Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: Ofcom Regulation (1790 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - Ofcom Regulation

Ofcom Investigate Virgin Media UK Over Digital Phone Migrations

9th February, 2024 (21 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has this morning announced that they’ve opened a new investigation into broadband ISP Virgin Media’s migration of customers from analogue to IP-based digital landlines. The case will look at whether they’ve been treating vulnerable consumers correctly and “ensuring uninterrupted access” to emergency services.

Ofcom and UK Phone Providers to Further Tackle Spoofed Calls UPDATE

1st February, 2024 (11 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today moved to strengthen their existing rules against the use of “fake phone numbers” and “spoofed calls“, which involves a proposal for phone providers (fixed line and mobile) to introduce stricter measures against “Presentation Numbers” that are used to identify who is making a call.

Ofcom Look to Approve BeetleSat’s LEO Broadband Satellites

29th January, 2024 (11 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has proposed to grant an Earth Station Network Licence (ESNL) to NSLComm in support of its plans to launch a new global constellation of 264 satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which could be used to provide broadband to mobile sites (backhaul), as well as military, aviation, maritime and enterprises.

complaint UK consumer broadband isp and phone gripes

Ofcom Shames Virgin Media and O2 for UK Telecoms Complaints UPDATE

25th January, 2024 (37 Comments)

Ofcom has published their latest study of UK consumer complaints for Q3 2023, which names Virgin Media as the worst for attracting the most gripes about fixed broadband, landline phone and pay TV services. Meanwhile, O2, which is part of the same company, attracted the most complaints for Pay Monthly Mobile services.

Broadband ISP BT Confirm New UK Pricing Policy for 2024 – Drops Inflationary Hikes UPDATE

16th January, 2024 (35 Comments)

Following Ofcom’s recent proposal to BAN providers from doing mid-contract price hikes that are linked to inflation and percentage changes (here), telecoms giant BT has today become the first major operator to confirm that they will instead be adopting “clear and simple” price changes from “early summer” (not in time to stop the next hike, though).

Vodafone UK Warn Over Costs of Adding Battery Backup to Mobile Sites

16th January, 2024 (22 Comments)

Mobile operator Vodafone UK has today highlighted the potentially huge cost challenges involved with adding backup power (batteries etc.) to their network of 12,000+ mast sites across the country, which could be one of the possible outcomes from Ofcom’s new probe into the issue of inadequate power backup.

Phone handset hanging from cord - 123RF - 26684886.webp

Court Trial to Start Over BT’s Alleged UK Landline Overcharging UPDATE

13th January, 2024 (3 Comments)

After a three-year battle, the Collective Action on Land Lines (CALL) campaign will this month finally take national broadband ISP and phone provider BT to trial as part of a £600m £1.3bn class-action lawsuit, which alleges that the UK telecoms giant overcharged 2.3 million of its landline-only phone customers between 2015 and 2018.

Jeremy Hunt UK MP Standing Outside Next to Lake

Questions After UK Chancellor Says CMA May Probe Mid Contract UK ISP Price Hikes

11th January, 2024 (46 Comments)

The UK Government’s Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has, in a new ITV interview with MSE’s Martin Lewis, raised a few questions after he proposed to ask the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to probe mid-contract prices hikes by broadband ISPs and proclaimed that the network costs for providers “don’t go up at all.“

Ofcom UK Explore Reflective Surfaces to Boost Mobile Coverage

10th January, 2024 (10 Comments)

The UK communications regulator, Ofcom, has today published an interesting new white paper that, in collaboration with Queen Mary University of London, explores whether “reflective surfaces” could be used to cost-effectively extend the coverage of wireless broadband and mobile networks. But more research is required.

Survey Claims 2.7 Million UK People Unprepared for 3G Switch Off

4th January, 2024 (39 Comments)

A new Opinium survey of 2,000 UK adults, which was commissioned by Uswitch.com and conducted in late November 2023, has warned that 13% of mobile users still don’t know if their phone is 4G or 5G ready and 5% say they still use a 3G handset.

uk map broadband mobile isp computer network

Ofcom – UK Gigabit Broadband Rises to 78% as 5G Tops 85-93%

19th December, 2023 (12 Comments)

The latest Connection Nations 2023 UK digital infrastructure report has today been published by Ofcom, which finds that “gigabit-capable broadband” ISP networks now cover 78% of the UK (up from 70% in 2022), while outdoor 5G mobile cover from at least one operator is available to 85-93% of premises (up from 67-77%).

People with Vectone Mobile UK Numbers Face Ongoing Issues UPDATE

19th December, 2023 (43 Comments)

Customers who first acquired their mobile number from Vectone Mobile, which one operator says “recently ceased all UK operators“, appear to be facing ongoing problems with routeing of calls and texts after major service problems began a couple of months ago. The bad news is that a change of number may be required to fully resolve it.

telecommunication tower a falling signal on the city 123rf

ITU Decides Upper 6GHz Band is for Mobile Broadband, Sort Of UPDATE

18th December, 2023 (17 Comments)

The ITU’s World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 came to an end last week and one of its key decisions was to announce that the Upper 6GHz radio spectrum band (6425 to 7125MHz) can be used for mobile (5G and 6G), but also allows regulators like Ofcom in the UK to exploring a hybrid approach alongside WiFi.

concept of wireless radio Internet. 5G mobile technologies.

Two Thirds of Councils Still Use Services Reliant on 2G and 3G Mobile

16th December, 2023 (19 Comments)

The Local Government Association, which represents councils across England and Wales, has warned that while the majority of councils are aware of the looming mobile network closures, almost two-thirds of them are still using devices and systems reliant on 2G and 3G connectivity to at least a small extent.

price-rise-uk-broadband-and-mobile-households

ASA Enforce New Mid-Contract Price Hike Rules for UK Broadband ISPs

14th December, 2023 (8 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) will tomorrow officially begin to enforce new guidance for how UK broadband ISPs and mobile network operators should communicate mid-contract prices hikes to consumers, which could make such policies clearer and more transparent. But it arrives as Ofcom move (here) to ban the practice.

switch broadband ISP direction sign illustration

New UK Broadband ISP Switching System to be Delayed AGAIN

13th December, 2023 (21 Comments)

The industry-led One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo), which is responsible for implementing Ofcom’s already heavily delayed One Touch Switch (OTS) system for broadband ISPs and consumers who want to change provider, has today warned that their revised plan to introduce it from 14th March 2024 is “no longer achievable“.

New Ofcom UK Rules to STOP Misleading Use of “Fibre” Broadband UPDATE

13th December, 2023 (57 Comments)

The UK telecoms, media and internet content regulator, Ofcom, has today introduced new guidelines that will effectively only allow broadband ISPs to use terms like “fibre” and “full-fibre” on their websites, and in contracts, if their network brings fibre optic cables all the way to your home (i.e. FTTP / FTTH).