Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The Government’s Building Digital UK (BDUK) agency, which oversees their gigabit-capable broadband and mobile network expansion programmes, has just published three new studies that examine the wellbeing and social benefits of the 4G Shared Rural Network (SRN) project, as well as the benefits and challenges of 4G mobile in rural Scotland, and finally some additionality research for mobile suppliers.

Just for some context. The industry-led £1bn Shared Rural Network (SRN) project recently achieved its first target of extending geographic 4G mobile (mobile broadband) coverage to 95% of the UK (here). The scheme is currently working to tackle some remaining “notspots” of coverage in particularly remote parts of the UK.

In addition, the Scottish Government (SG) previously completed their £28.75m 4G Infill Programme (S4GI) in 2024 (here), which delivered 4G network infrastructure and services across 55 mobile “notspots” in remote rural and island parts of Scotland. The three new studies that have just been published appear to key into the impacts of those schemes and the wider issues of such network coverage.

BDUK’s Three New Mobile Coverage Studies

1. Mobile Supplier Additionality Research

An investigation into the relationship between the number of available mobile networks in a location and the resulting benefits of mobile connectivity.

2. Shared Rural Network Wellbeing Survey

The results of a wellbeing and social benefits survey conducted with beneficiaries of the Shared Rural Network programme. Included in this evaluation, a survey of 1,285 residents of households and businesses which will benefit from the SRN (in locations where enhanced mobile broadband connectivity is being provided by the SRN programme).

3. The Benefits and Challenges of 4G Connectivity in Rural Scotland

A qualitative exploration of the benefits and disbenefits of mobile connectivity and the required infrastructure in rural areas. It also includes a literature review into the benefits of connectivity in rural areas, with a focus on Scottish National Parks.

The first study into mobile supplier additionality is quite a basic high-level one that’s probably best skipped, although it does reach an interesting conclusion or two: “The key finding emerging from this research is that most tangible benefits associated with improved mobile connectivity in rural communities are realised once a single mobile network operator provides coverage“.

Extending coverage to include additional operators, says the report, does offer further benefits, but these are “generally incremental and primarily relate to qualitative factors” (i.e. enhanced network resilience, improved reliability during emergencies, and greater user choice). The study then notes that a “lack of communication by network operators” post-deployment often means that local consumers and businesses are totally unaware of the improvements, which hampers their ability to benefit.

The second study into the wellbeing and social benefits of the SRN programme reflects a survey of 1,247 residents and 38 businesses, which is worth a read and reveals a wide variety of findings. For example, 91% of participants reported having a fixed internet connection at their address, 44% said they use mobile data at least once a day indoors and 36% at an outdoor space at their address.

Participants were also asked how often they use their mobile data instead of their fixed broadband connection when at their address – 74% reported ‘seldom’ or ‘never’ using their mobile data instead of their fixed connection (where they have the option of using mobile or fixed connection, for example in their home), while 10% said they ‘always’ or ‘usually’ do so.

Mobile data usage when out and about is more prevalent, with 58% reporting using mobile data at least once a day. About half of participants (53%) said they ‘always’, ‘almost always’ or ‘usually’ use mobile data instead of a fixed connection or public Wi-Fi, while 22% ‘seldom’ or ‘never’ do. However, 39% of participants consider their mobile phone internet connection to still be poor – with 15% of them stating that it is ‘very poor.’

The third study, which examined the benefits and challenges of 4G connectivity in rural parts of Scotland, reflects more of a basic high level summary and found six key benefits from such deployments.

