Vodafone breaches terms of its UK 3G license

Vodafone, the British telecoms group, has breached the terms of its 3G license in the UK after narrowly missing a regulated network coverage obligation. Ofcom, the telecoms watchdog, found that Vodafone was the only mobile operator to fail to meet its 3G coverage targets.

The group has been given until the end of the year to extend its network to meet a requirement to cover 90 percent of the UK population. Vodafone, which only missed the target by 1.4 percent, said that it was working to meet the end of year deadline. Vodafone will need to extend 3G to more mobile masts than it had originally estimated. Ofcom can fine Vodafone up to 10 percent of “relevant revenues” for the shortfall, which is a breach of its UK 3G license, although this sum is not clearly defined by the regulator. Ofcom said that it would not make a decision on whether to impose any penalty until January, when Vodafone will need to have complied with the terms of its license.