Prices will rise unless action is taken, says expert

Mobile broadband customers in the UK could see prices rise as the network reaches full capacity, one expert has warned.

Ed Richards, chief of communication regulator Ofcom, has said the rise of mobile broadband devices is “chewing” up the country’s network.

According to the expert, demand for mobile broadband is increasing at a rate faster than the network can cope with.

This, he said, will inevitably lead to price rises from leading providers.

A number of the UK’s internet users, who access broadband via mobile connections and smartphones, could now be tempted to compare their deals with others on the market to ensure they are receiving the best value fort money.

Speaking at the recent Royal Welsh Show, Mr Richards said: “UK users are now seeing the beginnings of a capacity pinch, as data-enabled smartphones and dongles chew through media-rich websites and process more background traffic.

“But while demand is booming the frequencies, or spectrum, upon which it and so many other similar services are carried, have not. The laws of physics prevent us from inventing or acquiring new spectrum, but we can release spectrum used for other services.”

The expert explained that mobile data usage has increased by more than a staggering 1,800 per cent in the UK over the past 24 months.

It follows a government announcement that a national roll-out of superfast broadband is to be delayed by three years.

The coalition has said that Labour’s original target of universal access to speeds of at least 2Mbps by 2012 has been made more challenging by the economic climate and a target of 2015 is much more realistic.