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80% of UK televisions now digital
Secondary set conversions sees new high 30 September 2009 9:22 GMT
People getting secondary TV sets hooked up to Freeview has led to a new high for digital television in the UK, reports Ofcom.

The regulator's Digital TV Progress Report reveals that 80% of all televisions in the UK are now digitally-enabled.

23.4...
Ofcom targets phone contract mis-selling
Companies could be fined 10% of turnover 16 September 2009 11:27 GMT
Ofcom has announced a crackdown in the mis-selling of mobile phone contracts to consumers. A voluntary code of conduct had previously been implemented, but hasn't reduced the number of complaints received by the watchdog.

The rules have been simplified and offenders...
Ofcom publishes 3G coverage maps for UK operators
Orange looking good, O2 less so 8 July 2009 13:06 GMT
Ofcom has published some maps that it cooked up earlier this year, which predict 3G coverage from the five major mobile network operators - O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and 3.

The maps were put together by estimating coverage from theoretical predictions,...
Digital TV in 90% of UK homes
Analogue already dying out fast 29 June 2009 21:17 GMT
Nine out of ten households have gone digital in the UK according to the latest figures from Ofcom.

"The total number of digital households reached 89.2% with digital switchover now underway in the West Country, Border and Isle of Man", said the government regulator...
BillMonitor.com launches
New phone tariff comparison site claims £197 of savings 21 May 2009 14:38 GMT
Fancy saving £197 this year on your mobile tariff? A new website promises just that for 88% of consumers.

BillMonitor, the first price comparison site to be officially accredited by Ofcom, uses a unique bill assessment service that looks at how much a consumer's...
Ofcom to push for 40 megabits per second broadband
"More investment, innovation, differentiation and choice" 3 March 2009 11:27 GMT
Ofcom has revealed plans to help the development of ultra high-speed internet access across Britain.

The measures are designed to open up development of 40 megabits per second broadband - around 10 times faster than the average UK user currently sees.
Digital Britain report published
"A successful Britain must be a Digital Britain" 29 January 2009 14:03 GMT
Lord Carter's "Digital Britain" interim government report has finally been published and has been described as a "plan to secure Britain’s place at the forefront of the global digital economy".

The 86-page document - plus glossary, foreword and annexes - is...
Ofcom says average UK broadband 3.6Mbps
Consumers getting 45% advertised speeds 9 January 2009 9:37 GMT
Consumers only receive 45% of the advertised speeds of their broadband service, an Ofcom report has revealed.

The average speed of a broadband connection in the UK is 3.6Mbps the regulator has revealed as results of the "most sophisticated" speed test ever...
DAB switchover could happen in 2017
DRWG pushes digital radio adoption 19 December 2008 17:02 GMT
The UK could be forced to switchover to DAB radio within 10 years if plans from a government-backed group get the go ahead.

The Digital Radio Working Group (the DRWG) says that by 2015, less than half of all radio listening could be via traditional FM or AM...
Ofcom's broadband speed rules come into effect
Should mean more clarity from ISPs 5 December 2008 8:56 GMT
A new code of practice from Ofcom comes into effect today that will mean broadband providers have to be truthful about the speeds they offer customers.

95% of the UK's ISPs have signed up to the voluntary code, which is being introduced by the regulator after...
Gov scraps Channel 4 license fee bid
Despite Ofcom's warning that its future is bleak 26 November 2008 17:52 GMT
Ofcom warned in September that Channel Four could face a bleak future if it wasn't given a share of the license fee to make the changes necessary before the digital switchover. But now the Government has scrapped this plan.

Channel 4 could have got £14 million...
BBC could face competition for digital funding
License fee could be split after digital switchover 24 November 2008 17:29 GMT
The Beeb is taking a bit of a bashing at the moment.

Just days after the BBC Trust opted to veto its plans for regional online news content, the newly installed minister for technology, communications and broadcasting, has suggested that it may soon have to...
Brits spend more time online than anyone else in Europe
839 minutes per week spent online 20 November 2008 17:07 GMT
Apparently we Brits are spending more time surfing the net than any of our European counterparts.

