Court of Appeal upholds CMA’s charge control for blue-light radio network services

These vital communications services are used by police, fire, ambulance and other public safety organisations across Great Britain.

Following an Enterprise Act market investigation, the CMA found that certain market features adversely effected competition and if left unchecked would allow Motorola to earn £1.27 billion supernormal profit between 2020 and 2029.  To remedy these effects, the CMA imposed a charge control, saving Motorola’s customers around £200m a year.

In 2023, Motorola applied to the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) to review the CMA’s decision, arguing that the CMA had wrongly assessed the effect of long term, dynamic competition and had incorrectly valued the Airwave Network.  In a judgment handed down in December 2023, the CAT unanimously rejected those arguments.  Motorola renewed its appeal to the Court of Appeal which ordered a “rolled up” hearing.

Following the hearing in November last year, in its judgment, the Court of Appeal unanimously rejected Motorola’s arguments and, importantly, refused permission to appeal, preventing a further application to the UK’s Supreme Court.

Subject to a review in 2026, the cap will continue in place until 2029.

Working in partnership with the Government Legal Department (GLD), TLT’s competition team (Stuart Murray, Molly Efford and Calum Ross) represented the UK’s Home Office, the largest purchaser of Airwave services, before the CMA, as an intervener in the CAT, and as a respondent in the Court of Appeal, and on behalf of GLD instructing Anneli Howard KC of Monckton Chambers and Rhodri Thompson KC and Suzanne Rab both of Matrix Chambers, in the CAT and Court of Appeal.  The legal team was supported by Helen Ralston-Smith, Oxera Consulting.