Three owner Hutchison pledges five-year price freeze to ease competition concerns over merger with O2 February 4, 2016 Tens of millions of UK mobile phone customers could see their costs frozen for the next five years, as CK Hutchison tries to sway competition watchdogs over Three’s merger with O2. As Three’s parent company, Hutchison has pledged a #5bn investment to ease concerns over its proposed takeover of O2. Together, the two would create [...]
Switching mobile networks is about to become much easier under new proposals from Ofcom March 23, 2016 Changing your mobile phone provider is about to become much easier. Regulators have put forward new proposals to make switching networks easier for customers. Ofcom has suggested two options, its preferred one being the new provider handling the switch. "It is unacceptable for people to be missing out on better mobile deals because they fear the hassle of [...]
Advertising Standards slams telcos over broadband prices January 21, 2016 Apparently Britons are struggling to work out the cost of broadband contracts – but don’t worry, it’s not entirely due to a lack of mathematical ability. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has teamed up with the communications watchdog Ofcom to censure broadband providers over the way they advertise their services. According to research commissioned by [...]
Ofcom warns BT that internet status quo is likely to change as Vodafone, TalkTalk and Sky pile on the pressure December 1, 2015 OFCOM yesterday said Britain is doing well in rolling out superfast broadband compared with other major European economies, yet it added that the status quo in the industry is likely to be altered. Service providers, such as TalkTalk and Sky, have demanded that Openreach, which provides the infrastructure connecting people to the internet, be spun [...]
Treasury official Sharon White takes top Ofcom job December 17, 2014 Ofcom has appointed Treasury official Sharon White as its new chief executive. White will join the broadcasting watchdog late March next year, taking over from Ed Richards, who will step down at the end of December. She picks up an annual salary of £275,000. She is currently the second permanent secretary at the Treasury, [...]
Homeward bound HSBC, City Hall race and oil glut make a busy 2016 January 7, 2016 Forecasting events in the City is frequently a fool’s errand but one thing’s clear from the first week of 2016: it is going to be a tough year for much of corporate Britain. Here’s where I think most of the action will be. 1. Among the first big decisions of the year will be delivered when [...]
Younger viewers are turning away from traditional television viewing and watching Netflix and iPlayer instead July 2, 2015 Only half of young people are watching broadcasts through live television. The figures are from media watchdog Ofcom’s latest research into the state of Public Service Broadcasters, released today. It found that viewers aged 16 to 24 years old are increasingly using online, on demand, streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and the [...]
BT share price dips as Ofcom considers spinning-off Openreach July 16, 2015 It's been months in the offing and the cause of various, vociferous complaints – but now communications watchdog Ofcom has finally come out with it: it's considering breaking up BT. In an outline of a review this morning the regulator said separating BT from its Openreach network "could deliver competition or wider benefits for end [...]
Britain’s now a smartphone and selfie nation, Ofcom report finds August 6, 2015 If you feel like smartphones are taking over, you're not wrong. The nation is now using smartphones to get online more than any other device for the first time in history. The smartphone has snatched the crown from laptops as the device people said was the most important for getting online – 33 per cent [...]
Mobile network switching is about to get much easier thanks to Ofcom July 28, 2015 Switching your mobile network provider is about to get much easier as the regulator looks at changing the rules because companies are currently making it too difficult switch. Ofcom last month introduced new rules making it easier for people to switch broadband providers and is now looking at a similar move when it comes to [...]