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Articles for Category Tag - Ofcom Regulation

Ofcom Move to Protect UK People from Mobile Roaming Bill Shocks

20th July, 2023 (13 Comments)

Ofcom has today proposed new rules to force mobile network operators, such as Three UK, Vodafone, EE and O2 (inc. MVNO operators), to protect consumers who travel abroad from mobile BILL SHOCKS on data (broadband), call and text charges by introducing new roaming alert protections for consumers and small businesses.

Legal Opinion Warns of “unlawful” Clause in UK Online Safety Bill

19th July, 2023 (12 Comments)

The UK Government’s controversial new Online Safety Bill is facing more criticism today after Dan Squires KC and Emma Foubister of Matrix Chambers issued a legal opinion on its “prior restraint” clause. This suggests that there is “likely to be significant interference with freedom of expression that is unforeseeable and which is thus not prescribed by law“.

Ofcom UK Proposes to Tweak One of Openreach’s QoS Targets

14th July, 2023 (7 Comments)

Ofcom has proposed to tweak how it calculates one of Openreach’s regulated Quality of Service (QoS) standards for Ethernet and Dark Fibre repairs, which would replace the current “on-time repair” target with a “mean time to repair” target. The change reflects the fact that the operator’s performance has improved, not worsened.

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Ofcom UK to Publish Take-up of Social Tariffs by Provider

13th July, 2023 (9 Comments)

Ofcom has published an update on its action plan to support broadband and mobile customers during the cost-of-living crisis, which once again calls on UK ISPs to take “immediate action” to boost the take-up of cheaper social tariffs (available to those on state benefits) and promises to publish take-up data for each provider.

Ofcom Investigate Virgin Media UK Over Customer Cancellations UPDATE

13th July, 2023 (46 Comments)

The national telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has this morning announced that they’ve opened an investigation into the service cancellation practices of UK broadband ISP Virgin Media (VMO2), which follows customer complaints that suggest the “company is making it difficult for them to cancel their services“.

Unite Raise Conflict of Interest Concerns Over Vodafone and Three UK Merger

13th July, 2023 (16 Comments)

Unite the Union, which has previously expressed its opposition to Vodafone and Three UK’s proposed merger (here), is attempting to up the ante by pressing some of Vodafone’s largest shareholders (e.g. Blackrock, Vanguard, Norges Bank and local authority pension funds) to take a stand, on conflict of interest grounds, at the next AGM.

Big UK Mobile and Broadband ISPs Commit to Cut Emissions

13th July, 2023 (1 Comment)

The Digital Connectivity Forum (DCF), an industry think-tank, has today announced that the UK’s largest mobile and broadband providers, including BT, Three UK, and Sky Broadband, among many others, have agreed to work together to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the telecoms supply chain.

Vodafone Warn Gov 5G Targets to be Missed if Three UK Merger Blocked

10th July, 2023 (39 Comments)

The CEO of mobile operator Vodafone, Ahmed Essam, has indirectly warned regulators that a decision to block its attempted merger with Three UK (CK Hutchison) would result in them cutting their investment in digital infrastructure (5G broadband etc.) and being unable to deliver on the Government’s goals.

Ofcom UK Explores Hybrid Sharing of 6GHz for Wi-Fi and Mobile

6th July, 2023 (5 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today proposed an alternative way of solving the debate over whether WiFi or mobile broadband (5G) should benefit from the extra capacity (i.e. faster speeds) available in the Upper 6GHz radio spectrum band (6425 to 7125MHz) – “hybrid sharing“.

BT Reveal Cause of 999 Emergency UK Call Handling Outage

30th June, 2023 (25 Comments)

Broadband and telecoms giant BT has revealed that last Sunday’s outage and disruption to their 999 emergency services number, which resulted in 11,470 unique emergency calls being “unsuccessfully connected“, was caused by a “complex software issue” that had never previously been seen through their testing regime.

Chancellor’s Meet with UK Regulators Delivers no Surprises for Broadband Prices

29th June, 2023 (31 Comments)

Consumers hoping for some respite from spiralling price hikes on their broadband ISP and mobile operator bills will have to keep waiting. Yesterday’s meeting between the Chancellor of the UK Government, Jeremy Hunt, and the heads from all of the UK’s major regulators, including Ofcom, appears to have produced nothing new.

Lords Committee – UK Gov Needs Credible Plan to Tackle Digital Exclusion

29th June, 2023 (6 Comments)

A new Lords Committee report has today become the latest to try and tackle the age-old problem of Digital Exclusion (i.e. getting everybody online and ensuring they have the right skills). The Committee finds that the scale of the problem is a “direct consequence of political lethargy” and highlights the UK Government’s “lack of a credible plan.”

Ofcom UK Launches Investigation into BT’s Weekend 999 Failure

28th June, 2023 (3 Comments)

As expected, Ofcom has today formally launched an investigation into telecoms giant BT, which follows the significant UK-wide disruption to emergency call services that occurred as a result of a fault on their 999 service during Sunday 25th June 2023.

Ofcom Cautions BT in New Report on Openreach’s Independence

27th June, 2023 (26 Comments)

Ofcom has published their annual 2023 monitoring report into Openreach’s independence from BT, which found that the commitments made by the operator “have generally proved to be successful“. But the regulator warns against complacency and cautions BT’s CEO, Philip Jansen, against repeating some of his recent remarks.

Engineers Over Fibre Chamber Openreach 2022

Openreach Falls Behind on Ofcom UK Quality of Service Targets UPDATE

27th June, 2023 (3 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today opened an investigation into the Quality of Service (i.e. minimum standards for repairs and new line provision) targets that they impose upon some of Openreach’s (BT) broadband and Ethernet products, which comes after the regulator found that the operator had fallen short in several areas.

Major UK Broadband and Mobile Providers Commit to Recruit More Women

23rd June, 2023 (0 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today joined forces with BT, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk, Openreach, Three UK, Virgin Media O2 and Vodafone to agree a new pledge that commits them all to help get more women into senior technology positions – across a historically male-dominated sector.

Chancellor Calls on UK Utility Firms to Pass Cost Savings on to Consumers

23rd June, 2023 (14 Comments)

The Government’s Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, will next week meet with the heads from all of the UK’s major regulators as part of a drive to help bring down inflation by encouraging utility providers (i.e. energy, water, broadband and mobile) to ensure they’re passing on any wholesale costs savings to consumers.