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Articles for Category Tag - Ofcom Regulation

Ofcom’s New Broadband Switching System May Clash with 14 Day Cooling Off Period UPDATE

6th August, 2024 (15 Comments)

The MD of UK ISP Andrews & Arnold (AAISP), Adrian Kennard, has today pointed out another potential issue with Ofcom’s new One Touch Switch (OTS) system for quicker and easier switching between broadband providers, which could conflict with the statutory 14-day cooling-off period.

Mobile Operator Three UK Adopts New Price Hikes Policy

6th August, 2024 (16 Comments)

Mobile network operator Three UK has today followed BT, EE, Plusnet, Vodafone and TalkTalk by introducing a new pricing policy that aligns with Ofcom’s new guidance banning inflation-linked annual telecoms price rises (i.e. annual price increases will in the future be outlined in “pounds and pence”).

Broadband ISP Andrews and Arnold UK Finally Adopt Unlimited Data

5th August, 2024 (32 Comments)

The day has finally come when UK ISP Andrews & Arnold (AAISP), which have long been one of the few remaining fixed line broadband providers’ to only offer plans with capped data allowances (albeit very big ones), has finally adopted packages that come “without a usage cap” (aka – unlimited, although they don’t describe it like that).

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Survey Claims 71% of UK Broadband Users Find Changing ISP Tedious UPDATE

5th August, 2024 (12 Comments)

A new survey of over 1,000 adults across the UK, which was conducted by research and consulting firm Cavell, claims to have found that the majority of UK consumers (71%) still find the process of changing broadband ISP to be frustrating, complicated or intimidating. Just 28% said they found it “easy“.

Engineers Over Fibre Chamber Openreach 2022

Network Operators Call for Fairer Pricing to Access Openreach’s UK Infrastructure UPDATE4

2nd August, 2024 (39 Comments)

A new “PIA Coalition” of alternative UK broadband networks, including nexfibre, AllPoints Fibre, CommunityFibre, Gigaclear, Netomnia and Brsk, has been setup and is calling on market regulator Ofcom to “ensure a level playing field for access” to Openreach’s passive infrastructure (existing cable ducts and poles) in its upcoming Telecoms Access Review 2026 (TAR).

Ofcom UK Propose to Open Unassigned 32GHz Spectrum for Fixed Wireless Links

1st August, 2024 (0 Comments)

Telecoms regulator Ofcom has today proposed to open the remaining unassigned spectrum in the 32GHz band (32.445-32.571 GHz paired with 33.257-33.383 GHz) for new fixed wireless links, while at the same time rejecting previous interest in using this radio spectrum for Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) broadband services.

Broadband ISP TalkTalk Adopt New UK Policy on Annual Price Hikes

31st July, 2024 (24 Comments)

Budget conscious broadband ISP TalkTalk has informed ISPreview that they’re preparing to follow Ofcom’s new guidance on inflation-linked annual broadband price rises. In practice, this means that new and re-contracting (upgrading) customers will be hit by a flat annual price increase of £3 (monthly) each April.

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Ofcom Orders UK Phones Providers to Add Tougher Scam Call Blocking

29th July, 2024 (10 Comments)

The telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today given UK phone providers (fixed line and mobile) six months to implement changes that aim to help tackle scammers who call from abroad and imitate UK landline numbers (i.e. spoofed calls), which requires stricter measures against “Presentation Numbers” that are used to identify who is making a call.

consumer switching uk broadband and phone

First Residential UK Broadband Customers Change ISP via New Switching System

27th July, 2024 (8 Comments)

The industry-led One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo), which holds responsibility for implementing Ofcom’s heavily delayed One Touch Switch (OTS) migration system for faster consumer switching between UK internet service providers, has reported its “first successful residential customer switches” during the final trial phase.

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NOW Broadband Tops Ofcom Q1 2024 Table for UK Consumer Complaints

25th July, 2024 (8 Comments)

Ofcom has published their latest quarterly (Q1 2024) study of UK consumer complaints, which saw NOW Broadband (NOW TV) being labelled as the worst provider for attracting the most gripes about broadband and landline phone, while Virgin Media did the same for pay TV services and O2 were the worst for Mobile.

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Ofcom Improve UK Spectrum Sharing for Mobile and Wireless Broadband

24th July, 2024 (0 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today announced a series of improvements to their spectrum sharing framework, which among other things will “significantly increase the availability of spectrum” to help improve the performance and business models of using this to foster new types of 4G, 5G, wireless broadband and mobile services etc.

Andrews & Arnold Clash with Ofcom Over Broadband ISP Switching Woes UPDATE

24th July, 2024 (16 Comments)

The boss of UK ISP Andrews & Arnold (AAISP), Adrian Kennard, has written somewhat of a spicy open letter to Ofcom – highlighting both their concerns with the preparedness of the organisation (TOTSCo) overseeing development of the new broadband provider switching system and with the regulator’s own “lack of response” to this.

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Ofcom Consult on Using Satellites and Aircraft to Deliver UK Mobile

23rd July, 2024 (2 Comments)

The UK communications and media regulator, Ofcom, has today begun seeking feedback on the potential and demand for satellites, aircraft and other airborne platforms to help improve mobile (4G and 5G) network coverage – also known as Direct to Device (D2D) and Mobile-Satellite Services (MSS).

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Ofcom Review UK Mobile Licence Fees for 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2100MHz

23rd July, 2024 (1 Comment)

The UK telecoms regulator has announced that, following a request from BT, it has launched a review of the annual licence fees they charge mobile network operators (EE, Vodafone, Three UK and O2) for use of three popular mobile spectrum bands – 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2100MHz – supporting 2G, 3G and 4G (mobile broadband) services.

Ofcom Propose New Ban to Tackle Abuse of UK Mobile Networks

22nd July, 2024 (8 Comments)

Market regulator Ofcom has proposed to ban UK telecoms operators from leasing Global Titles – numbers like +44 (for the United Kingdom) that support mobile services – to third parties. This is because such leasing can be misused to try and intercept messages and calls, disrupt the operation of networks and track the location of users of other networks.

Ofcom UK Hit BT with £17.5m Fine for 999 Call Handling Fault UPDATE

22nd July, 2024 (17 Comments)

The national regulator, Ofcom, has this morning hit BT with a fine of £17.5m for being “ill-prepared to respond to a catastrophic failure of its emergency call handling service last summer” (here), which readers may recall occurred after a technical fault (“complex software issue”) resulted in 14,000 emergency calls being disrupted. The disruption lasted for 10.5 hours.

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Ofcom UK Approve Plan to BAN Some Mid-Contract Broadband Price Hikes UPDATE2

19th July, 2024 (25 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today finalised their earlier proposal to BAN phone, mobile, pay TV and broadband ISPs from doing mid-contract price hikes that are linked to inflation and percentage changes. The plan is to introduce this change from 17th January 2025, before the next round of annual price increases typically hit.