Emergency network pays owners £235m

THE company behind the emergency services radio network has paid out £235m to its owners over the last two years as regulators take aim at its monopoly status.

Airwave Solutions, which is owned by US telecoms giant Motorola, paid dividends of £130m in 2021 and has declared £105m this year.

The payouts come amid a bitter dispute over the Airwave contract, which supplies encrypted radios for UK police forces, fire brigades and ambulance services.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which has described Airwave as a “monopoly provider”, has threatened to impose price caps on the £11bn contract amid concerns about huge returns for Motorola.

Officials claimed the US company could make as much as £1.1bn in “supernormal profit” from the deal, which has been extended to the end of 2026.

The regulator recommended imposing price controls from next year in a move that could shrink Motorola’s annual profits by as much as £160m per year.

However, the telecoms company has threatened to sue the CMA if it pushes ahead with the proposals.

In accounts this week, Airwave bosses insisted it had operated fairly and responsibly and that no remedies should be applied. But they said a more severe response by regulators would repre- sent a “material uncertainty” over the future value of the contract. Airwave posted pre- tax profits of £197m in 2021 on sales of £438m, up marginally on the previous year.

Motorola has been locked in a dispute with regulators amid delays to an upgrade to the network. This has led to officials repeatedly renewing the old Airwave deal.

Motorola said it “entirely rejects the CMA’S unfounded and incorrect calculation of ‘excess’ profits, which is based on an arbitrary time period”, adding that its pro- posals “would undermine confidence in long-term infrastructure investment with the UK Government”.