Six Benefits of 4G for Rural Scotland

1. Public safety: access to 4G connectivity was likely to increase the sense of safety felt by visitors in remote areas, but there were mixed views on the extent to which this could translate into actual safety benefits. Whilst connectivity could enable better access to public safety mechanisms e.g. navigation programmes or calling for help, respondents highlighted that this could result in visitors underestimating the risks of undertaking activities in these areas. 
2. Tackling rural crime: mobile connectivity could be used for surveillance and other methods to address rural crimes such as fly tipping. 
3. Public information and education: improved connectivity could provide visitors with up-to date information through the use of QR codes or apps, which could also provide historical and cultural information about the area. This was felt to also have a conservational benefit, with visitors deemed more likely to take care of their surroundings if they have a certain level of knowledge. It could also be used for visitor reporting, such as sightings of certain plant of animal species to support biodiversity monitoring, or reporting maintenance issues to allow for this to be addressed more quickly. 
4. Visitor experience: a lack of connectivity could result in practical issues such as an ability for visitors to pay for facilities such as parking, impacting the visitor experience and income generation. Improved connectivity was also thought to have potential for additional income generation through contactless donation points. However, several respondents expressed concern that 4G would negatively impact visitor experience, with a lack of connectivity being part of the appeal of remote areas as well as the visual impact of the physical infrastructure. 
5. Communication: constant, reliable communication was seen as a benefit for managing visitor flow in National Parks, as well as from a safety perspective. This could support a more sustainable approach to tourism. 
6. Environmental monitoring and management: participants noted multiple uses for 4G, one of which was virtual fences. These could control the movements of animals such as cattle, preventing overgrazing and reducing the need for physical fences and labour in moving herds otherwise. Connectivity was also seen as beneficial for remote environmental monitoring, including monitoring of water quality, flood management, and sources of ammonia run-off. However, there were concerns about overreliance on remote monitoring, as well as the environmental impact of building and maintaining 4G infrastructure. Overall, it was felt the environmental monitoring benefits were insufficient to warrant the installation of infrastructure in the local area. 

On the flip side, the same research also identified a number of challenges relating to the delivery of 4G in remote areas in Scotland, such as with a lack of clarity around the purpose of the programme and a lack of adherence to planning guidance (i.e. the need to provide more details and justifications in planning applications).

The research also discovered that there had been a lack of consultation with local communities who often had a greater understanding of the areas directly affected by the programme, which might have resulted in better mast placement etc. Finally, the study identified a concern that 4G was not the most appropriate solution in these areas, which instead recommends undertaking an exploration into the use of “alternative technologies” (e.g. LEO broadband satellites like Starlink).

However, it should be said that alternatives, such as satellite solutions, are often quite bulky and require access to a decent power supply, which means that they’re often only suitable for very particular use cases in remote areas (e.g. automatic number plate recognition to identify and store information on vehicles, such as for use by the police or other commercial services [parking control]).

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News

A new joint venture between NTT DATA, Sumitomo, and JA Mitsui Leasing will deploy an 8,100km, 320Tbps network to bolster digital infrastructure and regional connectivity across Asia by 2029

This week, NTT DATA Group, Sumitomo Corporation, and JA Mitsui Leasing have formed a new joint venture, Intra-Asia Marine Networks Co., Ltd. (I-AM NW), to build and operate a new submarine cable system that will link Japan and South Korea to Malaysia and Singapore.

The 8,100km Intra-Asia Marine Cable (I-AM Cable) will have an initial capacity of 320Tbps and is set to cost roughly $1 billion.

Planned landing sites in Japan are concentrated to improve resilience against natural disasters, with stations proposed in Chiba, Mie, and Fukuoka prefectures, while single landing points are planned in Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea.

“The launch of I-AM NW marks a significant step in strengthening Asia’s digital infrastructure,” explained Yoshio Sato, CEO at I-AM NW. “This project reflects our commitment to delivering reliable, flexible connectivity solutions that empower businesses and drive digital transformation across the Asia-Pacific region.”

Network diagram for I-AM Cable

The new I-AM Cable comes as part of a wave of new high-capacity submarine builds across Asia aimed at easing congestion and meeting growing data flows between East and Southeast Asia. Recently completed projects include the Bifrost cable, linking Singapore and Indonesia to the USA, and Softbank’s Asia Direct Cable that connects China (Hong Kong SAR and Guangdong Province), Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Many more are expected to be completed in the next couple of years, including the Apricot cable, joining Japan, Taiwan, Guam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore, and the the long-awaited Sea-Me-We 6 cable, that connects Singapore all the way to France.

The system is currently is scheduled to be ready for service in early fiscal year 2029, with additional expansions to the Philippines and Taiwan planned for the future.

