Internet of things needs global privacy push, says UK regulator
Think internationally
The U.K. telecommunications regulator Ofcom has called for international industry standards on privacy in the internet of things. On Tuesday the regulator…
Ofcom
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UK to clear 700MHz spectrum for mobile broadband use by 2022
As expected, the British telecommunications regulator Ofcom has decided to free up spectrum in the 700MHz for mobile broadband use. Already used…
UK to auction off more radio spectrum to boost 4G capacity and raise at least $79 million
The spectrum, in the 2.3GHz and 3.4GHz bands, is mostly in the hands of the Ministry of Defence right now, but will be up for grabs in late 2015 or early 2016.
Why in-contract price hike controls will likely mean the end of UK handset subsidies
Carriers subsidize handsets when they’re sure that their customers are locked into their contracts. Remove that certainty, and it becomes much less risky to break out the true cost of the handset and have the customer pay it off separately.
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UK mobile operators face massive hike in 2G spectrum license fees
The carriers are likely to end up paying millions more each year for their 900MHz and 1800MHz spectrum, reflecting the fact that this spectrum can now be reused for 3G and 4G, not just voice and SMS.
UK white space trial participants to include Google, Microsoft and Neul
http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/2013/10/ofcom-unveils-participants-in-wireless-innovation-trial/ As we reported earlier this year, the UK is planning extensive trials of so-called white space connectivity – using the spectral…
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UK audit office probes 4G auction results
The audit office will investigate the auction, which took more than £1 billion less than the government had predicted. However, the rationale for the government’s forecast remains highly questionable.
UK carriers may all be able to roll out 4G using existing spectrum
EE has been able to roll out 4G earlier than its rivals because it’s been allowed to reuse its 2G and 3G spectrum for LTE. Now its rivals look set to get the same opportunity.
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Better late than never, as bidding begins in UK 4G spectrum auction
The much-delayed UK spectrum auction is underway. It remains to be seen how EE’s decision to cut its premium 4G pricing yesterday, just months after launching the service, affects the outcome.
Another blow for handset subsidies as UK regulator mulls price hike controls
Ofcom wants to make it possible for consumers to pull out of their mobile contracts without paying a penalty, if the carrier raises the agreed contract price. But, as operators have warned, this may mean drastically reducing upfront hardware subsidies.
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Why France leads the IPTV world — but isn’t winning the race
Sacrebleu! IPTV adoption in France is greater than anywhere in the world — and becoming more so. But that doesn’t mean the French consume the most internet video. Here is why its market is failing to take advantage.
Internet may soon beat TV as main source of national news
Folks already use the internet more than newspapers to get their national news. Now the internet is on the verge of toppling even TV, research sugests.
The world’s best paid content market? China, research says
A majority of Chinese internet users say they pay for digital content. That finding is likely a demographic quirk — but may nevertheless mean a welcome market opportunity for vendors.
UK offers a shortcut to 4G, but angry Vodafone protests
A shortcut offered to Britain’s biggest mobile operator could allow some UK users to get their hands on 4G services well ahead of next year’s expected rollout. But the decision has drawn a splenetic reaction from rivals who say the deal could massively distort competition.
Finally, Britain looks set for 4G… but not for a year
Britain’s severely delayed 4G auction came a step closer with confirmation that the bidding for mobile spectrum will finally open up. But with regulators suggesting it won’t happen until early next year, UK consumers won’t see any real LTE service until well into 2013.
Brits say text beats talk – but data is going crazy
A study by the British media regulator Ofcom says that people are more likely to use their handsets to text rather than talk — but the real revolution is happening in mobile data, which has doubled in the last 18 months.
Voda-O2 pact may help UK get 4G faster than expected
Vodafone and O2 are joining forces in Britain to share their grid and try to roll out 4G services faster than planned. It’s being painted as a great deal for consumers — but it’s actually being driven by the actions of their rivals.
UK VOD Regulator's Competency To Be Reviewed
The UK’s controversial video-on-demand regulator, which has angered some web publishers by charging them to be regulated against their wishe…
U.K. to get LTE network, but most carriers still sidelined
It looks like the U.K. won’t be the last major European country to have LTE. U.K. regulator Ofcom has given Everything Everywhere permission to use its existing 2G spectrum to launch an LTE network this year, long before it holds the 4G auctions.
