December 22, 2023
Motorola Solutions Statement Regarding Competition Appeal Tribunal Decision
“Motorola Solutions strongly disagrees with the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s decision. It is highly concerning that a regulator can be allowed to tear up, mid-term, a negotiated and mutually agreed binding contract – even more so one with a sovereign government. We believe this unprecedented overreach will have a chilling effect on long-term investment and contracting with the U.K. Government. In our decades of operating nationwide public safety networks around the world, we have not seen anything like this.
Motorola Solutions remains committed to vigorously protecting its contractual position and we are considering all options, including our intent to appeal the decision to the Court of Appeal.
Motorola Solutions has proudly and conscientiously delivered the Airwave emergency communications service since 2016 while investing over $1.4 billion and supporting the over 300,000 emergency services professionals who protect communities across the country every day.”
Notes to editors:
- Airwave, which provides mission-critical voice and data communications to public safety agencies in Great Britain, continues to deliver exceptional value for money for the U.K. taxpayer. This is supported by the National Audit Office, which stated in a March 2023 report that Airwave “continues to perform well, generally exceeding its 99.86% availability target, and users are confident that it allows them to communicate effectively.”
- The CMA’s decision in April 2023 to impose a price control on Airwave, the private radio communications network that Motorola Solutions acquired in 2016, altered a long-term contract that was mutually agreed, delivered to a high standard and is still in effect.
- In June 2023, Motorola Solutions brought a judicial review of the lawfulness of the CMA’s decision before the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
- Motorola Solutions will continue to account for revenue, as previously reported, in accordance with the remedies order and effective as of August 1, 2023.
- The U.K. Government acknowledges that the Airwave network will be needed into the 2030s.
- Multiple governments around the world continue to invest in TETRA technology (the same technology upon which Airwave is based) for their public safety communications needs, for example Denmark is extending its network through 2034.
- In December 2021 the Home Office issued a National Shutdown Notice to Airwave which requires it to target the national shutdown of the Airwave network on 31 December 2026.
- The government estimates that its replacement, the Emergency Services Network (ESN), will not be delivered until 2029.
Forward Looking Statements
This statement contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable federal securities law. These statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and generally include words such as “believes,” “expects,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “estimates” and similar expressions. The company can give no assurance that any actual or future results or events discussed in these statements will be achieved. Any forward-looking statements represent the company’s views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing the company’s views as of any subsequent date. Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause the company’s actual results to differ materially from the statements contained in this release. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the impact of the CMA’s Airwave decision, and actions in response to such decision. Motorola Solutions cautions the reader that the risks and uncertainties below, as well as those in Part I Item 1A of Motorola Solutions’ 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K, Part II Item 1A of Motorola Solutions’ Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the Third Quarter of 2023 and in its other SEC filings available for free on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and on Motorola Solutions’ website at www.motorolasolutions.com, could cause Motorola Solutions’ actual results to differ materially from those estimated or predicted in the forward-looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties cannot be controlled by Motorola Solutions, and factors that may impact forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (i) the impact, including increased costs and potential liabilities, associated with changes in laws and regulations and administration determinations; (ii) additional compliance obligations and decreased revenues or increased risk, costs and competition associated with the expansion of our technologies within our Products and Systems Integration and Software and Services segments (including, but not limited to, with respect to the Company’s actions in response to the findings of the Competition Appeals Tribunal); (iii) risks related to our large, multi-year system and services contracts (including, but not limited to, with respect to the Emergency Services Network and Airwave contracts); and (iv) the inability of our products to meet our customers’ expectations or regulatory or industry requirements or standards. Motorola Solutions undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement or risk factor, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
About Motorola Solutions
Motorola Solutions is solving for safer. We build and connect technologies to help protect people, property and places. Our solutions enable the collaboration between public safety agencies and enterprises that’s critical for a proactive approach to safety and security. Learn more about how we’re solving for safer communities, safer schools, safer hospitals, safer businesses – safer everywhere – at www.motorolasolutions.com.