How is the submarine cable landscape changing in 2026? Join the discussion with over 1,500 experts at Submarine Networks EMEA

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The post NTT DATA leads consortium to launch $1bn Intra-Asia Marine Cable appeared first on Total Telecom.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Broadband and mobile provider Virgin Media and O2 (VMO2) has today stated that their adoption of AI-based improvements to their automated phone system, as well as cross-skilling 5,000 agents and simplifying team structures, has reduced the number of calls transferred by its agents by 1.3 million in 2025 – saving customers around 400,000 hours of their time.

Historically, all customers calling Virgin Media or O2 would have been prompted to press a number on their handset depending on the nature of their query, with their response dictating which team they’d be routed to. However, where a customer query didn’t fall perfectly within the options presented, or they wanted to discuss more than one issue, customers would sometimes be transferred between teams, causing frustration.

Today, the majority of customers are now invited to explain the reason for their call at the outset, with AI technology – Natural Language Understanding (NLU) – used to better understand the customer’s intent and connect them to an agent who can provide the support required.

As a result of VMO2’s ongoing focus on improving customer service, complaints to the regulator, Ofcom, about the company are said to have more than halved over the past 12 months. But crucially, Ofcom doesn’t tackle individual complaints, and it might thus be more helpful to know how many complaints about them had also been sent to the ADR (complaints ombudsman) providers.

Alan Stott, VMO2’s Director of Customer Contact, said:

“We always aim to provide a seamless experience for our customers and minimise the need to contact us for support. After all, nobody enjoys spending their time on the phone to their service provider, particularly when they’re being transferred between teams.

Where a customer does need to speak to us, we want to make their experience as simple, efficient and productive as possible. That is why we’ve introduced AI technology which allows a customer to explain the reason for their call at the outset and quickly routes them to the appropriate team.

Together with cross-skilling agents and simplifying our team structures, these improvements helped to reduce call transfers by over a million last year, saving our customers a combined 400,000 hours on the phone to us. We’ll continue to invest in our people and systems throughout 2026 and beyond to ensure we’re consistently giving our customers the best possible service.”

At present, VMO2 hasn’t yet fully deployed this new approach, but they are planning to “fully roll out” the AI-led system cross all customer journeys “over the coming months“.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Carlisle-based alternative broadband ISP Grain, which in 2025 secured a £225m funding boost (here) and has already built their point-to-point full fibre (FTTP) network to cover 270,000 UK premises (aiming for 600,000 in the future), has today continued the drip feed of new network expansion announcements by adding Goole in the East Riding of Yorkshire (England) to their list.

The port town of Goole, which is home to around 20,000 people, is an interesting choice for Grain because it’s already been covered by gigabit-capable broadband networks from Openreach (BT) and KCOM. The area is also quite small, which would normally make it quite high risk for a third network operator to consider, although Grain clearly believes that their lower cost approach to build and cheaper consumer pricing will work.

As usual, Grain hasn’t revealed precisely how many premises they intend to cover in the town or when the build will complete, although we did get some information on their roll-out plan. “The build will begin shortly, with first connections expected in Spring. Goole will be joining our growing Full Fibre network across the UK – and we’re only just getting started,” said the announcement.

Recent data from local street works indicates that Grain will be focusing their initial roll-out around the central parts of the town, just above the main railway line that runs through the middle of it – near Boothferry road. Most of those works are due to get underway in early February 2026, with a few starting toward 28th January. Grain are well known for making heavy use of Openreach’s existing cable ducts and putting new services live quite quickly post-build.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The Starlink service (SpaceX), which offers ultrafast broadband speeds to the UK and globally via a massive constellation using thousands of compact satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), has introduced a new package for residential customers that costs just £35 per month and will offer you download speeds of up to 100Mbps.

Starlink currently has around 9,500 satellites in Low Earth Orbit (c.6,000 are v2 / GEN2 variants) – mostly at altitudes of between c.340-525km. Residential customers in the UK usually pay from £55 a month for the ‘Residential Lite’ unlimited data plan (kit price may vary due to different offers), which promises downloads of up to 200Mbps (previously 250Mbps) and uploads of c.15-35Mbps. Faster packages exist at greater cost, while cheaper, albeit more restrictive (data capped), options also exist for roaming users (e.g. £50 per month for 50 GigaBytes of data).