UK ISPs Must Write Letters To Pirates, Other Measures Some Way Off
UK ISPs will have to write warning letters to illegal downloaders identified by rightsholders, after the ongoing protests of two of the larg…
Nokia Lumia’s TV Deal Broke UK Advertising Rules
One of the biggest components in Nokia’s expensive campaign for its latest flagship handset broke UK media rules by mixing its sponsorships…
Let's Try This Again: UK Regulator Revises 4G Auction Terms For Q4 2012
While some operators in some countries (like the U.S. and Japan) have already celebrated birthdays for their LTE services, 4G in the UK hasn…
Piracy Much Higher Than Freeloaders Confess To, Ofcom Told
Illegal downloading of copyrighted content is up to twice as prevalent as perpetrators admit, according to research that will inform how Ofc…
Industry Moves: FT Alphaville, Ofcom, IPC, Archant
Some of the latest executive-level hirings and exits in the world of digital media business…
Linear TV Consumption Is Growing, But Is Ad Spend?
When you consider the internet, on-demand services, games consoles, mobiles, apps and [fill in your personal favorite here], we have more wa…
EU To Focus On Digital Content Policy In 2012
The European Commission says 2011 progress against its digital agenda ambitions has been “mixed”.
Mobile Data Use Expected To Grow 21x By 2015
Mobile phone networks, get your houses in order. Here is how much mobile data consumption is expected to grow in the next four years…
The Most-Read Newspaper Websites In Europe
We often see national and international breakdowns of newspaper website popularity, but rarely by continent.
The Internet's Population Growth Has Stalled
The UK internet population actually fell by one percent in the year to July, according to Nielsen data in Ofcom’s International Communicatio…
Nielsen: Android And Apple Dominate The App Space But Mobile Browser Rules
Apple’s and Android’s stronghold on the U.S. smartphone market has been the case for many quarters already, and figures out today from Niels…
Facebook's Video Views Rising, But Mostly For Discovery
Consumers are increasingly using Facebook for video – but, despite studios and broadcasters hosting more of their content on the social netw…
More Carrier IQ: Nokia, Google, Verizon Say No Dice, Sprint, AT&T Say Yes
Several days into the Carrier IQ story — which raised privacy concerns around software that claims to be an innocent diagnostics tool — an…
Power To The People: ISPs, Media, Users Face Off In EU Legal Triple-Whammy
Consumers in Europe may be feeling the smarting bite of the economic winter settling in around us, but when it comes to internet and mobile…
Europe Marches Its Airwaves Toward 4G By 2013
European countries must ensure they have auctioned their analogue TV spectrum for use by higher-speed mobile networks by January 1, 2013, ac…
Super Wi-Fi or white spaces, what’s up with unlicensed broadband?
The UK’s telecom regulator laid out plans to use white spaces broadband, and expects to see networks in use by 2013, according to a report issued Thursday. If the UK is moving forward, what the heck has happened to efforts in the U.S.?
UK Gives Green Light To Fast Wireless Broadband Service, Free To All Comers
The UK is preparing to roll out a new, superfast mobile broadband service that would also more than double the amount of spectrum that is cu…
Letters Show Rivals Lobbying UK Government Against BSkyB Acquisition
The government has published a tranche of documents relating to the deal that never was – News Corporation’s aborted £8bn bid to take ful…
UK Annual Digital Media Snapshot In Charts
Running to 341 pages, Ofcom’s Communications Market Report 2011 is an essential snapshot of data, charts and graphs about UK digital media c…
UK Re-Jigs Mobile Content Payments Regulation
Pay-for content bought through carriers’ mobile portals should no longer be regulated by the UK premium-rate phone services regulator Phonep…
Hacking Loopholes Remain, Consumers Deserve Better
After an “Arab spring”, it’s been a summer of security breaches. But, while the press, politicians and police chiefs turn themselves inside-…
BSkyB: Murdoch’s Role As Chairman Could Be Gone By The End Of The Week
Up to now, the British pay-TV operator BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) has continued to endorse James Murdoch as its chairman — despite the abandoned bid…
BSkyB Shares Drop As Hunt Offers Regulators A Do-Over On News Corp. Deal
Another major setback for News Corp in the UK today: Jeremy Hunt, the culture secretary, is sending back the media giant’s bid for broadcast…
News Corp-BSkyB: ‘Fit & Proper’ Role Called Into Question On E-Mail Charge
On the surface, News Corp (NSDQ: NWS) appears to remain hopeful that its intended acquisition of the 61 percent of UK TV provider BSkyB (NYS…
Updated: Publishers, Broadcasters Must Pay £10,350 For Having VOD Regulated
