Tag: ofcom

On Monday Ofcom published the results of 5G testing which proved that radiation levels in the UK were at “tiny fractions” of safe limits. However, this testing comes against a backdrop of conspiracy theories, critical stories on click-driven newspaper websites and totally unsubstantiated claims on Facebook. The latter is …

You’ll have probably seen us mention Ofcom quite a bit here. They are the communications regulator in the UK and currently cover TV, radio, video, telecoms, mobiles and postal services to name just a few. Today the government here will add social media to that list, as they’re …

Regulator Ofcom is looking into a ban on the sale of phones which are locked to particular networks. Networks that currently don’t lock their phones include Sky Mobile, Three UK, iD Mobile, BT Mobile and giffgaff; but other networks do. The origins of this came from the fact that handsets …

A weirdly intriguing set of stats from Ofcom have just landed and it confirms a lot of our suspicions regarding how people live and work with mobile technology. First, let’s have a look at the amount of outgoing calls that people are making from that funny phone-shaped object …

Not too long ago, if you wanted the phone number of the caller to be displayed on your home phone, you’d have to pay some mad fee. It was, when you think about it, a little unfair. Mobile networks have been providing the caller’s number since, ever, but …

Net Neutrality has been a big topic of discussion when it comes to data, and how it can be used one way or another by customers. Here in the UK, Three and Vodafone were spoken to by regulator Ofcom on certain restrictions when it came to roaming, or …

I remember when mobile phones first started being a “thing”. I was at college and got this, the Nokia 5.1. It was also known as the Nokia 2110. Strangely the 5.1 name has now re-appeared on the Nokia site, albeit under a completely new design.. and no pull-out …

Just a week after securing the largest block of 3.4GHz spectrum for 5G, Vodafone have already started testing it on their network. The company paid around £370m to get a 50MHz allowance of 5G spectrum, the largest of all networks, and have started to test in Manchester and …

It only seems like yesterday we were talking about the 4G spectrum here in the UK. That was to support the “next” generation of networks. However, we’re now seeing the first deployment stages of 5G, and the results of the auction are in. O2 won big with snapping …

This morning I received a call from 0207 1754592. As I usually do with calls, I tend to screen unknown numbers. On my voicemail, this message was left. It’s been fired through a text-to-speech system and you can listen to it here… It’s a horrible scam. There’s a …

Got a Sky or Virgin TV contract? Let me ask you a serious question. If you’re not into sports, are you really using it fully? Enough to warrant the monthly cost? Statistics announced today by Ofcom show that 90% of people still watch live TV every week. Some …

There’s long been discussion about the share each network has of the mobile spectrum. Three UK, among others, have also started a campaign to stop one or two networks from being able to grab the larger slices. Today Ofcom have revealed that they will indeed put a cap …

Whilst it will still be owned by BT and it remains to be seen how things will change, Openreach is finally to become a legally separate entity. Telecoms regulator Ofcom has announced they will no longer have to take legal action to split the two companies, and BT …

EE have a big and powerful network. They’re also owned by a big and powerful telecoms provider – BT. Both EE and BT are involved and heavily invested in quad-play, which basically means supplying TV, home broadband, home phone and mobile. So, with a strong competitor like Sky …

A couple of years ago Ofcom received a large amount of complaints from Vodafone customers. Today, after a full investigation, Ofcom have announced the results and a rather large fine. The regulator found that Vodafone had failed to process top-up credit for pay-as-you-go customers and they’d handled complaints …

Not being able to get a signal in the middle of a city is still, in 2016, all too easy. In Lichfield I can walk out of a Vodafone or EE store and, just a few metres from the door, I’ll have no signal at all. Even with …

Double checking the date to ensure its not April the 1st, today Ofcom warns Christmas Tree Lights can slow down your home WiFi and have released a smartphone App that allows you to check your connection. The app tests WiFi signals to ensure data flows uninterrupted between your …

Ofcom, the British telecoms regulator, has revealed it is about to increase the fees it draws from the UK’s network providers. Ofcom charge a rate for using the mobile airwaves, but they’re now cranking up the costs by almost a factor of three. Currently it draws £64.4m in fees …

We are big fans of Three here at Coolsmartphone, a lot of the staff are on the network due to cheap deals and large data allowances. It seemed that they had turned a page on the customer service front, having the least complaints per 1000 customers in the …

When the 3G licences were dished out way back in 2000, the networks agreed that they would cover 80% of the UK population, this was then raised to 90% in 2010. The deadline for reaching this target was June 2013, however whilst o2, Three and EE managed this …

Every year Ofcom produce an infrastructure report which details the state of our broadband and mobile infrastructure here in the UK. It’s the first time that the regulator has looked at the mobile coverage provided on UK roads. Motorways appear to have fairly decent coverage, so you can …

Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, has actually shown some teeth – you can now leave your provider if the price of your monthly package price is increased. An increase in plan costs is now considered to be “materially detrimental” and will mean that you can exit a contract …

Ofcom has published a consultation on greatly increasing annual fees for the 900MHz and 1800MHz spectrum bands in the UK to bring them more in line with the additional bands auctioned for 4G coverage. This could see rises in the amounts that networks pay to run their mobile …

Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator has announced that they are looking into the standardisation of the “confusing” costs of calling non geographical 0845 and freephone 0800 numbers from mobile phones. Costs of calling these numbers currently can vary from 20p to 40p per minute for 0800 and vary …

We knew the auction for LTE Spectrum was due to start in January 2013, but we didn’t know who would be bidding. Until now. 7 Bidders have finally been announced by Ofcom as qualified to offer us our lovely high speed, long distance cellular goodness. The bidders will …

If you’re an O2 customer, this information may not be welcome but we thought you’d like to know. As of the 28th February 2013 you will see an increase in your monthly charges. 3.2% increase to be exact, 99p per month for £31 per month plan. A small …

With just minutes to go until the Everything Everywhere launch we’re expecting the launch of 4G and possible handset exclusivity on the new faster network. The Financial Times is stating that the new Nokia Lumia 920 could be a network exclusive on EE. If Nokia could get its’ …

Just when will the UK make the jump to 4G? Faster download speeds and coverage in rural areas are always on the “want” list but, last we heard the 4G auction had been delayed until later this year. Today Ofcom have confirmed this, saying that it’ll kick off …

It’s official, we’d rather not speak to each other. Head down, umbrella up, we’d rather use text and data than actually talk. The research, by Ofcom, reveals that 58% of people sent texts daily whilst 47% of people make a phone call every day. The average Brit sends …

The mobile network 3 are announcing a plan to upgrade its network which will enable it to start legal action against Ofcom, undoubtedly this will have the knock on effect of delaying the 4G auction that is planned for 2013. Three was actually the first network to release …

Remember these adverts? They appeared a few months ago to promote the Nokia Lumia 800 and used “break flashes”. This was picked up in our earlier article and consists of advertisers showing a very brief (half a second) message between the other commercials. Ofcom found Channel Five to …

Ofcom have had a re-think on their 4G auction. Earlier they were planning to reserve a slice of the new 800MHz spectrum (freed up by the removal of analogue TV) for Everything Everywhere. The joint network, which powers T-Mobile and Orange, operates on the 1800MHz spectrum for both …

It’s not often that I write a rambling post… well, OK.. perhaps quite a few of you would disagree with that. The thing is, I’ve noticed something. This weekend we were shopping at the local Tesco. It’s the usual scene, you put a few items in the trolley …