Government to make gambling industry’s new code mandatory March 3, 2014 CULTURE secretary Maria Miller is backing new voluntary industry measures to restrict the use of high-stakes gambling machines. The changes will prevent bookies from advertising the machines in their windows and introduce an alert system to pop up after someone has been using a machine for 30 minutes, or when they have spent £250. Writing [...]
BT’s clash over Sky Sports goes into extra time February 17, 2014 BT’S DISPUTE with BSkyB over the price and availability of Sky Sports on its YouView set top boxes will go into an epic eighth year following a court ruling yesterday. The Court of Appeal decided that the competition tribunal should re-examine its decision from August 2012, which stopped BSkyB being forced to offer Sky Sports [...]
Price of mobile services halved in last ten years January 28, 2014 MONTHLY mobile phone bills have fallen by over 65 per cent over the past ten years to an average of £12.87 in 2012. In 2003 the average monthly spend was £39.65, but while mobile penetration has skyrocketed to over 90 per cent of households – with smartphones accounting for 69 per cent of mobiles – [...]
Commuters to see internet speeds boosted January 21, 2014 OFCOM yesterday announced it will make a large amount of spectrum available for new satellite-based technologies that could allow passengers on fast moving planes and boats to access the internet at ten times the speeds offered by current technology. Ofcom said it hopes the first commercial deployment of the technology to begin by the end [...]
Internet speed for commuters to skyrocket after Ofcom decision January 21, 2014 Passengers on boats, planes and trains are set to enjoy broadband speeds 10-times faster than they currently experience following Ofcom's approval of a new satellite-based technology. The new devices called earth stations will be mounted on vehicles and provide internet to passengers by connecting to a geostationary satellite. The telecoms regulator is also making available [...]
Actual Experience prepares a £17m London public offering January 12, 2014 ANALYTICS firm Actual Experience Limited is planning an initial public offering (IPO) on London’s Alternative Investment Market at the end of the month that is set to value the company at £17m. Actual Experience (AE) works with over 40 blue-chip clients including Cisco, Ofcom and Accenture to improve the experience of staff and customers using [...]
Ofcom rules for BT Openreach to improve service December 19, 2013 OFCOM has proposed a set of stricter rules for BT’s Openreach division that will require 80 per cent of fault repairs to be made within two working days, regardless of factors such as severe weather conditions. Sky and TalkTalk – who offer phone and internet services to their customers over BT’s network infrastructure – have [...]
Hodgson picked as Ofcom chair December 18, 2013 DAME Patricia Hodgson was yesterday officially confirmed as the next chairman of Ofcom. Hodgson, who started her career as a producer and journalist, will replace current Ofcom chairman Colette Bowe when she steps down at the end of March 2014 after serving her full term. Hodgson, who project managed the BBC’s switch to digital, joined [...]
Ofcom to apply freephone rules to mobile calls December 12, 2013 MOBILE calls to businesses or services using freephone numbers will be free from 2015 as part of new rules unveiled by Ofcom yesterday. Freephone numbers 0800, 0808 and 116 will be made free from mobiles under the plans, and the pricing of 08, 09 or 118 numbers will be made clearer for callers. “These changes [...]
Here’s what you need to know about changes to Ofcom’s call charges December 12, 2013 The Office for Communications (Ofcom) is ringing the changes when it comes to the cost of calling businesses and services. Call charges are going to become clearer for consumers, said the regulator, as it announced "major changes to telephone charges" this morning. The changes will come into effect in June 2015, allowing adjustment time for [...]