Following a consultation, ATVOD, which was appointed last year to regulate VOD along with Ofcom, has unveiled 2011/12 fees that are an avera…
Updated: UK Mobile Carriers Team Up For M-Payments Push
Big news today in the world of mobile payments: the three largest operators in the UK have announced a joint venture to offer mobile wallet…
Mobile Lowdown 6-1-11: WHO Cell Risks; Tapjoy; Moto; eBay; Apple iCloud
A look at some of the big stories in mobile today: a scary cell phone warning from the World Health Organization; Tapjoy dishes the dirt on…
Mobile Lowdown 5-26-11: Google Sprint NFC; Chinese Android; O2; New Fund
A look at some of the big stories in mobile today: more details spill about Google’s not-so-secret mobile wallet launch today; worrying stat…
Newspaper, Magazine Industries Protest UK VOD Regulation
Umbrella groups for the newspaper and magazine industries are speaking out in opposition to the UK’s new VOD co-regulator ATVOD.
UK’s New VOD Regulator Ruffling Operators’ Feathers
Twenty-two online services have broken the law by not consenting to be regulated by the UK’s new VOD co-regulator and by not paying tens of…
UK Tees Up 2012 4G Mobile Auction
The UK communications regulator Ofcom is planning its largest-ever auction of mobile phone spectrum in 2012 with the aim of enabling high-sp…
UK Government Approves News Corp Spinoff Plan For Sky News
The culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has approved News Corporation’s plan to spin off Sky News, clearing the way for its proposed £8bn purch…
UK Hikes Fees VOD Services Must Pay To Be Regulated
UK VOD operators must pay more for the privilege of being regulated, because their new co-regulatory body underestimated how much money it w…
EA’s Soccer Tech Tie-Up Caused Sky To Breach Ofcom Rules
Sky Sports breached two Ofcom guidelines governing promotion and prominence of products in programmes, by showing the logo for games publish…
The X Factor Rapped By Ofcom For Plugging Guest Acts’ Downloads
ITV1’s The X Factor was today criticised for breaching product placement rules after presenter Dermot O’Leary appeared to encourage viewers…
EC OKs News Corp’s Sky Bid, Saying People Don’t Want Bundled Media Anyway
The European Commission’s antitrust investigators say competition would not be weakened if News Corp (NSDQ: NWS) buys the 60.9 percent of UK…
Local TV: Freeview First, IPTV Later, No Certainty Of Success
Freeview should be used as an initial “transitional platform” to carry local TV services in a handful of areas, until they can flourish all…
Web Could Convince Ofcom To Approve Local Media Consolidation
Last month, BSkyB told Ofcom that its takeover by News Corp (NSDQ: NWS) should be approved because, in the online age, even News Corp doesn’…
End Of The Mogul? Sky Says Internet Helps Justify News Corp Takeover
BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) is trying to justify its possible takeover by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp (NSDQ: NWS). with an intriguing defence – that th…
UK Government Thinks ISPs Should Be Free To Abandon Net Neutrality
Internet service providers such as BT (NYSE: BT) should be allowed to abandon net neutrality and prioritise users’ access to certain content…
Analyst: Real-World Implications Of News Corp Sky Takeover Will Be Minimal
While many observers get their knickers in a twist about the business and cultural impact of News Corp (NSDQ: NWS) buying the 61 percent of…
Ofcom Sets Out White Spaces Rules While Skype Offers Free WiFi
The UK’s congested wireless networks may soon be getting an extra traffic lane: today, Ofcom took one further step along the route to puttin…
YouView Escapes Ofcom Inquiry Because It’s Not Breaking Any Rules Yet
Ofcom says it won’t investigate the YouView connected-TV JV under the UK’s Competition Act – essentially on the grounds that it’s not anti-c…
Ofcom’s YouView Opinion Delayed By Sky Submission; YouView Angry
Ofcom had been all ready to tell the world whether it will or will not instigate a competition inquiry in to the YouView connected TV joint…
Ofcom’s YouView Opinion Is Due; Here’s The Background
Ofcom is due to detail this week how, if at all, it will respond to the complaints submitted about the YouView connected-TV venture by Virgi…
Canvas Complaint #5 Comes From Open-Source Software Fans
Earlier letters from Virgin Media (NSDQ: VMED), IP Vision, Six TV and United For Local Television have prompted another submission to Ofcom.…
Hyperlocal TV Groups Team To Rat On Canvas To Ofcom
Here comes the third fourth complaint (that we know about) asking Ofcom to investigate the Project Canvas connected-TV venture on competitio…
Ofcom CMR 2010: Media Multi-Tasking Means More Of Almost Everything
Ofcom has dumped a load of data online in its latest, wide-ranging, annual Communications Market Report.
