Ofcom urged to probe Royal Mail’s performance as millions of Brits are left without mail February 17, 2022 Close to 15m people were left waiting for post over the Christmas period, including 2.5m who missed important documents, health appointments, or were unable to pay a fine or bills, according to new research. More than half of those left waiting (54 per cent) reported going at least a week without letters, while 3 per [...]
Priti Patel pushes Big Tech to have a proactive role in axing ‘legal but harmful’ online content February 16, 2022 Tech firms may be required to proactively monitor “legal but harmful” user content in a Home Office push on the new Online Safety Bill. As reported by the Financial Times, Home Secretary Priti Patel has been looking to widen the scope of the bill, with a particular focus on fraud, terrorism and other illegal activities [...]
Ofcom calls on broadband firms to provide low income homes with support packages February 15, 2022 Ofcom has called on all broadband companies to better support low income households, suggesting the use of “social tariffs” across the board. These special discounted broadband packages are available to an estimated 4.2 million households in receipt of Universal Credit. However, only 55,000 homes have taken advantage of these discounted rates so far – just [...]
Technology infrastructure investment will prevent the left-behind areas of the future February 10, 2022 THIS year is set to be a pivotal moment for the future of 5G in Britain. Over the last few years, both the government and Ofcom have made clear their intent to get broadband booming in Britain by incentivising major commercial investment. It has largely worked. We’ve seen the accelerated availability of gigabit broadband speeds and [...]
Ofcom opens up to telecom mergers as UK innovation risks falling behind February 9, 2022 Ofcom has revealed that it may be increasingly open-minded to mergers as the telecoms landscape continues to evolve and consumers look for better connectivity.
Extremism is on our shores and deradicalisation must start in our communities February 9, 2022 Last month, a 44-year-old in Texas took four people hostage in a synagogue. The perpetrator, a British man by the name of Malik Faisal Akram, was shot dead on the scene after a standoff with police. Despite military campaigns against terrorist groups and government programmes aimed at stymieing radicalisation at home, the question of how [...]
UK broadband and pay TV complaints at an ‘all-time low’ says Ofcom February 8, 2022 Ofcom has revealed that the number of complaints received between July and September last year across broadband, landline and pay TV companies were at an all-time low. From its latest league table, TalkTalk and Shell Energy had the most broadband complaints, primarily due to faults and service issues. With the industry average being 10 complaints per every 100,000 [...]
Porn sites in the UK to check ages February 8, 2022 To mark Safer Internet Day today, Digital Minister Chris Philp is set to strengthen the Online Safety Bill, including adding a new legal duty requiring all sites that publish porn to put robust checks to ensure users are over 18. This could include adults using secure age verification technology to verify that they possess a [...]
Attempts to move civil servants out of London result in twice as many being recruited in the capital February 8, 2022 A new report claims this morning that efforts to move civil servants out of London are “going backwards”. In fact, since 2018, one in three civil servants has been recruited in the city, meaning the number of civil servants has grown twice as fast in London, at 22 per cent, than it has in regions [...]
Ofcom boss bids to regulate Netflix following Jimmy Carr row February 7, 2022 Ofcom chief boss Dame Melanie Dawes has said there would be “real value” in the media and telecoms watchdog regulating Netflix. In an exclusive interview with Channel 4 News, Dawes discusses the controversy surrounding the screening of a Jimmy Carr special in which the comedian made a joke about the Holocaust. In response to whether Ofcom should [...]