All Recommendations

• Government and Ofcom should develop a meaningful set of metrics that represent the coverage people actually receive and use these to determine a mobile universal service obligation setting out the minimum service level people should expect to receive.
  • a) Ofcom, government and mobile operators should report their coverage so that they are genuine and meaningful reflections of the services enjoyed by customers. Metrics should be measurable and based on the reality of service and coverage provided to customers, not based on simulated or predicted performance. Ofcom should set out how this is best achieved by the end of 2017.
• Ofcom and government should use these metrics as the basis of future interventions such as spectrum licence obligations or voluntary agreements with operators.
• Government, Ofcom or the Advertising Standards Authority should take action if operators advertise or report coverage in a way that does not reflect services being delivered to consumers on an everyday basis.
  • b) Mobile services are increasingly viewed as essential, underpinning our daily lives and the digital economy. Government must deliver a view by the end of 2017 on what aspects of mobile services are considered “essential”. It should then establish how this “essential” level of service provision can be made available through a mobile universal service obligation regardless of the network to which a customer is subscribed. Government should engage with Ofcom and industry to establish the best delivery mechanism, whether through spectrum licence obligations, enabling roaming, enabling cross operator Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs), through government procurement or a mix thereof.
• Government with the assistance of Ofcom should deliver this as soon as is practical but no later than 2025.

Local government should actively facilitate the deployment of mobile telecoms infrastructure:

• a) Local authorities should work together and with Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to develop coordinated local mobile connectivity delivery plans. These plans should:
  • set out how local authorities and LEPs will enable the deployment of mobile networks and maximise the opportunities and benefits to residents and businesses;
  • be developed in discussion with mobile network operators and infrastructure owners; l identify a designated individual with lead responsibility for engaging with mobile telecoms infrastructure providers;
  • consider the role of local government assets and infrastructure, (e.g. land, buildings, roads, street furniture) and help coordinate the role that other public buildings in an area (e.g. hospitals and universities) can play to facilitate the deployment of mobile telecoms infrastructure; and
  • consider how the deployment of digital infrastructure can be established as a priority in local planning policy.
• Local authorities and LEPs should report annually to the government department with responsibility for digital infrastructure on their progress delivering against these plans.
• b) Local models for facilitating the deployment of these networks should be piloted and evaluated to inform national roll-out. Any pilot programme should allow for the evaluation of deployment models in different types of area (e.g. urban, rural, coastal) and in both single-tier and two-tier local government areas. It should also seek to establish how high quality design can minimise the impact of hosted infrastructure on the built environment. Such pilots would be a good use of a proportion of the funding recently announced in the Autumn Statement to support mobile telecoms infrastructure.

• Rail passengers should have high capacity wireless connectivity. This should be achieved through a delivery model that utilises trackside infrastructure to provide an open and accessible mobile telecommunication and backhaul network that is fit for the future.
• The government should set out its plans for how to deliver this by the end of 2017. As part of this work consideration should be given to who is best placed to install, manage, fund and own the network, noting the potential for private sector funding.
• Ensuring that best use is made of the existing infrastructure, such as masts, poles, ducts power supplies and the fibre network alongside our railways so that it can be used to support the backhaul of mobile data will be essential. Ultimately, the government should ensure that the necessary infrastructure is in place on the main rail and key commuter routes by 2025 at the latest if it wants to offer a reasonable level of connectivity on a timescale consistent with the deployment of 5G networks.
• Ofcom should set out how a regulatory regime would support these different operating models.

• Our motorways must have mobile telecommunication networks fit for the future. It is vital that our motorways are able to meet both the long term operational needs of connected vehicles and the connectivity needs of the passengers. This will necessitate the timely installation of an open and accessible mobile telecommunication and backhaul network that is fit for the future.
• The government should set out its plans for how to deliver this by the end of 2017. As part of this work consideration should be given to who is best placed to install, manage, fund and own the network, noting the potential for private sector funding.
• Ensuring that best use is made of the existing infrastructure, such as masts, poles, ducts power supplies and the fibre network alongside our motorways, so that it can be used to support the backhaul of mobile data will be essential.
• Ultimately, the government should ensure that the necessary infrastructure is in place on motorways by 2025 at the latest if it wants to offer a reasonable level of connectivity on a timescale consistent with the deployment of 5G networks.
• Ofcom should set out how a regulatory regime would support these different operating models.