Charts from the online section are…
New Complaint May Prolong Ofcom’s Canvas Decision
IP Vision had always been opposed to the proposed UK connected-TV JV Project Canvas…
But, after Virgin Media (NSDQ: VMED) decided to form…
Freeview Allowed To Use DRM To Curtail Online Piracy
Ofcom is allowing the BBC to operate its Freeview HD multiplex in such a way that only TV receivers and set-top boxes with built-in digital…
CNN-YouTube Tie-Up Broke UK Broadcasting Rules
A CNN International debate programme that took viewers’ questions via YouTube broke UK rules by offering product placement and sponsorship t…
The Cost Of Front Page Regime Change – YouTube: £50k?, The Sun: Priceless
There’s publicity money can’t buy, and then there’s influence that certainly does have a price…
In two last-minute attempts to influence…
Pay-TV Ruling Leaves Sky Fuming, BT Disappointed, Viewers Somewhat Interested
Just when it seemed like News Corp (NYSE: NWS) could ramp up its paid content odyssey this year, UK media regulator Ofcom has told its major…
VOD Services Must Pay £375,000 To Be Regulated
UK video-on-demand providers must pay a combined £375,000 to two bodies that will regulate their industry.
The Association for Television…
GM.tv, MoneySavingExpert.com Breached Ad Rules With Web Links
Ofcom has ruled a tie-up between ITV’s GMTV With Lorraine show and consumer advocate Martin Lewis promoted Lewis’ own MoneySavingExpert.com…
BBC Promises TV DRM Will Be ‘Light-Touch’, Ofcom Undecided
What’s a little harmless DRM? The BBC claims that plans by Freeview broadcasters to apply digital rights management to high-definition telev…
IFNCs: A Grand Coalition Bid For Wales, UTV For North-East
The independently-funded news consortium (IFNC) pilot in Wales has attracted a bid from a remarkably broad alliance comprising…
ITV (LSE:…
UK VOD Gets Vague New Rules From Ofcom, ATVOD
“TV-like” video-on-demand services get regulated by Ofcom and the self-regulatory Association for Television On-Demand (ATVOD) starting Satu…
IFNCs: Will Incumbents Win Out, Or Is There A Place For Startups?
The Lord Carter/Ofcom proposals for independently-funded news consortia (IFNC) opened the door to exciting potential multimedia JVs and a wa…
IFNCs: Consortia May Have To Give Away Content For Free
Winners of public money that will support independently-funded news consortia (IFNCs) could be forced to make their content available for fr…
IFNCs: Trinity Mirror Amongst Five Expected Wales Bidders
Trinity Mirror (LSE: TNI) has declared its intention to bid for public money that will support an independently-funded news consortium (IFNC…
Global Radio Rapped By Ofcom For Plugging iTunes
By John Plunkett: Global Radio has been censured by media regulator Ofcom for “gratuitous” plugging of Apple’s iTunes on its Sunday afternoo…
Local Multimedia Rules Should Be Relaxed, Ofcom Says
Well, this certainly looks like a prelude to those independently-funded news consortia (IFNCs) … Ofcom is recommending the government rela…
Online, IPTV Vod Gets Light-Touch Oversight From Three Bodies
Online and IPTV VOD content will be regulated in the UK by a partnership of Ofcom, the Association for TV On-Demand (ATVOD) industry consort…
Broadband Content Bits: ITV Rights, Virgin Music, Wii iPlayer
— ITV (LSE: ITV) rights: Ofcom is proposing some housekeeping that would mean ITV Network acquiring new media content rights, rather than i…
Industry Moves: Ofcom CTO; World Federation Of Advertisers; Starcom; Future
— Ofcom CTO: The media regular is choosing its competition group chairman Steve Unger — who led the recent pay-TV inquiry — as its new ch…
ISPs Oppose Mandelson's Copyright Disconnection Plan
The government’s revised, tougher plans to tackle online piracy have been dismissed as “grossly unfair” and “misconceived” by the leaders of…
James Murdoch In Edinburgh Video & Text: 'Analogue Attitudes In A Digital Age'
Updated with video excerpts below: Twenty years after his father Rupert Murdoch delivered the MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh Internatio…
Updated: Entertainment Industry, Union Leaders Call For UK ‘Three Strikes’
A coalition of business and union leaders are lobbying Lord Carter to introduce tougher legislation to target illegal downloading, before re…