According to research carried out by Ofcom, we are a nation of tech geeks, who can spend as much as 839 minutes per week online playing games and checking our profiles...
Ofcom raps Sky for ad campaign
Attack on Virgin Media was out of order 28 October 2008 9:46 GMT
Ofcom has given Sky a telling -off following on from ads that took a rather large dig at competitor, Virgin Media.

The ads referred to the falling out between the two companies, which has led to the fact that some of the Sky channels are now not available for...
Ofcom considers fast-tracking London's HD Freeview
Can't have capital-dwellers missing out on the World Cup 22 October 2008 15:45 GMT
Ofcom has launched a consultation to look at reassigning some spectrum frequencies to allow some high density population areas (read: London) to get the HD Freeview services more quickly than had been planned.

A response to a request from the BBC, this process...
Ofcom okays HD Freeview
BBC, ITV and Channel 4 to start broadcasts in 2009 17 October 2008 15:08 GMT
Three high definition Freeview channels will launch in the UK before the end of next year, Ofcom has announced.

The BBC, ITV and Channel 4 will each offer an HD Freeview channel over an upgraded terrestrial TV platform.

To be broadcast on the new...
One-third UK TVs still analogue
18 million sets yet to be converted 13 October 2008 13:31 GMT
The Digital Switchover is looming and yet a third of UK televisions have not been converted from analogue.

The switchover body Digital UK is reporting that at least 18 million TV sets have still to be converted of the total 60 million sets in use.
Ofcom reveals official digital TV stats for Britain
Freeview in 16.7 million homes 3 October 2008 19:30 GMT
Ofcom has revealed the latest snapshot of Britain's digital TV watching statistics.

The number of UK homes tuning into digital TV via free-to-view satellite was at around 900,000.

These include customers of Sky's non-subscription services as well...
Channel 4 future's bleak, says Ofcom
Regulator says future's grim without investment 19 September 2008 15:25 GMT
Ofcom chief exec Ed Richards has told journos that C4's future may be bleak unless the TV outfit gets some serious funding.

Richards made the statement before a speech at the Royal Television Society, revealing that C4 could face an annual deficit of £100m by...
Gov won't fork out for next-gen broadband
Companies not getting help with £30 billion bill 15 September 2008 12:49 GMT
A new report has suggested that the government isn't going to reach into its pockets to help pay for the UK broadband network to be updated.

Last week, the Broadband Stakeholder Group, a Government advisory group, said that installing high speed broadband -...
Sky postpones Picnic
Blames Ofcom 12 September 2008 13:24 GMT
Sky has put plans for its Picnic service on hold, putting the blame on delays from an ongoing Ofcom investigation.

The new Picnic offerings, announced in October last year, were to be based around a Freeview subscription service and would have been designed...
Ofcom looks for input on mobile phone industry revamp
Public consultation begins 1 September 2008 9:07 GMT
Ofcom is starting a public consultation about the mobile phone industry, looking to consumers as well as the industry to seek ways in which the current market can be improved.

Although 90% of mobile phone owners are said to be happy with their handset, it seems...
Faster broadband but copper wiring can stay
Ofcom report suggests 50Mbps possible now without much investment 18 August 2008 10:28 GMT
Ofcom has made it clear that it is going to need investment to get Britain's broadband up to speed.

So far, we've had speeds of 100Mbps promised by H2O Networks, which is bringing new networks currently to Dundee, using the city's sewer system.

Then...
Self regulating body planned for games ratings
"More needs to be done", says Margaret Hodge 31 July 2008 12:10 GMT
The UK government has taken significant steps towards putting into place a law-backed games ratings system.

There had been some quarrels between the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and the games industry about who would assess video games in this...
VIDEO: Megawhat News - Intel unveils the Centrino 2 processor
The day's hottest headlines - in a video 15 July 2008 20:57 GMT
Want to know the latest news but don't have time to read the stories we've written?

Well why not take a peek at the top stories on video.

In today's headlines: Intel unveils the Centrino 2 processor and Rock announces four laptops based on the...