Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: Ofcom Regulation (1461 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - Ofcom Regulation

Rural Services Network Slaps “Disappointing” 10Mbps Broadband USO

28th June, 2016 (0 Comments)

The Government’s plan to introduce a new legally-binding 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband has been criticised by the Rural Services Network, which described the proposal as “disappointing” and highlighted further dissatisfaction with the “right to request” approach.

£15m Pumped into Vodafone UK’s Customer Service Improvement

27th June, 2016 (0 Comments)

Mobile operator Vodafone claims to have pumped £15m into improving their customer service related training and systems. On top of that they’ve also hired 600 new staff, but it remains to be seen if any of this produces the desired turnaround in user satisfaction.

UK Land Owners Call for 10Mbps Broadband USO to be “enshrined in law”

22nd June, 2016 (3 Comments)

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA), which represents 33,000 land owners from across England and Wales, has called on the Government to ensure that their forthcoming 10Mbps Universal Service Obligation (USO) for broadband includes a “legal guarantee for consumer compensation” where the speed is not met.

UPD CMA Reject TalkTalk and BT Appeals Over UK Fibre Broadband Prices

20th June, 2016 (2 Comments)

The Competition and Markets Authority has today rejected opposing appeals by BT and TalkTalk against Ofcom’s “margin squeeze” test, which is designed to keep the incumbent operator’s FTTC (VULA) based superfast broadband prices fair. But BT did win a small victory over its compliance period.

Ofcom UK Consult on Automatic Compensation for Broadband ISP Faults

10th June, 2016 (29 Comments)

The UK communications regulator, Ofcom, has launched their first consultation on plans to give consumers an automatic right to compensation from their broadband ISP when things go wrong, such as due to a “loss or reduction of service.” But we might all end up paying more for our service to support it.

LLU Unbundled UK Copper Phone and Broadband Lines Decline to 9.8M

7th June, 2016 (6 Comments)

The latest quarterly update from the Office of the Telecommunications Adjudicator (OTA) has revealed that the era of traditional pure copper line based Local Loop Unbundling (LLU), which gives rivals greater control over part of BT’s UK telecoms infrastructure, may be entering into a slow decline.

EU Telecoms Regulators Consult on New Net Neutrality Guidelines

7th June, 2016 (1 Comment)

The Body of European Regulators of Electronic Communications (BEREC), which represents national telecoms regulators from across the EU (e.g. Ofcom in the UK), has published its first draft guidelines for Europe’s new Net Neutrality rules that require ISPs and mobile operators to maintain an open Internet.

Ofcom Finds Vodafone UK Breached its Complaint Handling Rules

6th June, 2016 (0 Comments)

The United Kingdom’s telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today ruled that there are “reasonable grounds for believing” that mobile and broadband provider Vodafone breached consumer complaint handing rules by not having the correct procedures in place.

Three UK Seeks More Mobile Spectrum from Ofcom to Tackle BT

6th June, 2016 (10 Comments)

Mobile operator Three UK has a problem with radio spectrum, it needs more. The operator had hoped to tackle this challenge by gobbling O2, but the EU’s competition body blocked that (here). Now they’re demanding more spectrum security from Ofcom and the regulator may have to deliver.

Ofcom Probes UK ISP PlusNet’s Customer Billing Practices

27th May, 2016 (0 Comments)

Oh dear. Budget ISP PlusNet has put itself forward to be probed by the telecoms regulator after openly admitting to Ofcom that some of their customers might have been charged for a phone and broadband service that “was not live for a period of time between 2008 and 2015“.

UK Gov Moots Faster Broadband ISP Switching and Contract Tweaks

25th May, 2016 (0 Comments)

The Government has today launched a new consultation that seeks feedback on a number of consumer protection measures, which among other things could introduce faster switching between ISPs and make it easier to cancel contracts online.

BT’s CEO Loses Bonus as Chairman Sir Mike Rake Plans Departure

23rd May, 2016 (25 Comments)

The CEO of BT Group, Gavin Patterson, has lost out on a bonus worth £290,000 due to a rise in customer complaints, but don’t feel too bad for him as his pay for 2015 still increased to £5.4m from £4.6m in 2014. Meanwhile Chairman Sir Mike Rake has agreed to stay on until “at least” September 2017.

NextGenAccess UK Moots Rural Fibre Broadband Expansion for SMEs

20th May, 2016 (0 Comments)

London-based ISP NextGenAccess has hinted at plans to expand its fibre optic based broadband network into more areas that are currently outside the coverage of the BT’s UK FTTC/P roll-out, with a particular reference being made to “rural areas and non-city centre data centres and technology hubs.”

BT Rivals Sky, TalkTalk and Voda Push 10 Point Plan for a Better Openreach

16th May, 2016 (18 Comments)

A new “all-industry coalition“, which represents alternative network providers and major UK players like Sky Broadband, TalkTalk and Vodafone, has today put pressure on Ofcom to deliver on its Strategic Review by publishing a plan that sets out how they think the regulator should deliver a better and more independent Openreach.

Ofcom Speed Up UK Wireless WiFi Networks with More 5GHz Spectrum

13th May, 2016 (4 Comments)

The United Kingdom’s telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today proposed to add an extra sub-band to the 5GHz radio spectrum band used by many internal home WiFi wireless networks, which would increase the number of 80MHz channels available from 4 to 6 and deliver faster speeds.

Ofcom Consult on Future Approach to Wholesale Fibre Broadband Costs

9th May, 2016 (3 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, as part of planning for future regulation (2017 Wholesale Local Access Market Review), has begun a new consultation to examine the wholesale costs of providing fibre optic based broadband and phone access services to ISPs (e.g. FTTH, FTTC).

Advert Watchdog Forces ISPs to Include Line Rental into Broadband Price

4th May, 2016 (9 Comments)

The Advertising Standards Authority has today confirmed that fixed line broadband providers in the United Kingdom will, with effect from 31st October 2016, be required to offer clearer advertising of their service prices by including the cost of line rental into their total monthly fee.