Mobile Content Bits: Operators’ Revenues Dip As Traffic Climbs; Vodafone Mobile Clicks; Free Dongle
— Ofcom publishes telecoms market update: Britain
BBC’s Canvas May Need OFT, Ofcom Scrutiny, Ofcom Says
Ofcom has warned the BBC Trust its assessment of the BBC’s Project Canvas proposal may have to be followed by an Office of Fair Trading inqu…
Digital Britain Consultation: Virgin Questions Canvas, Papers Want iPlayer Carriage
The consultation on Lord Carter
Digital Britain Consultation: Mixed Views On Anti-P2P Strategy
The consultation on Lord Carter’s interim Digital Britain report closed on March 12. Now the Department for Culture, Media & Sport has publi…
VOD Services Must Kow-Tow To New Regulator; But Is It Workable?
UK culture secretary Andy Burnham has confirmed he will create a “co-regulatory body, led and funded by the industry, to take on responsibil…
Cardiff May Get Hyperlocal Mobile TV As Digital Dividend Welcomes New Players
Cardiff multimedia design house Cube Interactive plans to launch a hyperlocal mobile broadband TV service in the city and surrounding area u…
Digital Britain: Nevermind The Media, It's About Online Govt
With Patrick Smith: Lord Carter, whose interim Digital Britain report landed like a damp squib last month, came out in defensive mood at a N…
Voda, O2 May Have To Give Up Spectrum For UK-Wide Broadband
Media and telco regulator Ofcom wants to force Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) and O2 to give up their portions of the 900 MHz mobile spectrum to allow…
Channel M Gets On Freeview; Digital Dividend A Boon For Local TV?
GMG’s Manchester metropolitan TV operator Channel M, which until now has only been carried on Sky, Virgin Media (NSDQ: VMED) and analogue te…
Industry Moves: Hearst’s Wood Heads Tech, Ofcom Adds Advisors; BBC
— Hearst Digital: NatMags’ online unit is adding Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) Europe entertainment engineering head James Wood as its head of technol…
Digital Britain Report: A Letdown That’s Merely A Meta-Review
Stephen Carter is no Al Gore, that’s for sure. The focus of Carter’s hotly anticipated interim Digital Britain report guarantees broadband i…
Ofcom Review: Online Not Popular Enough, BBC Continues Innovation, C4 Remodelled
The growing volume of online content can’t yet substitute falling investment in commercial broadcasters, because over a third of UK consumer…
Flurry Of Media Regulations Due This Month; Thompson Backs Consolidation
New media regulations are like London buses – you wait for the longest time for one to come along, then two come at once. The next two weeks…
Broadband Content Bits: ITV Renames VOD, New ISP Rules, Dailymotion
— *ITV* VOD re-brand: After iPlayer and Sky Player, ITV (LSE: ITV) is also re-branding its catch-up service “ITV Player”. Currently simply…
Brits Get Broadband Bill of Rights
[qi:058] The UK telecommunication regulatory agency Ofcom has issued its own broadband bill of rights — perhaps we should call it the…
More Sky Woe: Forced To Offer Channels, Picnic Cleared Posthumously
All Sky’s regulatory inquiries are coming home to roost. In two new Ofcom rulings today…
— New pay-TV rules: The regulator plans to forc…
Ofcom Review: Public Broadcasters Should Improve Web Discovery
The second phase of Ofcom’s lengthy public service broadcasting, out today, calls for websites to offer more links to public service web con…
Sky Packs Up Its Picnic, Blames Regulator Delays
BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) is scrapping its plan to launch a pay-TV platform on top of Freeview, before Ofcom has even had the chance to rule it out.…
Broadband Content Bits: Setanta IPTV, PRS TV Fine
— Setanta: Setanta Sports has got carriage from Inuk, the south Wales-based IPTV operator whose FreewireTV service pipes channels to PCs in…
Ofcom Regulating For ‘A Second Mobile Revolution’
Ofcom has opened a wide-ranging consultation on the UK mobile sector, in order to prepare the industry for “a second mobile revolution, brin…
Yahoo Pans Ofcom’s Search Plan, Says BBC.co.uk May Be Too Big
Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) – a relative newcomer to broadcast policy lobbying – responded to Ofcom’s ongoing second review of public service broadc…
How Realistic Is BT's Fiber Broadband Plan?
