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Articles for Category Tag - Ofcom Regulation

Openreach Publish New Dark Fibre Reference Offer for UK ISPs

21st May, 2021 (6 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has published the first Draft Reference Offer for their second stab at an Ofcom regulated Dark Fibre Access (DFA) product, which gives rival UK network operators and broadband ISPs physical access to harness existing fibre optic cables to run leased line style services. But the new solution is more restrictive.

Ofcom UK Seeks to Expand Range of Indoor Mobile Boosters

19th May, 2021 (22 Comments)

A few years ago the UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, took the decision to licence exempt certain “mobile phone repeaters” for indoor and in-vehicle (low gain) use (here), yet today only the kit from Nextivity (Cel-Fi) is known to officially meet their requirements. But their new proposals could be about to change all that.

Ofcom Sees Average UK Fixed Broadband ISP Speeds Hit 80Mbps

13th May, 2021 (45 Comments)

Ofcom has today published somewhat of a preview for their annual study into fixed line UK broadband ISP speeds, which reveals that the average (mean) download speed of home connections has risen by 25.3% since last year to 80.2Mbps. Upload speeds have also jumped by 54% to 21.6Mbps.

Ofcom Spring 2021 – Full Fibre Covers 21% of UK and Gigabit 37%

12th May, 2021 (9 Comments)

Ofcom’s latest Spring 2021 update for UK broadband and mobile networks has revealed that “full fibre” (FTTP) coverage has grown to 21% (up from 18% in Sep 2020) and 37% or 10.8 million homes are within reach of a gigabit-capable (1000Mbps) network (up from 27%). But sadly 4G coverage has not improved and there’s no mention of 5G.

BT Calls on UK Gov to Help Subsidise Social Broadband Tariffs

12th May, 2021 (6 Comments)

The CEO of BT’s Consumer ISP division, Marc Allera, has today called on the UK Government to help support the industry by making it easier for home broadband providers to launch new social tariffs via targetted funding or subsidies, which could come in a number of different forms.

Gov Publish UK Online Safety Bill to Censor “Harmful” Content UPDATE

12th May, 2021 (23 Comments)

After much delay the UK Government will today publish a draft of their new Online Safety Bill (Online Harms), which among other things hands Ofcom a new “legal duty of care” that can be used to force websites into removing “harmful” internet content. Failing to do so may risk being fined or blocked by mobile and broadband ISPs.

Ofcom Preps Strategic Review of UK 4G and 5G Mobile Networks

11th May, 2021 (7 Comments)

Ofcom has today set out the terms of reference for their future UK mobile strategy review, which will examine how the regulator can adjust their approach in order to improve 4G and 5G based mobile (mobile broadband) network connectivity for consumers and businesses over the next 5 to 10 years.

smartphone with incoming call from unknown person

1 Billion Nuisance Calls Made to People in the UK in 2021

10th May, 2021 (23 Comments)

New data from caller ID verification firm Hiya has reported that over 1 billion nuisance calls (e.g. silent calls, spam or frauds) have been made to people in the United Kingdom in 2021 so far and, more worrying perhaps, nuisance call volumes are currently increasing at a rate of 30% every month.

Ofcom 2021 Study Ranks Mobile and Broadband ISPs by Quality

7th May, 2021 (2 Comments)

Ofcom has published their 2021 survey of UK broadband ISP and mobile service quality, call waiting times, complaints and install times among the largest providers. Overall TalkTalk attracted the lowest satisfaction for broadband (77%), while Three UK did the same for mobile (86%). Generally, customer service has taken a COVID-19 hit.

BT Make Changes to Improve 10Mbps UK Broadband USO

6th May, 2021 (40 Comments)

UK ISP BT has issued their second biannual report into the progress they’ve made toward delivering the 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation for broadband, which reveals they’re building USO connections that cover nearly 5,000 homes and have introduced a new cost sharing system to help communities afford an upgrade.

consumer complaint uk red triangle warning sign by 123rf

Ofcom UK Shames Vodafone for Consumer Broadband Complaints

30th April, 2021 (27 Comments)

Ofcom’s latest Q4 2020 consumer complaints report has today been published, which names and shames Vodafone for attracting the most gripes about fixed broadband and phone in the quarter, while iD Mobile and Three UK jointly did the same for Mobile and Virgin Media came bottom for Pay TV.

Mobile Operators and Ofcom Warn of Scam DHL and FedEx Text

30th April, 2021 (8 Comments)

We’ve had several of these and there’s a good chance you have too. This week has seen Ofcom and all the major mobile operators – EE, Vodafone, Three UK and O2 – issue warns to customers about a surprisingly prevalent piece of malware called FluBot, which sends fake DHL or FedEx delivery messages that can infect your phone.

Full Fibre Could Bring 1 Million UK People Back into Workforce

28th April, 2021 (3 Comments)

The Centre for Economics & Business Research and Ofcom have today released separate, albeit complementary, reports that take a post-COVID19 look at the UK’s digital divide. The CEBR in particular estimates that 1 million people could return to the workforce with FTTP broadband available across the UK (up from the previous estimate of 500k).

Ofcom Reveal Final Results of UK 5G Mobile Spectrum Auction

27th April, 2021 (23 Comments)

The telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today published the final results from their recent £1.38bn auction of 5G friendly radio spectrum in the 700MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz frequency bands, which includes a few key changes from last month’s principal stage. Better mobile broadband coverage and speeds are expected.

Ofcom Will Stop Requiring UK Phone Providers to Offer Local Dialling

23rd April, 2021 (29 Comments)

Ofcom has today launched a second consultation on the future use of UK telephone numbers, which among other things proposes to remove the obligation on phone operators to provide a “local dialling” facility (this requirement is less relevant on modern internet based networks) and to prohibit “cash for calls” schemes.

fibre optic red and blue broadband cables 2018

Three Alternative Broadband ISPs Prep New UK FTTP Builds

22nd April, 2021 (16 Comments)

Three alternative network (altnet) providers – Briant Broadband, Spring Fibre and Stix Internet – have today revealed their intention to deploy gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) networks to homes and or businesses across different parts of the United Kingdom.

New Government Changes to Boost 5G Mobile Cover in England

20th April, 2021 (20 Comments)

The Government has today begun a consultation on their proposed changes to Permitted Development (PD) rights for mobile infrastructure, which seeks to 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 and softening planning permission).