Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: Ofcom Regulation (791 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - Ofcom Regulation

Openreach to Stop Providing Battery Backup for FTTP Broadband

19th October, 2018 (36 Comments)

At present new installations of Openreach’s (BT) Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based UK ultrafast broadband ISP technology all come with a Battery Backup Unit (BBU) by default next to the Optical Network Unit (ONT), which helps users to maintain access to emergency services if they use VoIP. But this is about to stop.

Future UK Trains May Need up to 3.6Gbps of Data Speed for Mobile

16th October, 2018 (8 Comments)

Ofcom has published the technical advice that they supplied to the government on improving rail passengers’ access to mobile data services (mobile broadband via 3G, 4G or 5G), which identifies some useful spectrum bands and estimates that by 2025 the busiest trains may need to be fed by 1.7Gbps to 3.6Gbps of capacity.

MPs Tell UK Gov to Prioritise Rural 4G Mobile Cover over Licence Fees

15th October, 2018 (0 Comments)

A new cross-party report has warned that there is “no silver bullet for how to improve rural mobile coverage” in the United Kingdom, but it has recommended five ways in which the Government could boost 4G network coverage enough to help achieve or beat the current target for 95% geographic coverage by 2022.

New Guidelines on Accessing Emergency Services via Broadband VoIP

12th October, 2018 (19 Comments)

Ofcom has this week published their final guidance on how UK providers of Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) or similar broadband-based phone services can ensure that their customers are still able to call the emergency services in a power cut.

Survey Points to Flaw in Ofcom’s Planned End of Contract Notifications

9th October, 2018 (6 Comments)

The latest uSwitch survey of 2,006 UK adults, which was conducted in September 2018, has suggested that Ofcom’s new end-of-contract notification letters could save mobile, phone and broadband ISP consumers £1bn+ a year. But there’s concern that the letters may also result in some being hit by early termination charges.

Ofcom Seeks to Fix Loss of UK Phone Number During Switches

5th October, 2018 (6 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has secured £700,000 from the Government’s new £10m Regulators’ Pioneer Fund in order to fuel a project that will seek to make it even quicker to switch broadband or phone provider, as well as to stop situations where switching may cause you to lose your phone number.

NIC Examine Regulation of the UK Telecoms and Broadband Industry

3rd October, 2018 (1 Comment)

The Government’s National Infrastructure Commission has announced that they intend to conduct an examination of regulation in the UK energy, telecoms and water industries. The study will look at what future changes may be required to meet future needs, as well as any impact upon competition and investment.

Ofcom Probe EE and Vodafone for Rural UK Mobile Coverage Errors UPDATE

2nd October, 2018 (10 Comments)

The national telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today launched a new investigation that aims to establish whether or not EE and Vodafone provided “accurate information” in response to their requests for 3G and 4G mobile coverage predictions across the United Kingdom.

Ofcom Finds Full Fibre Broadband Now Available to 5% of UK Premises

2nd October, 2018 (3 Comments)

The telecoms regulator has today published their latest Q2 2018 update to last year’s Connected Nations report, which uses more recent data from April 2018 to provide the latest coverage statistics for UK mobile and fixed line broadband networks. For example, “full fibre” (FTTP) coverage has risen to 5% (1.4 million premises).

Ofcom UK Moves to End Abuse of Premium 070 Phone Numbers

1st October, 2018 (6 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator has today announced their decision to clamp down on scams that abuse premium rate 070 numbers, which are often mistaken by consumers for mobile numbers (which always begin with ’07’). In response Ofcom will slash the wholesale cost of calling such numbers .

The ISP industry only has itself to blame for its bad reputation – Guest Editorial

1st October, 2018 (25 Comments)

There is a perception problem in the ISP industry. And it’s certainly not getting any better. If anything, we are falling into the same traps we always have. Lessons we should already have learned are not being heeded.

BT Group Complete Transfer of 31000 UK Employees to Openreach

1st October, 2018 (13 Comments)

BT has today announced that 31,000 of their employees have officially been transferred (TUPE process) to become part of an “independent workforce” under Openreach, which is a key part of Ofcom’s requirement that the network operator become a “legally separate” company (a wholly owned subsidiary of BT plc).

Ofcom Clamps Down on Pricing for UK Mobile and Handset Bundles

26th September, 2018 (19 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today proposed a number of measures that will seek to tackle concerns over airtime packages (e.g. bundling the cost of a Smartphone and Mobile plan together), which can result in consumers continuing to pay the same monthly charge even after their contract has ended.

New Consumer Protection Rules for UK Phone and Broadband ISPs

25th September, 2018 (4 Comments)

Ofcom has today reminded people that they’re enforcing a number of new consumer protection rules from 1st October 2018 (arguably they’re more like tweaks to existing regulations), which aim to protect consumers against nuisance calls, improve the cancellation / complaint process and bring about free Caller ID services etc.

Business ISP Cloud M Faces Ofcom Slap for Number Portability Fail

19th September, 2018 (0 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, today reports that it has found “reasonable grounds for believing” that business phone and broadband ISP Cloud M may have broken a number of their rules, specifically those that are designed to protect number (phone) portability between providers.

ISP Gigaclear and RSN Call on Ofcom to Consider Full Fibre in its USO

18th September, 2018 (21 Comments)

The Rural Services Network and UK ISP Gigaclear have today joined others by calling on Ofcom to ensure that their forthcoming 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband will reflect the national plan for “full fibre” (FTTP) coverage, which the government hopes could reach universal coverage by 2033.

Ofcom UK Probes Mobile Operator giffgaff Over Billing Mistakes

18th September, 2018 (5 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has opened an investigation into giffgaff after the 4G mobile network operator provided new information, which indicated that it may have rendered bills that were “inaccurate” as a result of a “billing error” that started in 2016.