01/24, 4:20pm
Ofcom and TfL to brace London for Olympic data
Two organizations are working to brace London's mobile data networks for the expected impact of the summer Olympics this year. Regulator Ofcom has planned to increase the amount of available wireless spectrum for 3G in the city. Among the efforts, it plans to borrow airwave access from government bodies like the Ministry of Defence, to exploit unlicensed bands, and to use frequencies going up for auction but which won't be used until 2013.
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12/19, 5:10am
RIM to come up with solution for UK porn filter
RIM has been summoned to a meeting with the UK’s independent regulator of its communication industries, Ofcom, over the way its devices and services circumvent carrier porn blocking technology. The problem is unique in the UK to BlackBerry handsets and is especially concerning for local authorities as RIM’s phones remain popular with the younger demographic in the UK. The filtering technology works on the iPhone and Android handsets, but young kids can still access porn on their BlackBerry's.
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11/24, 11:15am
Ofcom wants speed, traffic filtering guarantees
UK telecom regulator Ofcom has put out a statement calling for Internet providers to step up their honesty as to traffic management. It noted that even those who had agreed to a voluntary guideline weren't providing enough detail and that it wanted basic guarantees. Providers were asked both to provide real-world average speeds as well as whatever throttling or blocking they were undertaking.
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11/14, 3:20pm
1,000 users to try 4G networking over next 9 mos.
UK wireless carrier O2 has said that it will soon begin trials for 4G LTE network services in the greater London area. O2 plans to deploy the service in a 40 square mile area and give users as much as 100Mbps downstream. The trials will begin later this month and last for the next nine months.
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10/07, 5:55pm
Delay should not impact 2013 deployment schedule
Ofcom, the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries has delayed its planned auctions of 4G mobile bandwidth until the end of 2012. The authority did so in response to a number of issues raised by potential bidders since the auctions were announced in March. Ofcom believes that the delay won't impact the actual deployment for 4G services.
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09/06, 4:50pm
Ofcom: tech complications may push back 4G sale
The largest wireless spectrum auction in the UK may be pushed back to the spring of 2012, according to a Tuesday report. The country's regulator, Ofcom, blamed the delay on many technical and legal issues. The potential delay is at least three months later than originally planned, though Ofcom added it has always said the original timescale was ambitious.
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09/01, 1:45pm
Use would recylcle underutilized TV spectrum
Ofcom, the regulatory and competition authority for the UK communications industry, has approved the use of "white space," the unused segments that exist in the spectrum currently solely used by analog TV broadcasts, for wireless Internet access. The low frequency of this spectrum enables signals to travel long distances and penetrate walls at speeds up to 22Mbps, making it attractive for a wide range of new consumer applications including rural broadband, and behavior like Wi-Fi with up to twice the range of today’s technology.
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07/29, 4:00pm
Ofcom proposals may shake up paid mobile content
UK regulator Ofcom proposed on Friday that paid smartphone content bought through a carrier's site should be regulated by carriers and not PhonepayPlus, as it is currently. The content on an industry-owned Payforit gateway should be overseen by PhonepayPlus, it continued. Wireless providers asked Ofcom to look into the matter, but they didn't want Payforit content to be regulated.
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03/31, 3:15pm
Ofcom broadband price cuts could lead to savings
UK telecommunications industry regulator Ofcom has revised the rates that Openreach, manager of BT's network, is able to charge other providers for using its services. This wholesale price could be reduced by over 10 percent per year. Companies that use Openreach, like TalkTalk and Sky, will benefit, but it won't help those such as Virgin Media that use their own cable network.
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03/22, 3:50pm
Group working to ensure competition among carriers
The UK is reportedly preparing its largest-ever spectrum auction, which will include bands spreading across 250MHz of spectrum no longer utilized by television broadcasters. The wireless regulation authority Ofcom is said to be working to finalize a strategy that will ensure the spectrum is distributed among at least four competing networks.
