Ofcom UK Propose Predictable Annual Work Plan for 2020-21

Just like clockwork the UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has today proposed a new annual work plan for the next year. The generalised summary covers everything from improving fairness for consumers (e.g. end-of-contract notifications), internet regulation and boosting the roll-out of faster broadband ISP and mobile services etc.

Overall the plan itself doesn’t contain any major new developments, although it does offer a useful overview of their key works areas and includes some new dates for the changes they’re planning to introduce. The consultation on all this is expected to run until 25th February 2020 and if all goes to plan then the final plan may be published in March 2020.

The UK Government typically sets a spending cap for Ofcom’s budget. For 2020/21 they are proposing a spending cap of £133.6m, which is slightly above last year and that mostly reflects a 2% rise to account for inflation, as well as capacity for their responsibilities regulating the BBC; work on the broadband USO and cybersecurity.

The regulator has also requested a cap increase to help it set up the new regulatory regime for Video Sharing Platforms and work related to Telecoms Security Requirements (details to be confirmed in their final plan). Otherwise the general summary of key work areas can be found below.