Election date set - but what will it mean for mobile broadband?

With the date for the general election now set for May 6, no doubt election frenzy will hit the media - with waves of predictions, polls and propaganda. But what will the coming election mean for the mobile broadband market in the UK?

With mobile broadband networks groaning under the weight of data being used by both mobile broadband and smart-phone users, and no concrete plans yet in place to free up more spectrum for better services, the chances are that the general election could put back any final decisions - and consequently any improvements - by months or even years.

The existing government has been crawling towards a plan to reallocate the country's broadcast spectrum - a move which would have allowed the mobile networks to significantly improve mobile broadband services going forwards. According to Ofcom, mobile data traffic increased 200 per cent last year and that trend shows no signs of slowing, so improvements are clearly needed, and fast.  However, the government's plan took many months to thrash out, and still needs to pass through parliament to emerge in the form of an instruction to Ofcom to act.

And while the Digital Economy Bill is likely to be pushed through in what's referred to as the 'wash-up' of legislation which will start this week, the position of the spectrum reallocation is described by a mobile phone industry insider as 'very, very precarious'. "If it does not get through there is every likelihood that a new government will review the whole matter again, delaying the process for a year, perhaps more."