Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: Ofcom Regulation (1784 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - Ofcom Regulation

EU Court Overturns 2016 Block of O2 and Three UK Merger

28th May, 2020 (7 Comments)

The European Court of Justice (General Court) has today annulled a decision by the European Commission’s competition authority, which in 2016 blocked mobile operators O2 and Three UK from merging. The ruling found that the decision to block the £10.45bn deal had failed to prove that such a merger would damage competition.

NIC Seeks Stress Tests of UK Broadband and Mobile Infrastructure

28th May, 2020 (0 Comments)

The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has today published a new report that examines the issue of infrastructure resilience in the face of major disruption (floods, power cuts etc.), which among other things recommends that digital (mobile and broadband etc.) infrastructure may benefit from new standards and stress testing.

M12 Solutions and Intouch Systems Plan UK Full Fibre Rollouts

22nd May, 2020 (7 Comments)

Broadband ISPs M12 Solutions (Giganet) and fixed wireless provider InTouch Systems (Redshelf, ITSwisp and WiSpire) appear to be separately planning for a new or faster deployment of “gigabit-capable” Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology, although at present the details remain few and far between.

Ofcom Sets Out Funding Rules for 10Mbps UK Broadband USO

22nd May, 2020 (14 Comments)

After the fact. Ofcom has today set out the final funding regulations for their legally-binding Universal Service Obligation (USO), which went live in March (summary) – supplied by BT and KCOM – and aims to ensure that people in disadvantaged areas can request a minimum broadband speed of “at least” 10Mbps (1Mbps upload).

Vodafone Attract the Most Broadband ISP Complaints – Q4 2019

19th May, 2020 (12 Comments)

Ofcom has published their latest Q4 2019 consumer complaints data, which reveals that UK ISP Vodafone attracted the most gripes for broadband, while Plusnet were the worst for landline phone and Virgin Media sat on the naughty step for Pay TV. On the flip side Sky (Sky Broadband, Sky TV) attracted the fewest moans from consumers.

Ofcom – Full Fibre Broadband Grows to 3.5Million UK Premises

13th May, 2020 (25 Comments)

Ofcom has published their Spring 2020 update for UK broadband and mobile networks, which reveals that “full fibre” (FTTP) coverage has risen to 12% (up from 10% in September 2019) and the number of premises unable to get 10Mbps+ remains at 2% (608,000 premises). Geographic 4G coverage is now 67% (up from 66%).

Ofcom 2020 Study – Average UK Broadband ISP Speeds Hit 64Mb

13th May, 2020 (2 Comments)

Ofcom has published their annual report into fixed line home broadband speeds, which finds that the average download rate has risen from 54.2Mbps last year to 64Mbps now (uploads from 7.2Mbps to 14Mbps). It also examines the performance and latency of big ISPs including BT, Sky Broadband, TalkTalk, Virgin Media and others.

Openreach Sees Better Broadband Install and Repair Performance

6th May, 2020 (0 Comments)

A new update from Ofcom appears to show that the Quality of Service levels (i.e. minimum standards for repairs and new line provision) they imposed upon Openreach (BT) a few years ago are continuing to deliver improvements, which have also resulted in “more reliable” broadband services for UK consumers.

Ofcom’s Next UK 5G Auction Faces Legal Challenge from O2

5th May, 2020 (4 Comments)

Mobile operator O2 (Telefonica UK) is today in the news for a second time this week after they issued a “letter before claim” (legal challenge) against Ofcom’s forthcoming auction of the 5G (ultrafast mobile broadband) friendly 700MHz and 3.6-3.8GHz radio spectrum bands, which demands more harmonisation of the spectrum.

Ofcom Records Drop in UK Nuisance Calls, But Problems Remain

4th May, 2020 (6 Comments)

A few years ago Ofcom nudged UK broadband ISPs and mobile operators to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Nuisance Calls, which committed them to develop technical measures for “reducing the impact of unlawful nuisance calls on consumers.” The latest data shows an improvement, but not as much as we’d like.

COVID-19 – Ofcom Delays UK Telecoms Work for 2020 to 2021

30th April, 2020 (2 Comments)

In an unsurprising development Ofcom has today published a revision of their proposed annual work plan for 2020/21, which has naturally resulted in various delays to their broadband (e.g. full fibre competition), mobile (e.g. 5G auctions) and related regulation work due to the on-going COVID-19 (Coronavirus) crisis.

Ofcom Updates UK Study of 5G Emissions – Yeah, it’s Still SAFE

17th April, 2020 (0 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has just completed another round of testing that took measurements of the electromagnetic field (EMF) emissions at various 5G mobile sites, which once again found no problems. As before the emissions remain just a “small fraction” of the levels set out in international guidelines.

Ofcom Relaxes UK Broadband ISP Protections During COVID-19

2nd April, 2020 (3 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has softened some of their key consumer protection rules for broadband ISPs and mobile network operators, although their new light-touch approach to enforcement will only remain so long as the current COVID-19 (Coronavirus) lockdown persists.

COVID-19 – Ofcom Put the Brakes on New Broadband Regs

24th March, 2020 (8 Comments)

The UK communications and media regulator, Ofcom, has today responded to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis by, among other things, confirming that they’re suspending all existing consultation deadlines and may need to allow for delays in the implementation of new obligations.

10Mbps UK Broadband Universal Service Obligation to Go Live UPDATE3

19th March, 2020 (98 Comments)

The UK Government’s new legally-binding Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband – supplied by ISPs BT and KCOM – will tomorrow go live. The aim is to ensure that anybody living in a digitally disadvantaged area can request a “minimum” download speed of at least 10Mbps (1Mbps upload), but there are caveats.

Ofcom’s Plan to Measure the 4G UK Mobile Coverage Obligation

18th March, 2020 (4 Comments)

The telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today revealed some more details about the new £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN), which aims to extend UK geographic 4G mobile coverage to 95% by the end of 2025, and explained how they will assess the compliance of O2, Vodafone, Three UK and EE (BT) with those commitments.

A girl in a protective medical mask at work. Viral disease. Epidemic.

Broadband ISP Execs Join BT CEO in Self Isolation for COVID-19

15th March, 2020 (8 Comments)

The bosses of several other UK broadband ISPs and organisations, including Gigaclear, Cityfibre and Openreach among others, have now gone into self-isolation at home for at least 7 days after meeting the CEO of BT Group, Philip Jansen, last week. Initially it was thought that this only effected the chiefs of major mobile operators.