UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, has initiated an in-depth examination of the market dominance by Amazon and Microsoft in the cloud infrastructure services space, a move raising concerns about market competition. The regulator has tasked the Competition and Markets Authority with evaluating potential challenges for consumers in switching cloud providers due to issues like high data transfer fees and technical barriers. The outcome of this audit could have potential implications for these tech giants and impact the future landscape of the cloud services domain.
The UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom, has finalized plans to auction off mmWave spectrum for mobile services, with an eye on potential effects a pending Vodafone/Three UK merger might have. This move underscores the regulatory body’s diligent efforts to enhance 5G spectrum allocations, allocating citywide licenses to 68 major UK locations. Despite the anticipated delay due to the merger’s evaluation, Ofcom plans to award licenses on a first-come, first-served basis in less densely populated areas, promising a balanced landscape for both telecom giants and early adopters.
The UK telecom authority, Ofcom, released its quarterly findings revealing increased customer complaints related to telecom and Pay-TV services. With Pay-TV, fixed broadband, landline, and pay-monthly mobile sectors under examination, the report uncovers the underpinning issues like changing providers, billing, and service faults. Notably, TalkTalk garnered the most complaints in the landline and fixed broadband sectors, while BT Mobile led in the pay-monthly mobile domain.
Ofcom falls victim to Clop ransomware attack, compromising personal data of 412 employees and confidential information of regulated companies. The breach exposes vulnerabilities in MOVEit software, prompting industry-wide reevaluation of cybersecurity measures.
Recent survey reveals nearly 1 million UK residents disconnected broadband due to financial constraints, with low-income individuals most affected. Ofcom urges telecom companies to offer affordable social tariffs, but progress remains slow, raising concerns for internet access and affordability.
The UK telecommunications regulator, Ofcom, has announced new regulations that will force phone companies to take action against fake phone number usage by detecting and, where possible, banning spoofed calls. This action tries to address an issue that has led to 40.8 million people becoming the subject of fraudulent calls and messages throughout the summer of 2022. Technical steps to combat nuisance calls have already been put in place by the vast majority of the large ISPs, phone companies and mobile network operators, although these measures are not always successful. Furthermore, there are still many operators that could do more, notably smaller providers and some VoIP carriers. According to the telecom watchdog, preventing such calls without substantial international cooperation and coordination is technically complex and frequently risks intercepting legitimate communications as well. According to Ofcom, around 700,000 UK residents have fallen victim to spoofed phone calls in…
AT&T has been fined $950,000 by the FCC for failing to deliver over 400 emergency 911 calls during a one-hour outage in August 2023. The incident, affecting multiple states, led to a compliance plan to improve reliability. The FCC continues to scrutinize similar failures, highlighting the importance of maintaining robust emergency call systems.
In an effort to simplify broadband service switching for UK residents, the telecommunications regulator Ofcom has introduced new rules effective from 12 September 2024. To support this initiative, iconectiv UK Limited announced its registration as a Managed Access Provider (MAP) with The One Touch Switching Company (TOTSCo). This move will provide UK Communications Providers (CPs) with the necessary flexibility to comply with the evolving residential broadband market.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is unlikely to demand that dominant cloud service providers Microsoft and AWS break up their businesses or divest assets. However, it is considering several other market interventions to ensure fair competition.
Ofcom has fined BT £2.8 million after its subsidiaries, EE and Plusnet, failed to adhere to consumer protection regulations. The UK regulator’s investigation revealed that both companies neglected to provide clear contract details to numerous customers before they signed up for services.