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

Articles for Category Tag - Ofcom Regulation

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Government Tells Big UK ISPs to Promote Social Broadband Tariffs UPDATE4

4th April, 2022 (32 Comments)

The Government’s Culture Secretary, Nadine Dorries, has increased the pressure on big UK ISPs by calling on them to put more effort into promoting the existence of cheaper “social tariffs” for home broadband, which are usually offered to those who may be unemployed or on certain benefits.

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Ofcom Increase Automatic Compensation Payments from UK ISPs

1st April, 2022 (12 Comments)

One of the few positives to come from the recent inflation surge is that Ofcom has just increased the payment amounts issued to consumers under their automatic compensation system, which requires some UK ISPs to compensate customers (cash or bill credits) for broadband connectivity mishaps and delivery delays.

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A Quarter of UK Parents Use Content Filters from Broadband ISPs

30th March, 2022 (14 Comments)

A new Ofcom report has found that 61% of parents are aware of the existing network-level internet filtering (Parental Control) tools provided by big UK broadband ISPs, yet only 27% have actually chosen to use them. Meanwhile, 6% of children have circumvented parental controls and 5% used a proxy server to avoid them.

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Latos Data Centre to Spread Gigabit Broadband into Tees Valley

29th March, 2022 (2 Comments)

The recently incorporated Latos Data Centre has revealed that it plans to “improve digital infrastructure” in the Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA) by providing “homes, SMEs and enterprises” with gigabit capable broadband connections.

Openreach UK Appoints New Member to Independent Board

28th March, 2022 (13 Comments)

Network provider Openreach, which as part of their deal with Ofcom (legal separation from BT) is required to maintain an independent governance structure, has today announced the appointment of Natalie Ceeney as a non-executive member to its Board. Natalie replaces Liz Benison, who will step down on 30th April 2022.

Gov Name Michael Grade as Preferred Candidate for Ofcom Chair

25th March, 2022 (12 Comments)

The UK Government has named Conservative Peer, Michael Grade (aka – Lord Grade of Yarmouth), as its preferred candidate for the position of Chairman at the UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom. Grade has had a long career in TV and broadcasting, encompassing London Weekend Television, the BBC, ITV and Channel Four.

AltNets Raise Concerns Over Openreach’s UK Exchange Closures

25th March, 2022 (26 Comments)

The Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA), which represents UK alternative full fibre and fixed wireless broadband ISP networks, has warned that Openreach’s (BT) plan to close 4,600 exchanges creates a huge and costly problem for many of their rivals in the alternative network space.

Ofcom Tweaks Help UK People Who Struggle to Pay Broadband ISP Bills

17th March, 2022 (0 Comments)

The UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, has proposed to make a few changes to their ‘Treating Vulnerable Customers Fairly‘ guide, which aims to help the 1.1 million households (5%) that are estimated to still be struggling to afford their broadband and phone (this rises to around 1 in 10 among the lowest-income households).

Internet Censorship Beckons as UK Online Safety Bill Hits Parliament

16th March, 2022 (29 Comments)

The UK Government’s controversial Online Safety Bill, which will task Ofcom with clamping down on “harmful” online content (hate speech, bullying, terrorism, conspiracy theories etc.) by threatening such providers with web-blocks, fines and possibly even jail – if they don’t enforce the rules, has today been introduced to parliament.

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AltNets Brightstar and Urbanfibre Plan UK FTTP Broadband Rollout

16th March, 2022 (0 Comments)

Two new Alternative Network (altnet) builders – Brightstar Limited and Urbanfibre Limited – have today revealed some tentative details about their proposed plans to build or expand an existing Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network across some parts of the country.

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Ofcom UK Sets Out Approach to LEO Broadband Satellites

15th March, 2022 (2 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today published their proposals for a new ‘Space Spectrum Strategy’, which among other things sets out their approach to supporting the growth of satellite broadband services, such as via the new mega constellations of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) platforms from SpaceX (Starlink) and OneWeb.

Mystery ISP Becomes First to Adopt Number Porting Flexibility

12th March, 2022 (7 Comments)

The Office of the Telecoms Adjudicator recently revealed that a “major” UK ISP had become the first to adopt the new ‘Right to Port‘ requirement for fixed line phones, which introduces some useful extra flexibility for phone users who want to switch (port) their number between operators. But none of the big players will confirm it.

Ofcom UK Tweak Geographic Phone Numbering and Local Dialling

11th March, 2022 (20 Comments)

Ofcom has today set out their final changes to the rules that govern the use of phone numbers in the UK, which has opted to retain the existing rules on geographic numbering and remove the obligation on telecoms providers and broadband ISPs to provide local dialling to customers.

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Switching Survey Claims 7 Million UK Broadband Users Overpaying

10th March, 2022 (6 Comments)

A new survey of 2,000 UK adults has estimated that around 6.95 million households are now out of contract with their current home broadband ISP, which they claim means that all of those customers could be “overpaying” by an average of £162 when out-of-contract (collective total of around £1 billion).

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Government Extends UK Online Safety Bill to Tackle Scam Adverts

8th March, 2022 (15 Comments)

The UK Government has today announced that their controversial new Online Safety Bill (OSB) will be extended to add a new duty, which aims to bring fraudulent paid-for adverts on social media and internet search engines into scope, whether they are controlled by the platform itself or an advertising intermediary.

New Rules and Taller Masts to Boost 5G Mobile in Rural England

7th March, 2022 (17 Comments)

The Government has today confirmed their intention to introduce a series of changes to Permitted Development (PD) rights for mobile infrastructure, which aims to help extend 5G and 4G (mobile broadband) coverage in rural areas of England via key changes (e.g. allowing taller masts of up to 30 metres).

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Gov Consults on New UK Telecoms and Internet Security Code UPDATE

1st March, 2022 (2 Comments)

The UK Government has today begun to consult on draft regulations for their new Telecommunications (Security) Act which, aside from banning Huawei inside 5G mobile networks (and restricting their involvement with FTTP broadband), will also impose a cacophony of tedious new security rules on telecoms operators.