Updated at the bottom: Unless you’re using Enron math, BT’s new plan to connect 10 million homes — roughly 40 percent of…
BT To Invest £1.5 Billion In Super-Fast Broadband, Calls On Ofcom To Ease Restrictions
So BT (NYSE: BT) is going ahead with its investment in super-fast broadband–as long as Ofcom plays along. The telecoms firm announced today…
British Regulators Prescribe More Fiber for ISPs
While we laggards in the U.S. are still celebrating the FCC decision to (finally!) up the classification of broadband speeds to a…
Round-Up: News Int Axes Research, Freeview HD Invite, Ad-Funded P2P Video
— News International: More fall-out from the Boston Consulting Group report that advised axing the magazine unit and introducing a single m…
House Of Lords Report On Media Ownership: Aggregators Should Pay For News Gathering
The message couldn
UK Snapshot: Broadband Take-Up Highest In Countryside, 30 Percent Watch Video
Thirty percent of us in the UK have used the internet to watch video content – but those in Edinburgh are the biggest users (45 percent) and…
Broadband Content Bits: Ofcom Deregs, EC Plan Advances
— Ofcom: The media regulator is deregulating the wholesale broadband market for 70 percent of the UK, dropping a compulsion that BT (NYSE:…
Ofcom Launches Another Pay-TV Consultation; No Picnic For BSkyB
BSkyB
ITV Fined $11.14 Million For Phone-In Scandal
A week ago there was the rumor that British broadcaster ITV (LSE: ITV) could be fined a record $7.8 million (4 million pounds) for its part…
Ofcom To Fine ITV Record $7.8 Million For Premium Rate Phone In Scandals?
ITV (LSE: ITV) could be slapped with a record fine of about £4 million pounds (US$7.88 million) following the conclusion of Ofcom
Ofcom To Fine ITV Record £4 Million For Premium Rate Phone In Scandals?
ITV (LSE: ITV) could be slapped with a record fine of about £4 million pounds following the conclusion of Ofcom
Ofcom: BBC Should Not Pay ISPs For iPlayer Traffic
That should settle the matter then. Asked his opinion yesterday by MPs on the House Of Commons’ media and business committees, Ofcom CEO Ed…
Ofcom Abandons PSP, Floats Ideas To Fund Public Content
Ofcom has proposed giving more license fee money to ITV (LSE: ITV), Channel 4 and others to stave off financial threats they face in digital…
New Ofcom Rules Would Cause Much Call-TV Income To Dry Up
Well, it was fun for the broadcasters while it lasted. Ofcom has proposed new rules that all but kill interactive TV shows that exist solely…
Ofcom Preps New Spectrum Auctions For ‘Very High-Speed’ Broadband
UK telco regulator Ofcom will this summer embark on its biggest ever sale of radio spectrum when it auctions both the 2010-2025MHz block and…
UK Endorses In-Flight Mobile Voice, Data Plans
The days of “flight mode” could be numbered. UK telecom regulator Ofcom today ratified plans to allow mobile communications on airplanes in…
DVB-H is the EU Mobile Standard
The EU today chose DVB-H as the region’s official unofficial mobile television standard, leaving Qualcomm’s MediaFLO technology stuck in the States and…
Mobile Content Bits: Napster; Dennis Publishing’s Monkey; Mobile TV Spectrum
Mobile content news from our sister site mocoNews.net:
— Napster (NSDQ: NAPS) Launches on O2: Napster, very slowly building up its mobi…
Ofcom To Auction Spectrum Suitable For Mobile TV
Ofcom confirmed today it is planning to auction radio spectrum suitable for services including mobile TV, among others. The UK telecoms regu…
Ofcom Warns O2 To Fulfill 3G License Coverage Obligation
UK regulator Ofcom issued mobile operator O2 with a warning today that if it fails to meet the terms of its 3G license to cover 80 percent o…
Mobile Content Bits: DRM-Free Orange; O2 Cuts iPhone Tariffs; Ofcom Looks At Mobile Data
