particularly as the need for connectivity is increasing with remote working.
Mathew Howlett, analyst at Ovum, which advises on the commercial impact of technology and market changes in IT services, stressed that monitoring needs to occur in between Ofcom's three-year reports.
"One of the interesting things from this report is that fixed line is still seen as the number one means of accessing the internet for consumers and business users," he said.
