Mobile network Vodafone has escaped punishment for missing its 3G coverage obligations.
In November, Ofcom announced that EE, Three and O2 had all met an obligation to cover 90% of UK homes by June 2013 but that Vodafone’s coverage was below target at 88.66%.
The company and regulator subsequently agreed plans with Ofcom to bring itself into compliance by upgrading 129 mobile transmitter sites, work it has now completed ahead of the revised deadline.
In a statement Ofcom said it “takes the requirements of its licensees very seriously, and breaches of these obligations can incur a penalty.”
Because the margin by which the target was missed was deemed to be small and given Vodafone’s action to remedy the shortfall, Ofcom says it “will not take any further action on this occasion.”
Later this year Ofcom will carry out research into the quality of mobile reception and coverage and will publish new data revealing 3G and 4G mobile broadband performance in the spring.
