Recommendation 8

We asked whether the Department could have acted sooner to remove Motorola, and the Department acknowledged that, in hindsight, it wished different choices had been made when Motorola bought Airwave in 2016.21 The Department said it had been aware of a possibility of that Motorola might leave ESN following delays, but had been surprised by Motorola’s “extreme and swift” reaction to the CMA investigation.22 It also acknowledged 10 C&AG’s Report, paras 4, 9, 19 11 C&AG’s Report, para 19 12 Q 13 (27 March) 13 Q 80 (27 March) 14 Q 14 (27 March) 15 Qq 2, 4 (26 April) 16 Qq 26, 99 (27 March) 17 Qq 31, 100 (27 March) 18 Qq 101–103 (27 March) 19 Q 84 (27 March) 20 Qq 26, 68, 99 (27 March) 21 Q 104 (27 March) 22 Qq 92, 96 (27 March) 10 The Emergency Services Network the programme could have been delivered faster had it been able to solve issues with Motorola.23 The Department estimates it has paid some £140 million to Motorola without the taxpayer getting full value.24