MOBILE BROADBAND CAPACITY

That this House believes that mobile broadband has an important role to play in delivering universal internet access; notes that Ofcom reported a 200 per cent. increase in data trafficon mobile telephone networks in 2009 and that Morgan Stanley has predicted that mobile internet access will outstrip fixed PC access during the lifetime of this Parliament; expects that the rapid increase in ownership of internet-enabled smartphones will further drive the use of the internet on mobile networks; is concerned that mobile telephone companies are choosing to cap data usage by their customers in order to manage capacity on their networks; considers that a better approach to alleviating capacity constraints is to make more spectrum available; maintains that urgent action is neededto support the digital economy; and calls on the Government to ensure new spectrum is released and allocated in a fair and equitable way to prevent its concentration in the hands of a small number of mobile networks, which would distort competition to the detriment of consumers.