Slow adoption of 4G networks could cost UK economy £732m a year

The UK's slow adoption of 4G networks could be costing the economy as much as £732m a year, according a report by think tank the Open Digital Policy Organisation (ODPO), which also called on Ofcom to draw up a more ambitious schedule for the spectrum auctions.

The report said that faster mobile networks would create an extra 37 million business hours a year for the UK, and increase workforce productivity by enhancing mobile working and the use of cloud-based services.

However, the ODPO said that many companies are unable to take advantage of these new business systems owing to the delay in rollouts, which is holding back the economy.

"UK businesses will be wary about adopting new business tools such as cloud-based office and productivity software, tying certain tasks to the office when it could be quicker and cheaper to perform them from remote locations," the report said.

"Unambitious delivery targets will limit the ability to access, use and innovate around cloud services, and even prevent users and businesses from getting near a cloud offering."

The group also noted that extending 4G data coverage would help those in rural areas to access broadband services far above their current fixed-line speeds to help close the digital divide.

James Firth, the report's co-author and chief executive of the ODPO, told V3 that, while 4G networks will bring many benefits to all types of businesses, operators are continuing to delay the rollouts.

"Mobile workers can often waste time trying to find good mobile data spots to get hold of documents, while businesses that interact with consumers, like PayPal, want users to be able to make purchases on the go," he said.

"For operators, though, there is not the same imperative to roll out these networks as the cost they receive per megabyte downloaded is plummeting, so they are not keen to rush out the new networks."

Ofcom recently pushed back the date on which it expects to publish its suggested auction timetable after the threat of legal challenges from O2 over the use of spectrum floors in the auction.

The use of 4G networks is not expected to start until as late as 2014, and complete rollouts may not finished until as late as 2017. Other nations, including Sweden, Germany and the US, are already well advanced in their 4G rollouts.