Policy paper

Response to the CMA’s recommendation to develop and implement a plan to ensure communications network services for public safety are competitively priced

Published 1 October 2025

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

October 2025

Introduction

1. The government welcomes the Competition Markets Authority’s (CMA) Mobile radio network services Final Report (the Final Report). ^{[footnote 1]} Ensuring a well-functioning market for communications network services for public safety is essential for national security and public safety as well as ensuring value for money for public sector users of these services and for citizens.

2. Alongside imposing a charge control remedy on Airwave Solutions Ltd (ASL) and Motorola Solutions Inc (Motorola), in its Final Report the CMA made a recommendation to the Home Office. ^{[footnote 2]}

Recommendation

The Home Office should as soon as possible, develop and implement a plan to ensure that by not later than the end of 2029 the supply of communications network services for public safety in Great Britain is subject to:

(a) competitive pricing arrangements: or, if this is not feasible,

(b) measures to similar effect (for example, through putting forward legislation to introduce a regulatory function).

3. The government agrees with the rationale for the Recommendation set out in the Final Report ^{[footnote 3]} and specifically agrees with the need for the supply of communications network services for public safety to be subject to competitive pricing arrangement. ^{[footnote 4]}

4. Through its Emergency Services Mobile Communication Programme (ESMCP), the Home Office is developing and implementing plans for these vital services to be competitively priced by the end of 2029 (if not before). In the meantime, the CMA’s charge control ^{[footnote 5]} will ensure Motorola’s revenue and therefore its prices for communications network services for public safety in Great Britain are restrained to a competitive level. 

Implementing competitive pricing arrangements

1. ASL is the incumbent, monopoly supplier of communications network services for public safety in Great Britain. ASL is owned by Motorola. ASL’s services will be replaced by alternative services provided over a new network, the Emergency Services Network (ESN).  The contracts forming ESN have been or will be competitively tendered. 

2. ‘User Services’, including mission critical push-to-talk services, and 4G ‘Mobile Services’ are two key input services, which together with several other input services, for example, air-to-ground services and handsets, form ESN. 

3. The User Services and Mobile Services contracts have been awarded. The User Services contact was awarded to IBM in 2024 following the termination of Motorola’s contract to supply user services in 2022. In 2024 a new contract through direct award was awarded to EE for the Mobile Services which had been previously awarded to EE in 2016. In awarding the new Mobile Services contract, the Home Office was careful to ensure that the new award terms reflect competitive pricing arrangements. 

4. Following the awards of the new User Services contract to IBM and Mobile Services contract to EE, ESMCP is reviewing and testing its ESN delivery plans with the objective of enabling:

(i) the delivery of the full suite of ESN services, including mission critical push-to-talk voice services, to Great Britain’s emergency services and others who support public safety, by early 2028, at the latest; and

(ii) all users of services provided by ASL to switch to ESN services by the end of 2029, or as soon as possible thereafter.

5. Once users of the ASL services have switched to ESN services, the supply of communications networks services for public safety will be subject to competitive pricing arrangements.

6. The ESN contracts, including IBM’s User Services contact and EE’s Mobile Services contract, have been designed to enable future effective competition for the market for the supply of communications network services for public safety in Great Britain, including the supply of associated and ancillary services. For example, the contracts require services to comply with relevant international or European standards. 

7. The Home Office plans to recompete the ESN input services on a regular basis, with the preparations for the next User Services and Mobile Services competitions commencing in 2027.

Implementing measures to replicate competitive pricing

1. The Home Office is closely monitoring the development of ESN.  Should it become apparent that the supply of competitively priced communications network services for public safety in Great Britain will not be feasible by the end of 2029, the Home Office will aim to introduce measures to a similar effect and is considering contingency options. These contingency options include, amongst others, introducing legislation to regulate the market for mobile radio communications services for public safety.

2. At the heart of the Home Office’s planning is the need to ensure that Great Britian’s emergency services have access to high-quality communication services, which are there when they are needed. 

3. Until all emergency and public safety organisations have switched from Airwave’s services to ESN’s services, it is essential that Airwave’s services continue to be provided at current quality and availability levels. 

4. During the period when users are switching from Airwave’s services to ESN’s services, it will be necessary for Airwave’s network and the ESN to interconnect so that users on each network may communicate with each other.

5. These two factors (amongst others) provide both the ability and opportunity for Motorola, should it wish to do so, to seek to delay user switching. The Home Office’s contingency planning is cognisant of these factors and is building in mitigations to protect against delays caused by any inappropriate or anti-competitive behaviour.

6. The Home Office will continue to consult the Major Projects Review Group and other oversight bodies ensuring accountability for delivery, including supplier performance, and value for money. Additionally, the Home Office will update the CMA on the continued development and implementation of its plans, including as part of the CMA’s 2026 review of the charge control. 

Copyright

© Crown copyright 2025

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk.

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at: ESMCPbriefingandparliamentary@homeoffice.gov.uk.

Footnotes

1. https://www.gov.uk/cma-cases/mobile-radio-network-services#final-report ↩

2. Final Report, paragraph 8.68 ↩

3. Final Report, paragraphs 8.69, 8.70, and 8.73 to 8.75 ↩

4. Final Report, paragraph 8.68 (a) ↩

5. Part 2 and Schedule 1 of The Mobile Radio Network Services Market Investigation Order 2023 ↩