Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: Ofcom Regulation (1791 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - Ofcom Regulation

UPD7 Ofcom Confirm NO Openreach Split from BT, But Change is Coming

25th February, 2016 (72 Comments)

The telecoms regulator has today published its preliminary proposals as part of a major Strategic Review of the United Kingdom’s Digital Communications market, but the big news is they’ve decided NOT to completely split BT from its national broadband and phone network (Openreach).

BT Pledge Over GBP1bn to Boost UK Broadband, But is it New Money

24th February, 2016 (40 Comments)

The CEO of BT Group, Gavin Patterson, has made a final plea ahead of tomorrow’s Strategic Review outcome and informed the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona (Spain) that he would “significantly” increase investment (£1bn+) in order to further improve national broadband connectivity.

Ofcom Set to Approve Inmarsat’s Aircraft Based Satellite Broadband

22nd February, 2016 (0 Comments)

Inmarsat’s slow moving plan to improve broadband connectivity on aircraft took another step forward today after Ofcom launched a consultation to authorise new terrestrial base stations, which should allow “direct air-to-ground” Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) to aircraft via the 2GHz band.

Sky’s UK CEO Ignores Weekend Reports – Makes Final Plea to Split BT

22nd February, 2016 (62 Comments)

The CEO of Sky UK (Sky Broadband), Jeremy Darroch, has today made a final plea in the hope of encouraging Ofcom to split BT from control of their national telecoms network (Openreach), which Darroch claims is the only way to encourage investment in 1Gbps+ FTTH/P broadband and to stop BT “[sweating] its copper assets” for slower connectivity.

BT Set to Avoid Openreach Split as Ofcom Opts for the Middle Ground

21st February, 2016 (70 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulatory will publish the outcome of their ‘Strategic Review of Digital Communications‘ on Thursday and unsurprisingly there have been some leaks, which appear to confirm our expectation that Ofcom will NOT move to split BT from control of its national phone and broadband network (Openreach).

UPDATE Centre for Policy Studies Calls for Ofcom to Initiate BT Breakup

17th February, 2016 (44 Comments)

The Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) has joined a growing chorus of people and organisations calling for BT to be separated from control of their national UK broadband and phone (Openreach) network, which the group suggests could “provide a market with a level playing field between all players.”

Sky Allows BT TV to Use Sky Sports 1 and 2 on a Non-Reciprocal Basis

17th February, 2016 (0 Comments)

Ofcom has finally closed a 2013 complaint by BT, which alleged that Sky was abusing a dominant position by making wholesale supply of Sky Sports 1 / 2 (TV channels) to BT’s YouView (IPTV) platform conditional on BT wholesaling their BTSport channels to Sky for retail on their satellite platform.

The Knives Come Out as BT Strikes Back at MPs Demanding Separation

13th February, 2016 (68 Comments)

Instead of going on a charm offensive BT’s CEO, Gavin Patterson, appears to have taken a more confrontational approach by privately writing to every (650) elected UK Member of Parliament and highlighting how he felt that many of their recent claims against the operator were “inaccurate and misleading“.

Ofcom Probes KCOM About Reduced Network Availability in Hull

12th February, 2016 (3 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator has started a new probe into KCOM Group’s (KC) compliance with their rules due to a “temporary reduction in the availability of its network“, which was formally notified to Ofcom by the operator. But don’t worry, it’s nothing bad.

Ofcom Shows the Gap Between Wholesale and Retail Line Rental Prices

10th February, 2016 (6 Comments)

Ofcom has today published their tenth annual Consumer Experience Report, which among other things helps to reveal the growing gap between what UK ISPs pay for their line rental and how much they charge their subscribers.

Ofcom Drops UK Probe into Vodafone’s Billing Practices

9th February, 2016 (2 Comments)

The national UK telecoms regulator has decided to drop its own-initiative investigation into Vodafone’s billing procedures after they found that the mobile operator was behaving itself, although they are continuing to investigate how the operator handles customer complaints.

TalkTalk Joins Major UK ISPs to Sign Nuisance Calls Strategy with Ofcom

8th February, 2016 (0 Comments)

UK ISP TalkTalk has today announced that they’ve joined ten other broadband and mobile providers in signing Ofcom’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Nuisance Calls, which commits them to develop new technical measures for “reducing the impact of unlawful nuisance calls on consumers“.

UPD Three UK Pledges to Retain Low Prices if O2 Merger Gets Approval

4th February, 2016 (5 Comments)

The parent of mobile operator Three UK (CK Hutchison Holdings) has moved to counter Ofcom’s concerns about their proposed £10.25bn merger deal with O2 (Telefonica) by making “three clear and simple promises“, which include plans for a £5bn network investment and a pledge not to raise prices for 5 years.

Europe Confirms Move to Harmonise 700MHz for Mobile Broadband

2nd February, 2016 (1 Comment)

The European Commission has today moved to follow by Ofcom’s example and ensure that more radio spectrum will be made available for Mobile Broadband (3G, 4G and possibly 5G) services in the 700MHz band (694-790MHz) by 30th June 2020 “at the latest” (in all EU countries).

UPD Last Ditch Warning – Ofcom Tell EU to Reject O2 and Three UK Merger

1st February, 2016 (20 Comments)

The CEO of UK telecoms regulator Ofcom, Sharon White, has made one last ditch attempt to block the merger of mobile operators O2 and Three UK by calling on the European Commission’s competition regulator, which has the final say, not to ignore the serious competition concerns.

Ofcom UK Probes Mobile Operator EE Over Billing Concerns

29th January, 2016 (2 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator has launched a preliminary investigation to established whether or not mobile operator EE, which is imminently about to become a part of the BT Group, has once again broken its rules by failing to accurately bill their customers.

BT Openreach Under Fire for Being Slow to Connect New Build UK Homes

28th January, 2016 (21 Comments)

It’s a familiar story, you buy a newly built house only to find that it could take months before BTOpenreach get around to connecting you to even a basic broadband or phone service and then when it does go live the service could be slow. Meanwhile the property developer blames BT and vice versa.