Digital infrastructure lies at the heart of the UK’s industrial strategy and affects every sector of the economy. To reflect its importance, ultimate government responsibility for digital infrastructure should reside in one place under a single cabinet minister with the authority to shape policy and delivery across government, ensuring that it delivers the government’s overarching digital strategy. This work should report to the Economy and Industrial Strategy Cabinet Committee. It should:

• Identify the public projects that contain a significant element of digital infrastructure and establish and maintain a plan which sets out how they can help deliver the government’s overarching digital strategy and maximise the benefit of better mobile telecommunications for UK citizens and businesses.
• Hold the various parts of government that are delivering digital infrastructure to account, in order to ensure adequate telecoms network provision in the delivery of its infrastructure programmes.
• Ensure that when upgrading existing or delivering new infrastructure, such as that alongside our roads and railways, the long term capacity needs of telecoms networks are considered and met. This could include installing more fibre and additional infrastructure to make sure that networks are future-proof. It will also mean ensuring that the networks are readily accessible to communications providers.
• Be a centre of telecoms expertise within government that supports departments in determining their needs and procuring telecoms infrastructure, and support departments in demonstrating and testing of new, digitally-enabled ways of delivering public services such as education and healthcare.
• Support and challenge local government in their plans to enable the delivery of digital infrastructure; both in terms of ensuring that these plans help the UK to meet its national objectives, and that local authorities develop consistent approaches to support the deployment of mobile infrastructure across the country.

This is necessary so that these can be completed as early as possible in the next Roads Investment Period. This package should include: upgrades to the M56 ( junctions 6-8) around Manchester Airport; the redevelopment of the Lofthouse Interchange and Simister Island junctions; and capacity enhancements to the M1 (35a-39) between Sheffield and Leeds.

Very substantial capital funding should be brought forwards, so that both schemes can be accelerated, with work beginning between Liverpool and Manchester in Roads Investment Strategy year 2017/2018 – two years ahead of schedule – and work between Manchester and Leeds also significantly fast-tracked.

TfN should follow an approach that seeks to maximise the benefits of current and planned investments and integrates them with an ambitious longer-term plan, in developing and prioritising proposals for other major inter-city links through its Northern Powerhouse Rail strategy. This should include assessing the case and options for early enhancements to key routes and for improvement and redevelopment at gateway stations including Liverpool Lime Street.

These organisations should work to together to deliver:

• detailed plans for the new east-west platforms 15/16 to facilitate delivery early in Control Period 6 and unlock the development potential of the Mayfield site
• a masterplan for the longer-term development of Manchester Piccadilly station as a whole, incorporating capacity for HS2 services and options for the delivery and timing of platform capacity for HS3
• proposals for funding and financing the station redevelopment, including for private sector and local contributions.

The design of the northern phase of HS2 should be taken forward by HS2 Ltd, working closely with TfN, to ensure that this is planned and delivered so as to facilitate the development of the HS3 network, enhancing connectivity between Leeds – Sheffield, Liverpool – Manchester (and its airport), and between Sheffield – Newcastle, as well as to onward destinations.

It should comprise a long-term programme with the objective of reducing journey times to 30 minutes, alongside substantial capacity and frequency improvements. The first part of this should be a shorter-term plan, to be developed and implemented by TfN and Network Rail by 2022, to cut the journey time between these cities and to onward destinations by roughly 20 per cent from 49 to 40 minutes, enhance capacity and improve service regularity and frequency.

This should combine short term action with an ambitious long-term vision, which supports the overall plan for the HS3 network and brings together

• the upgrade of the Trans-Pennine line between Manchester and Leeds
• the design of the northern phase of the HS2 network, including connectivity between Leeds – Sheffield and Liverpool – Manchester
• proposals for the redevelopment of Manchester Piccadilly station.

To connect northern cities faster and more reliably than today, the Commission recommends that funding be provided to further develop the long-term plan for HS3, which should be conceived as a high capacity rail network, rather than a single piece of entirely new infrastructure. This plan must be fully integrated with proposals for maximising the benefits from currently planned investments.planned investments.

Sufficient funding should be made available by government to support the development of an ambitious cross-modal strategy for northern transport with HS3 at its heart.

This work should take due consideration of consistency with strategic objectives, feasibility, affordability, forecast demand and congestion levels, and environmental factors.