Ofcom worried Royal Mail productivity slump could threaten company’s long-term finances December 2, 2018 Ofcom has warned that Royal Mail’s long-term sustainability could be under threat in the wake of a profit warning which sent the recently privatised company’s shares plummeting. The watchdog, which monitors the postal service’s ability to deliver letters and parcels across the country six days a week for a fixed fee, said in an annual [...]
Ofcom boss calls on British broadcasters to create Netflix rival November 28, 2018 Public service broadcasters should work together to create a ‘Brit Player’ to rival Netflix, the head of Ofcom said today. Sharon White told the Outside the Box conference in London that broadcasters should pull together their on-demand services to create a platform offering popular British shows such as Broadchurch, Blue Planet and Bake Off in one [...]
Ofcom reveals price cap for 118 directory enquiry service calls after charges hit £20 for a 90-second call November 28, 2018 Ofcom revealed plans today to cap the price of directory enquiry calls to protect consumers from high prices. The regulator said some services charge almost £20 for a 90-second phone call, while the popular 118 118 service charges £11.23 for a call of that duration. The telecoms watchdog will cap prices for 118 services at [...]
Small businesses face ‘wild west’ from big three mobile providers, report warns November 28, 2018 Small and medium-sized businesses in the UK are overpaying for mobile bills by £1bn due to a lack of competition in the market, a report has warned. Research by price comparison website Billmonitor estimates 49 per cent of UK businesses are paying more than twice what they should be for mobile services from EE, Vodafone [...]
Ofcom fines Virgin Media and EE £13m for overcharging customers November 16, 2018 Ofcom has slapped EE and Virgin Media with combined fines of £13.3m for overcharging customers who ended their contracts early. The regulator said that EE had charged 400,000 customers up to £4.3m too much over a six-year period. Up to 15m mobile, landline and broadband customers were stuck in contracts with “excessive early exit charges”, [...]
Square Mile lags behind Orkney Islands to clinch the slowest internet in Britain November 9, 2018 Homes in the City of London have the slowest internet in the country, with speeds even in the remote Orkney Islands outstripping the square mile, a study has shown. Residential fixed-line broadband speeds average 15.1 megabits per second in the City, almost seven times slower than York, which is the fastest in Britain. This puts the Square [...]
It’s make or break for the telecoms sector’s shot at reform November 8, 2018 One of the great ironies of the telecoms industry is that, for a sector that is primarily focused on technological innovation and future infrastructure, certain aspects of it are decidedly backwards looking. There’s a clear divide between, say, the gathering momentum in the roll-out of ultrafast broadband and the distinct stasis when it comes to the [...]
Three ploughs £2bn into race to be the first to launch 5G November 7, 2018 Mobile network Three today said it will invest more than £2bn in 5G as operators race to be the first to roll out the new technology. Three said its investment in infrastructure puts it in a strong position for the launch of commercial 5G, which it hopes to bring to customers in the second half of next [...]
‘Self-regulation ship has sailed’: UK data watchdog targets Facebook after Cambridge Analytica scandal November 6, 2018 Facebook showed a “disturbing level of disrespect” for users whose data was stolen in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, according to the head of the UK’s data watchdog. Information commissioner Elizabeth Denham also called for the tech giant to be regulated, saying she was “astounded” at the sheer amount of personal data held by the social [...]
The ASA watchdog is regulating the Wild West of online marketing and advertising October 29, 2018 It goes without saying that the web has revolutionised the global economy. As a source of knowledge and information, as well as a marketplace for trade, it has created jobs, fuelled innovation, and accelerated productivity (well, it has when we’re not browsing Twitter or watching Netflix). The internet has also changed advertising. The digitisation of [...]