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Articles for Category Tag - Ofcom Regulation

Ofcom Probe ISP UKFSN and Start ADR Complaints Enforcement Programme

18th June, 2014 (5 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator has re-started its monitoring and enforcement programme to check whether broadband and phone providers are giving consumers the required access to an approved Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) complaints handler. As part of this they’ve also begun an investigation of the UK Free Software Network (UKFSN), a small ISP run by Jason Clifford.

Ofcom Maps Rising Superfast Broadband Availability for 11 UK Cities

17th June, 2014 (3 Comments)

The communications and media regulator, Ofcom, has examined 11 cities across the United Kingdom to assess the availability of standard and superfast broadband Internet connectivity. Overall the study found that faster Next Generation Access (NGA) networks now reach around 90% in most of the cities but wide variations remain.

Ofcom Moots Indefinite Extension to UK Broadband Ltd’s 4G Licence

13th June, 2014 (2 Comments)

The communications regulator has given preliminary approval to a proposal by the sibling of Hong Kong telecoms giant PCCW (HKT) and parent to London-based wireless ISP Relish, UK Broadband Limited, which is seeking an indefinite extension to its existing licence for radio spectrum within the 3.4GHz band.

90,000 UK Homes Must Change TV Aerial to Help Mobile Broadband Grow

28th May, 2014 (2 Comments)

The national UK telecoms regulator has today launched several new consultations on its plan to release existing radio spectrum in the UHF 700MHz (Digital TV) frequency band so that faster Mobile Broadband (e.g. 4G and 5G) services can be launched in the same frequency by 2020 – 2022.

Tibus Seeks to Build Ultrafast 10Gbps Fibre Optic Network in Belfast

23rd May, 2014 (1 Comment)

Businesses in the city of Belfast (Northern Ireland) could soon benefit after Tibus (The Internet Business Ltd) revealed that it was planning to make use of the UK Government’s “Super-Connected Cities” Connection Voucher Scheme in order to roll-out a new fibre optic network in the area.

UPDATE BT to Improve Quality of Service and FTTC Broadband Competition

20th May, 2014 (6 Comments)

The telecoms regulator has today pushed BTOpenreach, which maintains BT’s national phone and broadband network across the United Kingdom, to adopt new targets that aim to improve its quality of service by fostering faster installs, quicker repairs and making available more information about their performance to the public. Superfast broadband (FTTC) lines will also benefit from cheaper migrations and shorter contracts.

BT Openreach Recruit 1600 New UK Engineers to Improve Service Standards

19th May, 2014 (10 Comments)

BTOpenreach, which is responsible for looking after BT’s national UK telecoms network, will soon be bolstered by an additional 1,600 engineers in order to help the operator meet Ofcom’s forthcoming quality of service requirements (i.e. faster fault fixing etc.) and assist in the roll-out of superfast broadband (FTTC/P) technologies.

BT Clear to Replace Ethernet Excess Construction Charges with Setup Fee

16th May, 2014 (5 Comments)

Ofcom has formally allowed BTOpenreach to proceed with their proposal to replace the sliding scale of Excess Construction Charges (ECC) on their point-to-point Ethernet Access Direct (EAD) products with a simple balancing charge fee of £548 +vat, which will benefit many but not all customers.

Ofcom Publish UK Radio Spectrum Management Strategy and Interactive Map

30th April, 2014 (1 Comment)

The communications regulator has today set out its approach and priorities (e.g. future 5G mobile broadband) for managing and sharing (e.g. white space technology) the country’s radio spectrum up to the year 2025. As part of this, Ofcom has also published an Interactive Spectrum Map to show how different frequencies are used in the United Kingdom.

Ofcom Finds UK Fixed Line Broadband ISP Connections Reach 22.6 Million

25th April, 2014 (3 Comments)

The communication regulator’s final Telecoms Market Data Tables update for last year has revealed that the United Kingdom ended 2013 with a total of 22,577,000 fixed line residential and small business broadband ISP connections (excludes corporate lines), which is up by +941,000 (4.3%) in the year as ADSL’s existing market share declines.

UPD Average UK Home Broadband ISP Speeds Climb to 17.8Mbps – Ofcom

15th April, 2014 (21 Comments)

The telecoms regulator has today published its latest biannual report into the real-world Internet speeds of fixed line broadband ISP consumers across the United Kingdom, which reveals that the average download rate has risen to 17.8Mbps (up by +17.41% from 14.7Mbps in August 2013). Sadly a huge gap still exists between urban and rural areas.

UPDATE2 BT Battle Over UK Fibre Broadband Costs Could Result in GBP2 Cut

9th April, 2014 (35 Comments)

BT’s stock market price has been sent tumbling (falling from 381 on Monday to 360 on Tuesday) after industry rumors began to spread that the telecoms giant might soon be forced to cut the wholesale cost of its superfast “fibre broadband” (FTTC) lines by £2 per month, with Ofcom expected to launch a consultation on the subject in May 2014.

EE UK Calls for BT Phonebook Charge to be Cut from Line Rental

3rd April, 2014 (8 Comments)

Mobile operator and ISP EE has called on the UK communications regulator, Ofcom, to remove the “unjustified and discriminatory” charge for BT’s Phonebook, which gets passed on to consumers via the price they pay for standard fixed phone line rental.

Ofcom to Boost UK Base Station Power for 1800MHz Based 3G and 4G Mobile

31st March, 2014 (2 Comments)

The communications regulator has today proposed to boost the maximum permissible “base station transmit power” in the 1800MHz radio spectrum band for 3G (UMTS) and 4G (LTE / WiMAX) based Mobile Broadband and voice services by +3dB, which could improve coverage and capacity.

UPDATE Ofcom UK Investigates Unicom’s Sales and Marketing Tactics

31st March, 2014 (9 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator has opened an own-initiative investigation into Universal Utilities (Unicom) after a series of consumer complaints raised concerns about the fixed-line broadband and phone providers sales and marketing tactics in respect to their service terms and contracts.

UPD ISPs BT and EE Attract Most Home Broadband Complaints in Q4 2013

26th March, 2014 (3 Comments)

BT and EE’s home broadband packages generated the highest level of customer gripes during the final quarter of 2013. The data, which comes from Ofcom’s quarterly consumer complaints report, also revealed that TalkTalk were the worst for fixed phone providers, while Orange UK came bottom for mobile and BT also failed at Pay TV.

Ofcom Revising Broadband Speed Code of Practice for UK ISPs

21st March, 2014 (9 Comments)

The communications regulator has confirmed to ISPreview.co.uk that they’re currently working to finalise a number of revisions to their Voluntary Code of Practice for Broadband Speeds, which requires ISPs to adhere to a certain set of standards when communicating what performance a customer can expect to receive.