Ofcom back down on VHF price hike for RNLI – but Mountain Rescue still under threat

Ofcom has pubished an update to its obscurely titled ‘Administered Incentive Pricing for the Maritime and Aeronautical Sectors’. The revised proposals include allowing organisations that have a large number of transmitters around the country (like the RNLI) to pay a single fee per radio channel which covers any number of transmitters across the UK.

Ofcom says that the RNLI may see its charges fall as a result of its proposal to offer a single, lower cost licence for multiple users.

This backdown follows national outrage at the original proposal which, as we reported, would have seen the RNLI fee for VHF transmission rise astronomically – by 340% – to a level they could never have sustained.

However welcome this revised position is, it still does not cover the land-based use of VHF by crucial oganisations like Mountain Rescue, also threatened by Ofcom’s rapacious appetites.

With its huge natural resources of water and mountains, Argyll has a serious vested interest in the vital services provided by both the RNLI and Mountain Rescue.

We advise all interested parties and their supports to take an active part in the Ofcom consultations on the matter – which close on 30th October.