However, regular readers may recall that the service briefly made mention of an even cheaper £35 per month tier last year, before promptly removing it. The package offered download speeds of up to 100Mbps and the usual upload speeds. The good news today is that this package appears to have been given an official launch, with Starlink’s website stating packages “Starting at £35/mo for service in select areas“.

Despite that mention of “select areas“, we have found that the £35 package appears to be quite widely available (credits to community member onephat for spotting).

Extract from Starlink’s Website:

Residential 100 Mbps

Reliable, affordable home internet service for seamless connectivity with speeds up to 100 Mbps.

Speeds*	Download Speeds: Up to 100 Mbps (typically 80-100 Mbps) Upload Speeds: 15-35 MbpsExplore Residential 200 Mbps or Max for faster speeds.
Wi-Fi **	Includes one Starlink Router Mini Coverage up to 1,300 ft² (120 m²)
Usage	Great for light streaming and online browsing on a few devices.
Data	Unlimited Data

* Speeds are calculated globally and represent the 99th percentile of real user data; typical speeds fall within the 20th–80th percentile range. Actual speeds may vary based on your location.

** Starlink may provide an upgraded router compared to what is advertised.

In addition, Starlink also appears to have tweaked some of their Roaming plans (credits to Stewart), with the Roam 50GB (GigaBytes of usage) tier becoming 100GB for £50 per month. Furthermore, when customers use up that 100GB they’ll now receive unlimited data at speeds of 1Mbps instead of just having to pay per GB.

Overall, the new £35 package is a huge boost, particularly since it comes alongside the hardware you need (included within that rental price), which contributes toward making Starlink a serious consumer affordable mass market broadband solution for even those with only basic needs. In other cases, it could be taken as an affordable backup for when your main connection goes down.

The new package may however pose a significant challenge for Amazon’s rival Leo service, which is due to start going live for consumers later this year (enterprise customers are already testing it). But it will take several more years for Amazon to build the same sort of economics of scale and capacity as Starlink have already been able to build, which means it could struggle to compete.

UPDATE 8:19am

Starlink appears to have made some negative changes too. For example, their ‘Residential Lite’ package previously capped download speeds at 250Mbps, but this has now been reduced to 200Mbps. There may be other changes that we haven’t spotted yet.

Some customers may also find that they have to pay £75 (one-off) for a professional installation, whether they need it or not.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Mobile operator O2 (Virgin Media) has this morning announced that they’ve switched-on their next-generation 5G Standalone (5GSA) mobile broadband network for the city of Gloucester in Gloucestershire (England). The operator’s 5GSA network is now live across a total of more than 500 locations (70% of the UK’s population, or c.49 million people).

Just to recap. 5GSA networks are pure end-to-end 5G that can deliver ultra-low latency times, greater energy efficiency, better speeds (particularly uploads), network slicing, improved support for IoT devices, increased reliability and security etc. Existing 5G networks often use a Non-Standalone (NSA) approach, which is hobbled by being partly reliant upon older and slower 4G infrastructure.

O2’s 5GSA rollout first began in February 2024 (here) and usually aims to reach “at least 90% outdoor coverage” in every location they reach. The same should hold true for Gloucester, where roughly 138,000 residents across the city will be able to benefit from the 5GSA network.

Dr Robert Joyce, Director of Mobile Access Engineering at O2, said: “Our new 5G Standalone network is now live in Gloucester, providing an impressive upgrade for local people and businesses and creating new opportunities in and around the city. We are investing every single day to improve our mobile network and provide a more reliable experience for our customers, futureproofing our connectivity and paving the way for exciting innovations that lie ahead.”

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Internet service provider YouFibre, which is one of the main retail outlets for Netomnia’s growing national Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) based broadband network, has informed customers that they intend to impose a block against internet traffic on Port 25 (SMTP) from Friday (16th January 2026).