Mobile-related headlines from our side of the pond, from our sister site mocoNews.net
Ofcom Takes Aim At Pricey Mobile Data Roaming Charges
Ofcom is taking aim at networks once again, this time attacking the high cost of surfing the mobile web while abroad. The UK regulator warne…
BSkyB Ordered To Reduce ITV Stake From 17.5 Percent To 7.5 Percent
The government has ordered BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) today to divest its 17.9 percent stake in broadcaster ITV to below 7.5 percent, in a ruling tha…
Mobile Content Bits: ITV Mobicom, Yahoo/T-Mob Ads, Auction Criticised, Three Wallpapers
– ITV Launching Made For Mobile TV Series
Ofcom’s Pay-TV Inquiry: Round One To BSkyB’s Rivals
Ofcom’s initial verdict in its assessment of the UK pay-TV market, prompted by complaints by rivals – pretty good, could do better. The regu…
BBC Wants Faster, Fairer Networks For Future Interactive Services
Here’s another reason for Ofcom to convince telcos to build high-speed open networks – the very future of the BBC’s online provision. The br…
Ofcom To Launch Investigation Into Mobile Sector; New Wireless Services Coming?
Ofcom will launch an investigation into the UK
British Spectrum Auction Set For Next Year
British regulator Ofcom will auction spectrum next year: “The 1452MHz to 1492MHz radio spectrum is being freed up by the transition from ana…
Pay-TV Smackdown: BSkyB Quarrel Laid Bare In Inquiry Documents
In the red corner – BT, (NYSE: BT) Setanta, Top Up TV and Virgin Media (NSDQ: VMED) team up to complain about BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) in a 59-page…
Ofcom Takes Charge Of Call-TV Oversight
UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom is taking over premium-rate phone regulator PhonepayPlus (formerly Icstis) to take a tighter rein on the cal…
Next-Gen Broadband: Nobody Wants To Pay For This Round
[With Dianne See Morrison] If the UK’s broadband network is to be upgraded to the kinds of speeds enjoyed in South Korea, somebody’s going t…
Ofcom Stats Tome Chronicles Digital Media Take-Up
Nearly nine out of 10 households in the UK choose broadband to connect to the Internet, according to Ofcom’s second annual Consumer Experien…
Ofcom Proposes to Deregulate Large Portion of UK Broadband Market
British telecoms regulator Ofcom is proposing to deregulate nearly 65 percent of the market where it believes competition has developed stro…
BSkyB Faces Regulatory Pressure On Three Fronts
Life’s not always a Picnic for satellite broadcaster BSkyB (NYSE: BSY). The company, which is 39.1 percent owned by News Corp. (NYSE: NWS),…
BSkyB’s ITV Stake Operates Against Public Interest, Says Competition Commission
The UK’s Competition Commission today dealt a blow to the all-mighty BSkyB (NYSE: BSY), the pay-TV provider 39.1 percent owned by News Corp.…
Ofcom Sets Out Stall For Super-Fast, IPTV-Friendly Broadband
UK media regulator Ofcom has acknowledged the strains bandwidth-heavy services like IPTV will place on broadband lines by publishing a consu…
Google ‘Could Bid’ For UK Mobile Spectrum, Says ‘Highly Speculative’ Report
Google (NSDQ: GOOG) is “considering” buying some of the mobile spectrum Ofcom yesterday said it would auction in 2009, laying the ground for…
Europe Urged To Follow Openreach Route By Splitting Telco Services And Networks
The European Commission wants telecoms companies elsewhere in Europe to follow the UK’s lead by encouraging national market leaders to split…
Ofcom: Mobile, Internet Could Play A Role In Public Sector Broadcasting
Broadcasters are not the only ones trying to figure out how best to use emerging platforms like the internet and mobile to deliver their con…
