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Articles for Category Tag - Ofcom Regulation

Ofcom Study Examines UK Speed and Coverage of 4G and 5G Mobile Networks

17th July, 2025 (6 Comments)

The UK communications regulator, Ofcom, has today published their 2025 Mobile Matters report, which uses Opensignal’s crowdsourced data (collected between October 2024 and March 2025) to benchmark the performance of UK mobile broadband networks by both technology (2G to 5G), nation and operator choice – including Three UK, O2, Vodafone and EE.

BT Study Claims UK Makes it Too Hard to Install New 5G Mobile Masts – Missing £230bn Boost

14th July, 2025 (19 Comments)

Broadband and telecoms giant BT (EE) has published a new report from Assembly Research, which suggests that the UK is one of the hardest countries for building new mobile broadband infrastructure and has called for more reform of the planning rules (e.g. allowing taller masts). The prize, claims the report, could be to unlock up to £230bn in economic benefits by 2035.

CityFibre Agrees £2.3bn Funding Deal to Boost UK Full Fibre Broadband

14th July, 2025 (18 Comments)

Digital infrastructure builder CityFibre has today announced that they’ve reached a crucial UK funding agreement worth £2.3bn (mix of debt and equity). The deal will support the ongoing deployment of their new 10Gbps capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network and also drive a new wave of consolidation.

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Ofcom Make it Quicker to Raise UK Broadband and Phone Complaints

8th July, 2025 (3 Comments)

The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has today confirmed that they will make it quicker for consumers to access Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) providers, which are third-party ombudsman schemes that help people to resolve complaints with their phone, broadband and mobile providers.

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Broadband ISP Brsk Fined £14k by Ofcom UK for Telecoms Poles Rule Breach

7th July, 2025 (4 Comments)

Alternative broadband ISP Brsk (Netomnia) has been fined £14,000 by Ofcom over its roll-out of hundreds of new 9 metre high telecoms poles in the city of Birmingham, which were installed to support the roll-out of a new full fibre (FTTP) network. But they were today found to have breached two conditions under the Electronic Communications Code (ECC).

TOTSCo Start Onboarding UK ISPs for Business Broadband Switching

7th July, 2025 (0 Comments)

The One Touch Switching Company, which is the industry-led organisation responsible for helping to implement Ofcom’s solution (One Touch Switching) for easier UK consumer switching between broadband providers, has begun the ISP onboarding process for its complementary business switching solution.

KCOM Publish Prices for Broadband Infrastructure Sharing in Hull UK UPDATE

3rd July, 2025 (15 Comments)

Hull-based network operator KCOM, which has already deployed their own Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network across a big chunk of East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, has today quietly published their first terms and pricing details for a new PIA solution. The product allows rivals to run new fibre via the operator’s existing cable ducts and poles.

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Ofcom Updates on UK Satellite Broadband Fees and Project Kuiper

1st July, 2025 (0 Comments)

The UK communications regulator has today published a shotgun blast of new satellite broadband consultations, which cover everything from changing satellite gateway fees to introducing another new gateway licence for Amazon’s future Project Kuiper network. Ofcom has also proposed short duration licences for mobile (4G/5G) networks in the lower 2.3GHz band.

Ofcom Launch Improved UK 4G and 5G Mobile Speed and Coverage Checker

26th June, 2025 (17 Comments)

The UK communications and media regulator, Ofcom, has today launched an overhauled mobile network coverage checker, which includes enhancements that are intended to better match people’s real-world experiences, particularly of modern 4G and 5G (mobile broadband) service performance and signal strength.

Ofcom UK Directs Tismi to Block Specific Phone Numbers Due to Serious Misuse

25th June, 2025 (1 Comment)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has issued an update on their investigation into communications provider, Tismi (Tismi BV), which directs the company to “block all calls and messages” sent to or from specific mobile numbers allocated to it by the regulator after they were “linked to serious fraud or misuse“.

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CityFibre Close to £2bn Funding Deal for UK Full Fibre Broadband Plans

24th June, 2025 (28 Comments)

Alternative network operator CityFibre, which has already built a gigabit-capable full fibre broadband (FTTP) network to cover 4.3 million UK premises (RFS), is reportedly set to sign a £2bn funding deal – reflecting a split of debt and equity – to help keep them in business and support their plans for a major consolidation of rival operators.

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Ofcom Set Final Rules for 5G UK Mobile Auction of 26GHz and 40GHz

20th June, 2025 (3 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has today set out the final regulations for their plan to auction off a large chunk of millimetre wave (mmW) radio spectrum frequency in the 26GHz and 40GHz bands, which will come into force on 30th June 2025. The spectrum will be used by mobile network operators to deliver faster 5G data (broadband) services.

