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

Articles for Category Tag - Ofcom Regulation

A Sobering Reminder that Ofcom’s Auto Compensation System has Limits UPDATE2

30th October, 2023 (13 Comments)

The case of a pregnant UK mother who, while living in a house with no mobile signal and a 3-week-long outage of Openreach’s broadband and phone services, ended up giving birth on the kitchen floor due to an inability to call 999 – is today also highlighting a key caveat in Ofcom’s system of Automatic Compensation.

Ofcom Finalises Softer UK Rules to Protect the Open Internet UPDATE

26th October, 2023 (19 Comments)

Ofcom has finalised their move to soften the Net Neutrality rules, which were originally established to prevent unfair blocking or slowing of access to legal websites and internet services by broadband ISPs and mobile operators. Providers will now gain more flexibility to create “premium” packages (e.g. better latency) and “specialised services“.

Ofcom UK Opens Review of Fixed Wireless Network Links

25th October, 2023 (6 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today begun a review of the use and demand for fixed wireless links and related spectrum implications. Such links can be used for all sorts of things, such as delivering broadband to homes, feeding backhaul data capacity for mobile networks in remote areas and TV broadcasts etc.

Vodafone Testing Upper 6GHz Band for 5G mobile

Vodafone Push 5G Broadband Speeds to 5Gbps via Upper 6GHz Band

25th October, 2023 (13 Comments)

The tedious debate around whether EU and UK regulators should release the upper 6GHz radio spectrum band for use by WiFi or Mobile networks (or share it between both) has taken another twist after Vodafone conducted a new test, which used the band to achieve 5G mobile broadband downloads of “up to” 5Gbps (Gigabits per second).

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Ofcom UK to Soften Mobile Signal Booster Requirements

24th October, 2023 (1 Comment)

The UK telecoms regulator has proposed to soften their requirements for licence exempt indoor “mobile phone repeaters” in order to reflect both the introduction of in-vehicle 5G and the withdrawal of older 2G and 3G networks. Most operators (except O2) expect to close 3G by the end of 2024, while both 2G and 3G must be switched-off by 2033 (here).

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Top 10 UK Fastest and Slowest Streets for Broadband in 2023

23rd October, 2023 (17 Comments)

A new study from Broadband Genie (BG) has analysed 265,000 consumer speed tests and found the top slowest and fastest ten streets for broadband in the UK. For example, Morriston Close in Watford (London) comes out as the slowest street, with an average download speed of 0.6Mbps, but this is only half of the story.

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Ofcom Shames Vodafone in Q2 2023 Broadband Complaints Table

19th October, 2023 (11 Comments)

Ofcom has published their latest quarterly (Q2 2023) study of UK consumer complaints, which shames Vodafone as attracting the most gripes about broadband ISPs, while TalkTalk, Shell Energy and Virgin Media tied the lowest ranking for landline phone, BT did the same for Mobile services, and Virgin Media and BT came bottom for TV.

Ofcom May Change How Spectrum is Allocated for UK Wireless Broadband Networks

18th October, 2023 (0 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today begun a discussion that could result in a change to how radio spectrum for the next generation of wireless broadband networks is allocated, which in the future may place greater emphasis on spectrum sharing (we’ve already seen a lot of this via private and local 5G networks etc.) and flexible access.

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Ofcom Look to Release More of the 1.4GHz Band for UK Mobile

18th October, 2023 (0 Comments)

Ofcom has today begun seeking feedback on the possibility of releasing another chunk of the 1.4GHz radio spectrum band – specifically the 25MHz slice of frequency between 1492-1517MHz – for use by modern 4G, 5G or even future 6G based UK mobile and mobile broadband networks.

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Ofcom Predict 94 Percent of UK Covered by Gigabit Broadband in May 2026

17th October, 2023 (31 Comments)

Ofcom has today published the latest edition of their forecast for Planned Network Deployments, which predicts that the full fibre (FTTP) broadband ISP lines are on course to cover 91% (27 million premises) of all UK properties by May 2026 – rising to 94% for “gigabit-capable” networks (i.e. FTTP and Cable).

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Which? Launch Campaign to Ban Mid-Contract Broadband Price Hikes

6th October, 2023 (56 Comments)

Consumer magazine Which? has today launched the “Right to Connect” campaign, which accuses UK mobile and broadband providers of “duping consumers with their sneaky mid-contract price hikes” and is instead calling on the regulator, Ofcom, to “ban this practice” and deliver generally “clearer and fairer pricing“.

Ofcom Sends UK Cloud Market to the Competition Watchdog UPDATE

5th October, 2023 (6 Comments)

The UK communications and media regulator, Ofcom, has today formally referred the public cloud infrastructure services market, which is dominated by Amazon (AWS) and Microsoft (Azure), to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for further investigation after uncovering “features that could limit competition“.

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SMF Proposes New Approach to UK Broadband Social Tariffs

28th September, 2023 (29 Comments)

A new report from the Social Market Foundation (SMF), which is a British cross-party think-tank, has recommended that companies providing essentials (broadband, energy, water and transport) are made to offer Social Tariffs to vulnerable customers “in a consistent manner” in order to ensure all eligible users can benefit.

Ofcom UK Sets Plan to Auction 26GHz and 40GHz for Faster 5G Mobile

27th September, 2023 (7 Comments)

The UK media and telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today revealed more details about their proposed plan to auction off a large chunk of millimetre wave (mmW) radio spectrum frequency across the 26GHz and 40GHz bands, which will be used by mobile operators to deliver even faster 5G (mobile broadband) services in urban areas.

Ofcom UK to Take Back Phone Numbers from Defunct Providers

25th September, 2023 (12 Comments)

The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has today proposed to “take back” a sizeable amount of phone numbers from a long list of broadband and communication providers that are no longer trading (i.e. those that have been dissolved, gone into liquidation or closed).

Ofcom UK to Extend Content Rules to Internet-based TV Channels

21st September, 2023 (26 Comments)

The UK Government has proposed to change the law so that internet-based TV channels on smart TVs, which are delivered over home broadband ISP connections, would need to follow the same Ofcom content rules as on traditional TV to ensure “young and vulnerable audiences are protected from harmful programming“.

Censorship and forbidden speech warning sign uk internet

Internet Censorship Galore as UK Online Safety Bill Becomes Law

19th September, 2023 (86 Comments)

Get ready, it’s going to be a rocky ride. The UK Government’s new Online Safety Bill (OSB) is finally set to become law after passing through both houses of parliament today, largely unopposed. The goal is to tackle “harmful” content online, but the result may be a regime that has a chilling effect on freedom of expression.