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03/16, 8:25pm
UK bill to force ISPs to monitor, punish pirates
A bill has been passed by the British House of Lords that, if it becomes law, would require Internet Service Providers to report suspected file sharers and copyright violators to copyright holders as well as the UK's Office of Communications (OFCOM). The Digital Economy Bill would be at odds with the way the European Commission handles enforce copyright infringements. OFCOM would need to decide on what ISPs are obligated to do with customers they suspect of infringing copyrights.
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03/12, 5:20pm
New Ofcom 3G rules to come into effect in August
UK telecommunications regulator Ofcom has proposed using 3G technologies at 2G frequencies in the UK, with an amended document that should be approved this August. In it, rules are updated to Ultra Wide Band usage, while 3G network technology will be deployed at the 900MHz and 1,800MHz bands which are currently restricted to the 2G GSM network.
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06/29, 8:15am
Vodafone May Buy T-Mo UK
An apparent leak late Sunday suggests that Vodafone may be interested in buying T-Mobile's British division. Reported sources for FT have the former either buying the smaller UK carrier or else establishing a joint venture. The deal would be possible thanks to T-Mobile's widely rumored dire financial state, which may have left the company with little choice but to look for a partner.
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04/08, 4:05pm
UK Pushing for 900MHz 3G
British cellular carriers O2 and Vodafone are being asked by the government to share their 3G spectrum as part of an effort to supply rural broadband. Although the two providers are currently the exclusive holders of the 900MHz band for faster wireless data, officials at the independent regulator Ofcom are asking the two to allow at least one other carrier to share the space and build out coverage in those areas that aren't already served.
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12/05, 11:30am
Ofcom UK Internet Rules
British telecom regulator Ofcom today put into effect a new set of guidelines meant to improve the state of Internet access in the UK. The voluntary system requires Internet providers who agree to the terms to give users a better idea of the real-world maximum speeds of the Internet connections and also guarantees that customers can step down their service plans without suffering a penalty fee.
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07/24, 4:40pm
UK ISPs join piracy fight
The British music and film industries finally received the cooperation they have been seeking from Internet Service Providers in helping them fight illegal file downloading. A report on Thursday has six of the country's largest Internet providers sending warning letters to subscribers suspected of illegal file downloading and sharing. The decision to do so is commonly believed to be spurred by the British government, which announced earlier this year that it would impose its own laws forcing them to police how their services are used had they failed to cooperate voluntarily.
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06/05, 5:00pm
UK ISPs get ad standard
Ofcom, the UK communication industry's independent regulator, is planning to make a voluntary standard for Internet providers to follow when advertising their maximum connection speeds. More than 90 percent of the country's ISPs agreed to complying with the new code, which would give customers a more accurate comparison of performance between companies when shopping for a new provider.
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05/02, 9:55am
O2 Finishes 3G Rollout
British telecoms regulator Ofcom today confirmed that national carrier O2 has met its minimum targets for a rollout of 3G Internet service in the country. The cellular provider is said to have supplied at least 80 percent of the UK's population with the faster wireless Internet service. O2's buildout helps the company avoid the equivalent of a $79.6 million fine if it failed to expand its coverage area by the end of June, six months after the official goal of December 31st, 2007. Of the five carriers authorized for 3G, only O2 has taken as much time to reach its necessary target, Ofcom says.
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04/04, 2:45pm
UK 4G Wireless Auction
Britain's telecoms regulator Ofcom on Friday confirmed that it would hold a new auction for wireless space in the country. Partly echoing the just-completed FCC auction in the US, the UK agency will allow portions of spectrum in the 2GHz and 2.6GHz spaces to be used for different wireless services. This is likely to involve fourth-generation data services such as "evolutions of 3G technology" or WiMAX, Ofcom says.
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01/29, 4:55pm
Cheaper data roaming in EU
People are still paying too much for roaming data use in other countries, says Ofcom, the official regulator of media and telecommunications in the UK. The group is pressuring cellular carriers to reduce their charges within the European Union, which can sometimes be prohibitively expensive; Ofcom chief Ed Richards notes that last summer, the average roaming price for 1MB of data was £4.11. "It could cost tens of pounds to download a single PowerPoint presentation," Richards has told the Financial Times.
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