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Ofcom Warns UK Broadband ISPs NOT to Use Alternative Switching Methods

19th June, 2025 (29 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has posted an update on their investigation into the performance of the new consumer broadband and phone switching system (One Touch Switching). This found no major problems with the biggest ISPs but did warn that some providers on Openreach’s network were using an “alternative switching method“, which they said must stop.

INCA Calls on Ofcom’s Review to Protect UK Broadband Altnets from Openreach

18th June, 2025 (9 Comments)

The Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA), which represents many of the United Kingdom’s alternative network operators, has today set out its formal response to Ofcom’s current Telecoms Access Review 2026 (TAR) and warned that the proposals risk harming altnets in the business market, while also handing Openreach too much power.

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VodafoneThree Outline Future UK Network Plans and 4G to 5G Speed Boosts

12th June, 2025 (55 Comments)

VodafoneThree, which reflects the now finalised c.£16bn merger between Vodafone and Three UK (here), has this morning set out a set of post-merger plans for their 4G / 5G mobile (mobile broadband) network coverage, performance and branding. Starting with a 20% average speed boost on 4G for Three and SMARTY customers, and a new broadband partnership with CommunityFibre.

Virgin Media and O2 Warn UK Pensioners Unaware of Cheap Social Tariffs

12th June, 2025 (10 Comments)

Broadband and mobile provider Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2) has this morning claimed, as part of a new online survey conducted by Strand Partners, that 48% of UK pensioners are still unaware of the social tariffs that can offer “significant cost savings” to those on state benefits, such as Pension Credit, Universal Credit and others.

Mobile giant Vodafone UK and Sky (Comcast) have reportedly two among several "groups" that have approached budget conscious fixed broadband ISP TalkTalk about a potential deal (most likely an acquisition), which in theory could create a much larger provider with more influence over the industry. Just to recap. In 2020 TalkTalk became the subject of a £1.1bn takeover by Toscafund - controlled by hedge fund tycoon Martin Hughes (here), which including debt valued the broadband provider at around £1.8bn. The deal took the ISP private and gave them more financial flexibility for their future plans. Since then, they've backed Freedom Fibre (here) and this week made the notable acquisition of Ethernet provider Virtual1 (here). According to the FT (paywall) and Sky News, TalkTalk is now said to have asked investment bank Lazard to review its options after allegedly being approach by several groups, including Vodafone and Sky (Sky Broadband). Lazard is a logical choice as they recently acted as Financial Advisor to TalkTalk on the Virtual1 transaction. Some industry analysts have reportedly suggested that TalkTalk itself could now be worth "at least" £3bn. But this seems rather optimistic for an ISP that doesn't have any significant fixed line broadband infrastructure to call its own (excluding their old unbundled LLU network) and largely just piggybacks off Openreach (BT), CityFibre and Freedom Fibre. But TalkTalk do have a strong business and wholesale side. Funnily enough, Sky Broadband are in a similar position with their own fixed line base, while Vodafone also likes to piggyback off Openreach and CityFibre. At present, Vodafone has a fixed broadband base of 991,000 customers, while Sky Broadband is estimated to be home to around 6.7 million and TalkTalk has approximately 4.2 million. Suffice to say, anybody gobbling up TalkTalk would instantly become a much larger provider, giving them a greater say in how the UK broadband market develops and more opportunities for convergence (Vodafone with mobile, and Sky with mobile and TV). Crucially, TalkTalk's consumer base is mostly made up of those on older copper and hybrid fibre lines (i.e. ADSL and FTTC / VDSL2), which are ripe for a future migration to FTTP. At the time of writing, all of the aforementioned operators have decline to comment on the reports, and TalkTalk has yet to receive any serious formal offers. In other words, we strongly suspect that this is largely just an exercise in spin to help TalkTalk drum up some more productive interest in the idea. But at the same time, it's not unreasonable to suspect that they might succeed, as the interest seems genuine. On the other hand, we see reports like this every year or so and only a very few ever convert into a serious offer. Time will tell. Much may depend upon whether or not TalkTalk’s new owners are more flexible and pragmatic about doing a deal than the previous lot. Arguably, TalkTalk might have gone much further by now had they taken some different decisions a few years ago (e.g. co-investing in FTTP instead of Pay TV).

BT Allegedly Explores Acquisition of Struggling UK Broadband ISP TalkTalk

10th June, 2025 (37 Comments)

A newspaper has claimed that telecoms giant BT (EE, Plusnet etc.) is allegedly in the “early stages of exploring a takeover” of debt-laden broadband ISP TalkTalk. The news follows only days after Openreach reportedly threatened to block the troubled internet provider from adding new customers (here) due to concerns over delayed payments.