Home » UK ISP News Archive » Article Tag: Ofcom Regulation (1790 Posts)

Articles for Category Tag - Ofcom Regulation

One in Five Children Aged 12-15 Can Disable UK Internet Filters or Controls

15th January, 2014 (5 Comments)

Ofcom has today published a new report for the Government that benchmarks the take-up, awareness and confidence of parents and children in relation to the use of online Parental Controls, such as the network-level Internet filters now being adopted by all of the major broadband ISPs. The results make for an interesting read.

Admin Fail Causes Hassle for BT Openreach Quality of Service Consultation

7th January, 2014 (0 Comments)

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has apologised after a “typographical error” meant that anybody who submitted a web form response to its consultation on proposals that would require BTOpenreach to meet better “minimum performance standards” (here) will not have been heard.

Call for Ofcom Probe After Another Cable Break Hurts Broadband in Shetland

4th January, 2014 (15 Comments)

The remote Shetland Islands (North of Scotland, UK) have seen local broadband services disrupted again after yet another subsea fibre optic cable break on the SHEFA-2 (Faroese Telecom) link resulted in outages and slow performance for some ISPs but not others, which has triggered calls for Ofcom to investigate network resilience.

Do UK Broadband ISPs Try to Hide Complaint Contacts and ADR Info

27th December, 2013 (4 Comments)

The ability to make a complaint is often essential but how many Internet Service Providers are transparent about the process and do some intentionally attempt to make the necessary contacts and information hard for novice net users to find? ISPreview.co.uk examined seven of the markets primary broadband ISPs to find out.

Ofcom Refine New UK Phone and Broadband ISP Switching Proposal

20th December, 2013 (1 Comment)

The UK telecoms regulator has today made a few changes to its initial August 2013 proposal (here), which set out the introduction of a “simpler and more reliable” method for helping consumers to migrate between different broadband and phone providers.

Ofcom UK Satisfaction Survey Puts TalkTalk Bottom for Broadband

20th December, 2013 (10 Comments)

The latest survey of consumer satisfaction, which was conducted by the communications regulator with 6,000 respondents between July and September 2013, has found that Sky Broadband and Virgin Media both score the highest (71%) for broadband but TalkTalk is at the bottom on 62%.

UPDATE ISPs BT, Sky and TalkTalk in Compensation Dispute over LLU Lines

19th December, 2013 (0 Comments)

Ofcom has today opened two similar but semi-separate disputes that concern BT’s provision of fully unbundled (MPF LLU) phone and broadband lines to TalkTalk and Sky Broadband, which the national telecoms operator is required to offer on “fair and reasonable terms“.

UPD Ofcom UK Propose Faster Line Repairs and Installs from BT Openreach

19th December, 2013 (3 Comments)

The communications regulator has launched a new consultation on proposals that would require BTOpenreach, the company responsible for maintaining BT’s national UK telecoms and broadband network, to meet better “minimum performance standards“. Faster service installations and repairs could be two of the benefits but it won’t help FTTC/P lines.

Big TV Broadcasters Warn Ofcom Over UK White Space Broadband Plan

16th December, 2013 (1 Comment)

The Digital UK group, which acts on behalf of the BBC, ITV, Arqiva and Channel 4, has offered its “support for the principle” of developing White Space Broadband technology. But it also warned that the regulators current approach raised “serious concerns” about potential for disruption to existing Digital Terrestrial TV (DTTV) coverage.

UK ISPs Sky Broadband and Virgin Media Attract the Least Complaints in Q3

13th December, 2013 (5 Comments)

Ofcom’s latest quarterly customer complaints report for Q3 2013 has revealed that Sky Broadband and Virgin Media have continued to attract the fewest consumer gripes out of all the major fixed line broadband and phone providers. By comparison BT and EE saw their complaint levels skyrocket.

Ofcom Claims UK NGA Broadband Uptake Beats International Rivals

12th December, 2013 (10 Comments)

The telecoms regulator has today published their annual 2013 International Communications Market Report (ICMR), which looks at the adoption, coverage and the uptake of broadband, phone, mobile, TV and radio services across 16 of the world’s major countries. The report found that the UK can hold its own against the heavy weights and consumer satisfaction with superfast broadband is very high.

Ofcom Make UK Calls to 0800, 0808 and 116 Numbers Free for all Phones

12th December, 2013 (18 Comments)

The communications regulator has today introduced new measures to help simplify call charges for 08, 09, 116, 118 numbers and to ensure that calls made to 0800, 0808 and 116 numbers are FREE from mobiles as well as fixed phone lines. But it won’t happen for a while.

UPDATE TalkTalk and Sky Accuse BT of Using Accounting Trick to Hike Prices

27th November, 2013 (9 Comments)

Ofcom’s on-going review into the United Kingdom’s fixed telecoms market took a new turn today after ISPs Sky Broadband and TalkTalk accused BT of using “accounting tricks” to make the price of UK unbundled (LLU) Internet and phone lines more expensive for rival ISPs, which usually gets passed onto consumers.

ISP Zen Internet Calls on UK Government to Tackle Broadband Noise

26th November, 2013 (39 Comments)

Broadband provider Zen Internet has today called upon the Government to get tough on the causes of Repetitive Electric Impulse Noise (REIN), which references a type of electrical interference that can disrupt the performance and stability of consumer broadband services (e.g. ADSL and FTTC lines).

Ofcom Begins Consultation on Future Spectrum for UK Mobile Broadband

21st November, 2013 (0 Comments)

The telecoms regulator has today launched an all-encompassing Mobile Data Strategy consultation that will attempt to identify and free-up a maximum of 881MHz in additional downlink radio spectrum (the 600MHz, 700MHz, 2.3GHz, 2.7GHz, 3.4GHz and 3.7GHz bands) for use by superfast 4G and future 5G style Mobile Broadband services.

Ofcom Moot Code Powers for 4 Samey UK Wireless 4G Network Builders

15th November, 2013 (4 Comments)

Ofcom has proposed to grant Code Powers (i.e. approval for street works) to four almost identical companies that all exist at the same address and which all plan to expand their existing wireless masts / towers in order to facilitate the roll-out of 4G based Mobile Broadband services by Mobile Network Operators (MNO).

UPDATE NAO Praise UK Broadband Prices in Infrastructure Investment Report

13th November, 2013 (1 Comment)

The National Audit Office (NAO) has published an interesting new report into the impact of infrastructure investment on consumer bills. The focus is centred on the hot-topic of energy and water prices but it also gives a brief mention to telecoms services.