UK regulator Ofcom has threatened O2 with regulatory action after the operator failed to meet a deadline to provide its 3G network to 80% of the country’s population. According to the regulator, at the end of December last year O2’s network only covered 75.69% of the population, a shortfall equivalent to around 2.5 million people. Ofcom said it would reduce O2’s 3G licence by four months if the operator does not meet a second deadline at the end of June.

O2 acquired its licence in 2000 for just over £4 billion and it is due to run until the end of December 2021. Ofcom said a four month reduction would cost O2 at least £40 million. O2 told a report in The Independent that it is confident of meeting Ofcom’s new June deadline. The UK’s other four 3G operators – Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and 3 – complied with Ofcom’s original requirement for the end of December.