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Articles for Category Tag - Ofcom Regulation

Ofcom UK to Enforce Rules on Misleading Use of “Fibre” Broadband UPDATE

15th September, 2024 (68 Comments)

The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, will tomorrow begin enforcing new rules that will only allow broadband ISPs to use terms like “fibre” and “full-fibre” on their websites, and in contracts, if their network brings the fibre optic cables all the way to your home (i.e. FTTP, FTTH and also FTTB).

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Telecoms Minister Updates on Effort to Limit UK Broadband Poles via Infrastructure Sharing UPDATE

13th September, 2024 (4 Comments)

The UK Government’s Minister for Telecoms, Sir Chris Bryant, yesterday held a round table meeting with a small selection of network operators in an effort to try and drive home the need for greater “infrastructure sharing” in order to “end the deployment of unnecessary telegraph poles” when rolling out new gigabit-capable broadband ISP networks.

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Ofcom Launch Easier UK One Touch Broadband ISP Switching UPDATE

12th September, 2024 (20 Comments)

After over 17 months of delays, Ofcom’s new One Touch Switching (OTS) process for fixed line phone and broadband ISPs, which makes it quicker and easier for consumers to switch between providers on physically separate networks (e.g. Openreach to CityFibre or Virgin Media etc.), is today finally going LIVE. But don’t be surprised if your switch doesn’t use it, yet.

Ofcom’s 2024 Report on Openreach’s Independence Finds Only Minor Breaches

11th September, 2024 (2 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator has published their annual 2024 monitoring report into Openreach’s independence from BT, which found only a few minor breaches and noted that they’d seen “evidence of efforts by BT Group to renew and refresh its engagement with the framework” since the appointment of new Group CEO, Allison Kirkby.

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Gov Asks UK Broadband ISPs to Offer 8 Hours of Battery Backup

10th September, 2024 (35 Comments)

The UK Government’s Minister for Telecoms, Sir Chris Bryant, has written a new letter to the bosses of major broadband ISPs that calls on them to help protect vulnerable users during the switchover from analogue (PSTN) to digital (IP) phone solutions by refraining from re-starting non-voluntary migrations and offering battery backup that can last “up to” 8 hours.

Openreach Calls on Virgin Media to Open UK Cable Ducts to Rivals UPDATE

6th September, 2024 (57 Comments)

The CEO of Openreach (BT), Clive Selley, has today set out their position with respect to Ofcom’s forthcoming Telecoms Access Review 2026 (TAR), which amongst other things sees the UK operator call for the regulator and Government to push Virgin Media (O2) and others into opening up access to their cable ducts to help reduce the number of broadband poles being built.

Ofcom Study Benchmarks Speeds of UK 4G and 5G Mobile Networks

6th September, 2024 (1 Comment)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today published their 2024 Mobile Matters report, which uses Opensignal’s crowdsourced data (collected between October 2023 and March 2024) to benchmark the performance of UK mobile broadband networks by both technology (2G to 5G), nation and operator choice – including Three UK, O2, Vodafone and EE.

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Ofcom Sets Guidance to Improve Resilience of UK Broadband and Mobile Networks UPDATE

6th September, 2024 (13 Comments)

The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has today set out how they intend to update their guidance on network resilience in order to give broadband ISPs, mobile operators and other digital network providers greater clarity on how they can “reduce the risk of network outages“. But proposals to improve battery backup on mobile networks will come later.

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ISP Equity Networks Add Paid Security Feature to UK Users Without Consent

6th September, 2024 (11 Comments)

Business broadband ISP and managed service provider Equity Networks has recently become the latest company in a growing list to irritate some of their UK customers, which it did by automatically adding a paid (£12.99 a month) internet security feature – ‘SafeWeb’ – to their accounts, without first getting explicit consent.

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Ofcom to Grant Amazon Licence for Project Kuiper LEO Broadband Satellites

5th September, 2024 (4 Comments)

The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has today proposed to grant a UK Earth Station Network Licence (ESNL) to support Amazon’s long-in-gestation Project Kuiper, which represents their plan to launch a global mega-constellation of satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to deliver affordable ultrafast broadband and 4G/5G mobile services.

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Communications Ombudsman Report Surge in UK Telecoms Complaints

5th September, 2024 (3 Comments)

The Communications Ombudsman, which is one of the two Ofcom approved Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) providers for UK consumers of broadband ISPs, mobile and landline phone operators, has released its complaints data for the first half of 2024 and reported a 54% increase in telecoms cases accepted vs the same time last year.

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Ofcom Partially Delays New UK Broadband Switching Process by 6 Weeks

4th September, 2024 (10 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today acknowledge that their already much delayed new One Touch Switch (OTS) system for faster consumer broadband ISP migrations won’t be 100% ready for launch on 12th September 2024. But rather than delay it, again, they’ve instead ordered providers to retain the old system for a further 6 weeks.

Ofcom Predict 98 Percent of UK Covered by Gigabit Broadband in May 2027

4th September, 2024 (25 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today published the third edition of their forecast for Planned Network Deployments, which predicts that full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP lines are on course to cover 95-96% of all UK properties by May 2027 (29 million premises) – rising to 97-98% for “gigabit-capable” networks (i.e. FTTP and Cable).

Virgin Media UK Partners with TSA Telecare Body for Digital Phone Switch

3rd September, 2024 (3 Comments)

Broadband ISP Virgin Media (O2) has today given their Digital Landline Switchover (DLS) programme (i.e. migrating old analogue landline phones to IP-based services) a boost by signing a “first-of-its-kind partnership” with TSA, the telecare advisory body, to enhance the support provided to telecare users as the UK transitions to Digital Voice.

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New Network Operator Solas Fibre Plan UK FTTP Broadband Rollout UPDATE

27th August, 2024 (8 Comments)

A new alternative network operator called Solas Fibre has revealed that they’re planning to deploy a 1Gbps capable full fibre broadband ISP network across mostly rural parts of Wales, the North-West and North-East of England, and Scotland. But the details are currently quite limited.

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Businesses Call on Ofcom to Extend Auto Compensation for UK Broadband Outages

27th August, 2024 (5 Comments)

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and Institute of Directors (IoD) have this week written to the UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, in the hope of encouraging them to extend the automatic compensation scheme for consumer broadband outages to businesses. Easier said than done.

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Complaints Raised Over UK Broadband ISP Onestream’s NordVPN Offer UPDATE

23rd August, 2024 (22 Comments)

Customers of Hampshire-based UK ISP Onestream, which sells broadband packages using Openreach’s national full fibre network, have criticised the provider after they claim to have been automatically opted-in to take a service from VPN firm NordVPN that indicated they could be charged an extra £4.95 per month if they don’t opt out.