UK mobile network o2 has been reprimanded by industry regulator Ofcom for failing to meet 3G requirements by the end of 2007.
Under the terms of their 3G licences mobile networks had to ensure that they had a minimum of 80% 3G coverage by the end of 2007. Ofcom discovered that o2 only have 75.69% coverage, which is a full 2.5 million customers short.
If o2 do not manage to hit 80% by June 2008 it will shorten the length of it"s 3G licence by four months. While this seems like a strange punishment it will amount to a loss to o2 of around £40 million - as o2 have already paid for the licence until the end of 2021, and paid a whopping £4 billion.
O2 however, have accepted the warning and are confident that they will meet the target in June. O2 are at a disadvantage though, as they are the only network without a network share partner to help with the cost of increasing their coverage. Vodafone has linked up with Orange and 3 are linked with T-Mobile.