Ofcom UK Probe WhatsApp Over Inaccurate Information in Biz SMS Market Review

The UK telecoms and internet content regulator, Ofcom, has opened an investigation into Meta’s WhatsApp Business messaging service after provisionally finding that the information they supplied – as part of a recent review into the wholesale market for business bulk SMS messages – “may not have been complete and accurate“.

Just to recap. Ofcom’s recent review examined the wholesale prices of automated text (SMS) messages that organisations send to people (A2P – application-to-person). Such messages are often sent, for example, by the NHS when issuing medical appointment reminders, as well as parcel delivery notifications or one-time passcodes etc.

Back in October 2025 the regulator found that wholesale prices for the termination of these messages (A2P SMS termination rates) had increased significantly in recent years, jumping as much as 70% since 2021. Ofcom also identified that mobile operators had Significant Market Power (SMP) in this area, including the “ability and incentive to increase their termination prices to an excessively high level“. A voluntary agreement was later reached with EE, O2, Sky and VodafoneThree (Vodafone and Three UK) to stabilise the wholesale prices of such messages (here).

However, as part of that review, Ofcom also issued formal information requests to Meta concerning their WhatsApp Business messaging service. The move was intended to help the regulator understand more about the alternative business messaging services that are now available and their impact upon the market.

Ofcom Statement

The available evidence suggests that Meta may not have complied with certain requirements imposed under section 135 in that some of the information provided by Meta in response to the Notices may not have been complete and accurate. Ofcom’s investigation will examine whether Meta has failed to comply with the statutory requirements imposed by the Notices.

Such investigations tend to take quite a while to fully run their course, so we probably won’t learn the outcome until around the latter half of this year. If Ofcom identifies that a breach has occurred, then it could potentially impose financial penalties (up to £18 million or 10% of qualifying worldwide revenue) or merely direct the company to improve their processes, depending upon the severity. Criminal charges are also an option, but such an outcome is usually only reserved for the most serious breaches and obstructive companies, which is highly unlikely to be the case with Meta.