Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: Ofcom Regulation (1466 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - Ofcom Regulation

Good Broadband Helps Winchester to Win UK Quality of Life Survey

19th December, 2016 (1 Comment)

The Bank of Scotland’s (Halifax, Lloyds) annual Quality of Life Survey, which examines a combination of broadband speed, health, crime rate, weather, employment, happiness and skills etc. to determine the best places in the UK to live, has ranked Winchester and the Orkney Islands top.

Government Considering New UK Rural Broadband Voucher Scheme

17th December, 2016 (18 Comments)

The Government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which oversees that national Broadband Delivery UK programme, appears to be considering the possibility of a much bigger voucher scheme that would help remote communities to access and build faster broadband infrastructure.

Ofcom Reveals its Options for the UK 10Mbps Broadband USO

16th December, 2016 (6 Comments)

The national telecoms regulator has today proposed a series of options for how a new legally-binding 10Mbps broadband Universal Service Obligation (USO) could be rolled out across the United Kingdom by 2020, but it’s expensive and the final decision is down to the Government.

89% of UK Covered by 30Mbps Broadband, But Only 1.7% See “Full Fibre”

16th December, 2016 (12 Comments)

Ofcom has today published their annual Connected Nations 2016 report, which confirms that 89% of UK premises are now within reach of a fixed line superfast broadband service (up from 83% in 2015), with take-up hitting 31% (up from 27%). But only 1.7% (498K premises) can get “full fibre” (FTTP/H).

Haitong Research Warns Openreach “cannot be legally separated” from BT

14th December, 2016 (30 Comments)

At the end of last month Ofcom confirmed that they’d force Openreach into “legal separation” from the BT Group (here), which they view as necessary to improve competition / fairness in the UK telecoms and broadband market. But a Haitong Research study warns that Pensions remain a roadblock.

UPDATE13 Customers of Broadband ISP Fast.co.uk and 186k Face Shock Cut-off

13th December, 2016 (185 Comments)

Sources have informed ISPreview.co.uk that customers of broadband ISP Fast.co.uk, sibling Firenet and supplier 186k are facing a nasty Christmas SHOCK after the provider, which until recently had been quite stable, suddenly announced that they were “unable to continue” the service.

Which? UK Study Finds Broadband is Essential, But 68% Suffer Problems

8th December, 2016 (8 Comments)

A new Populus survey of 2,107 UK homes from Which? has found that 90% of people view broadband as being “essential” (just below water, food, energy supply and housing), but 68% have suffered problems with their connection in the past 12 months and three in ten get sub-10Mbps speeds.

UPD Ofcom Consult on BT Cable Duct and Pole Access for Full Fibre Future

6th December, 2016 (0 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator has begun a new consultation on their proposed Duct and Pole Access (DPA) solution, which will help ISPs to build alternative fibre optic broadband networks (FTTP/H) by granting them cheaper and easier access to Openreach’s (BT) cable ducts and telegraph poles.

UPDATE Citizens Advice Scolds BT Openreach for Slow Installs and Repairs

4th December, 2016 (46 Comments)

The Citizens Advice agency has described the broadband market’s current compensation system as being “deeply unfair” after it revealed that Openreach (BT) had failed to complete over 20% of repairs (364,000) and 6% (281,000) of installations on time between April to September 2016.

Virgin Media Freezes Line Rental for Elderly and Disabled Customers

1st December, 2016 (8 Comments)

Cable operator Virgin Media has today taken Ofcom’s new probe into the cost of landline rental (here) to heart and announced the launch of a new “Talk Protected” plan, which will freeze the price of line rental at £17.99 per month for its elderly and disabled phone-only customers.

Ofcom Finally Decides to Probe the Rising Price of UK Phone Line Rental

1st December, 2016 (10 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator has finally decided to take a closer look at one of the markets most heated issues, the ever rising price of retail line rental. In recent years this has risen by between 28% and 41% in real terms, while the underlying wholesale cost has fallen by around 25%.

BT Openreach Publish FINAL Dark Fibre Reference Offer for ISPs

30th November, 2016 (7 Comments)

Openreach (BT) has today released their Final Draft Reference Offer for the new Dark Fibre Access (DFA) product, which is required by Ofcom and should give rival ISPs “physical access” to the operator’s existing fibre optic cables (i.e. allows them to “take direct control of the connection“).

Ofcom Probes Three UK Over Network Availability Blip

29th November, 2016 (0 Comments)

Mobile operator Three UK is being investigated by Ofcom after the operator voluntarily notified the UK telecoms regulator about a “temporary reduction in the availability of its network“, which may have hindered the ability of some customers to contact the Emergency Services (police, fire, ambulance etc.).

UPDATE4 Ofcom UK Forces BT to Adopt Legal Separation of Openreach

29th November, 2016 (66 Comments)

Bad news for BT today. Ofcom confirms that it has been unable to reach a voluntary agreement over the future of Openreach and would now force the operator to adopt “legal separation“. A new UK framework for the next decade of telecoms and broadband regulation will now be established.

UPD Ofcom UK Finds Broadband ISP Plusnet May Have Botched its Bills

28th November, 2016 (14 Comments)

A probe by telecoms industry regulator Ofcom has today found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Plusnet may have continued to incorrectly bill customers of their fixed line broadband and phone services between 7th March 2008 and 3rd September 2015, even after they left.

Three UK Launches Fun Public Campaign for a 30% Mobile Spectrum Cap

28th November, 2016 (5 Comments)

Mobile operator Three UK has taken a leaf out of TalkTalk’s “Fix Britain’s Internet” book and launched a new campaign (‘Make the Air Fair‘), which adopts the image of Ofcom’s CEO, Sharon White, and calls on her to impose a spectrum ownership cap of 30% that would hit EE (BT) and Vodafone.

Ofcom’s Strategic Review to Rule on Future of BT Openreach Next Month

23rd November, 2016 (71 Comments)

Still not good enough, BT. The CEO of Ofcom, Sharon White, has told MPs that BT still isn’t investing enough into UK broadband infrastructure and confirmed that the regulator would “absolutely” give a final verdict on Openreach’s future in December. But the changes might have to be forced through.