Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: Ofcom Regulation (1794 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - Ofcom Regulation

UK Mobile Operators Win Appeal vs 2014 Radio Spectrum Licence Fee Hike

23rd November, 2017 (2 Comments)

The UK Court of Appeal has reversed an earlier ruling that found in favour of Ofcom’s proposed hike to annual licence fees for the 900MHz and 1800MHz (3G / 4G) radio spectrum bands, which could have resulted in price rises for consumers and less investment by Mobile Network Operators.

Government May Reject BT’s Voluntary 10Mbps UK Broadband USO Offer

20th November, 2017 (62 Comments)

Newspaper reports indicate that BT’s voluntary proposal to spend up to £600m on delivering a 10Mbps minimum broadband speed across the United Kingdom, which would implement the Government’s proposed Universal Service Obligation (USO), looks increasingly likely to be rejected.

Ofcom Slaps UK ISP True Telecom with £300k Fine for Mis-Selling

17th November, 2017 (1 Comment)

Troubled phone and broadband ISP True Telecom, which went into administration at the end of last month (here), has now been hit with yet another major problem after Ofcom slapped them with a £300,000 fine for mis-selling their landline telephone services to over 100 people.

Which? Claim UK ISPs Could Overestimate Broadband Speeds by up to 62%

15th November, 2017 (14 Comments)

A new study from consumer magazine Which? has used data taken from over 700,000 speed tests conducted by Speedchecker Ltd (between January and March 2017) to claim that broadband ISPs could be overestimating their service speeds by up to 62%. Save for a few BIG caveats.

Competition Tribunal Upholds Dark Fibre and UK Market Definitions Ruling

10th November, 2017 (7 Comments)

The Competition Appeal Tribunal has today handed down judgement against the market definitions used in Ofcom’s Business Connectivity Review, which upholds the July 2017 ruling (here) and means that the plan to cut leased line charges or force Openreach (BT) to offer Dark Fibre is still stalled.

UPDATE FINAL Details on Automatic Compensation for Broadband ISP Faults

10th November, 2017 (7 Comments)

As expected Ofcom has today set out the final details for their new automatic compensation system, which will force UK ISPs to compensate consumers (cash or bill credits) for a total loss of broadband connectivity, albeit only under certain circumstances (e.g. the outage lasts longer than 2 working days).

Troubled UK Broadband ISP True Telecom Calls in the Administrators

7th November, 2017 (4 Comments)

Kent-based ISP True Telecom, which is under investigation by Ofcom for their handling of service migrations (here) and was recently find £85k by the ICO for “making illegal nuisance calls” that gave “the impression they were from BT” (here), has gone into administration.

UK Industrial Strategy Commission Calls for Good Universal Broadband

1st November, 2017 (4 Comments)

The independent Industrial Strategy Commission has today published their final report, which calls for all UK citizens to be given access to ‘Universal Basic Infrastructure‘ so that everybody can benefit from good quality rail, energy, water, flood defences, broadband and mobile connectivity.

Openreach Find “broad support” for Large Scale UK FTTP Broadband Rollout

31st October, 2017 (34 Comments)

After conducting an industry consultation Openreach (BT) has today claimed that ISPs offered “broad support” for their proposal to conduct a “large scale” rollout of Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) ultrafast broadband across the UK, which could in theory reach 10 million premises by 2025. But no deal.. yet.

Ofcom’s BT Line Rental Cut is a Headache for Optional Broadband ISPs

30th October, 2017 (20 Comments)

Last week’s agreement between BT and Ofcom to drop the provider’s retail line rental price from £18.99 to £11.99 a month for landline-only customers (here), which could soon be adopted by others, may have created an awkward problem for ISPs that still sell optional broadband services.

Ofcom Fines UK ISP Gateway Telecom £150 Per Day for Failure to Respond

27th October, 2017 (8 Comments)

Telecoms and broadband provider Gateway Telecom (GW Telecom Ltd.) faces a £150 daily penalty for each further day from 20th October 2017 that they fail to comply with Ofcom’s second statutory information request, which relates to the regulator’s probe of the firms number portability.

Openreach Says “copper will run out of steam” and Calls for FTTP Support

26th October, 2017 (71 Comments)

Openreach’s (BT) Chairman, Mike McTighe, has told the Broadband World Forum that “we are getting to the point where the copper will run out of steam” and there’s a need to focus on “full fibre” (FTTP/H), but he warned that this could only be done with ISP support and “increases in wholesale pricing.”

Ofcom UK to Free 3.6GHz to 3.8GHz Radio Spectrum for 5G Mobile by 2022

26th October, 2017 (0 Comments)

Ofcom has today started their formal process for making the 3.6GHz to 3.8GHz radio spectrum band available for use by future 5G based Mobile and Mobile Broadband technologies in the United Kingdom, although Mobile Network Operators (MNO) won’t be able to use it nationwide until 2022.

Ofcom Nudge BT to Slash UK Standalone Monthly Line Rental Costs by £7

26th October, 2017 (15 Comments)

Consumers who take a landline-only phone service from BT will, from 1st April 2018, pay £7 per month less for their line rental following a decision by Ofcom (i.e. £11.99 inc. VAT per month instead of £18.99). The move will benefit up to 1 million of the operator’s customers, especially elderly users.

Ofcom UK Approve Indoor and In-Car Mobile Signal Boosters

24th October, 2017 (12 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator has today announced their decision to licence exempt “mobile phone repeaters” for indoor use and in-vehicle (low gain) use from early 2018. The move means that previously unlawful amplifiers could now be used to boost 2G, 3G and 4G mobile signals, albeit only under strict conditions.

SSE Warn Openreach’s Filter Connect is “inadequate alternative” to Dark Fibre

24th October, 2017 (5 Comments)

The Chief Network Architect for SSE Enterprise Telecoms, Conrad Mallon, has claimed that Openreach’s new OSA Filter Connect (virtual dark fibre) product is an “inadequate alternative” to Ofcom’s push for the Dark Fibre Access (DFA) solution that was cancelled following BT’s legal challenge.

UK ISPs in Legal Threat Opposing £600m BT 10Mbps Broadband USO

23rd October, 2017 (32 Comments)

Several ISPs, including Sky Broadband, TalkTalk, Hyperoptic and Gigaclear, are reported to be considering a possible legal challenge if the Government chooses to adopt BT’s voluntary proposal to deliver a 10Mbps minimum broadband speed across the UK by 2020.