Broadband ISPs usually try to steer clear of blocking internet connectivity and services if they can help it, although it should be said that port 25 has been blocked by various other providers over the years to help prevent email spam. The port was historically used for the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) relay between mail servers (i.e. sending emails), which is usually not encrypted.

However, these days it’s more common for email servers and systems to use Port 465 (legacy SMTPS), Port 587 or Port 2525 for the secure variant of SMTP (SMTPS), which will usually be encrypted using the SSL/TLS standards or similar methods.

Suffice to say that customers of YouFibre shouldn’t be too alarmed after the ISP emailed them this week to inform of the impending change (credits to one of our readers, Joe, for the tip), although there’s always a risk from the unintended consequences of such moves.

Copy of You Fibre’s Email

We are doing a security update on the YouFibre network

Dear XXXXXX,

As part of our regular updates to the security of our network, we are implementing a new security measure – the blocking of Port 25 (SMTP).

This change will take effect on Friday 16 January, 2026.

Why are we doing this?

Port 25 is traditionally used for sending emails via the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). Unfortunately, it is also commonly exploited by spammers and malicious actors to send spam and phishing emails, often from compromised computers within our network. By blocking Port 25, we will reduce Spam and Phishing Attacks.

What you need to know

Although this change won’t impact most of our users, those using Gmail, Outlook or other web based email will be unaffected, it may impact some of our customers, particularly those who operate their own mail servers or use email applications configured to send emails via Port 25.

Here is what you need to know:

1. Email Delivery via Port 25: If you are using an email client or service that relies on Port 25 to send emails, you will need to reconfigure it to use an alternative port. Common alternatives include Port 587 or Port 465, which are typically used for secure, authenticated email submission.

2. Support and Assistance: If you need help reconfiguring your email client or server, please contact your email provider.

How to change your email port settings

To avoid disruption in your email service, please follow these steps to change your port settings:

1. Open your email client settings.
2. Locate the outgoing server (SMTP) settings.
3. Change the port number from 25 to 587 or 465.
4. Ensure the “Use secure connection (SSL/TLS)” option is enabled.

For more information see our help article: Why Can’t I Send Emails on My Connection?

We believe this change will significantly enhance the security and efficiency of our network. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation as we implement this important security measure.

Best regards,

The YouFibre Network Team

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

Several sources have informed ISPreview that broadband and mobile operator Virgin Media (O2) has today notified staff, specifically those in the Fixed Wholesale and Customer Delivery side of their business, that c.300 of them could be facing redundancy in the near future. The move follows a slowdown in the expansion of their full fibre (FTTP) network via nexfibre.

The move shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise given the turbulent year that VMO2 has had, which was partly fuelled by the uncertainty that flowed from debt-strained Telefonica and the earlier move to launch a Strategic Review of their global business (here and here).

The fallout from that review has since resulted in a number of changes, such as nexfibre scaling-back their planned fibre deployment to reach just 2.5m premises by the end of 2025 and Virgin Media adopting a different approach to fixed wholesale access at the consumer level (here). Telefonica did recently outline their future strategy (here), but the exact plan for nexfibre’s build beyond 2025 remains uncertain.

Just to recap. Nexfibre was first established in 2022 after Telefónica, Liberty Global and InfraVia Capital Partners created the company as a new £4.5bn joint venture (here), which aimed to deploy an open access (wholesale) full fibre (FTTP) network to reach “up to” 7m UK homes (starting with 5m by 2026) in areas NOT served by Virgin Media’s own network of 16m+ premises.

Redundancies

The latest development began to surface this morning, after several sources informed ISPreview that VMO2 had issued an internal announcement to staff within their Fixed Wholesale and Customer Delivery teams, which put around 300 of them at risk of possible redundancy.

A Virgin Media O2 spokesperson told ISPreview:

“After hitting a major milestone which saw us surpass 2.5 million homes for nexfibre, we continue to push ahead with a focused fibre rollout programme.

Our strategy to create the biggest fibre alternative to Openreach remains in place and on track, and to ensure we deliver on this strategy, we are proposing to make changes within some teams that would result in some exits.

We are having open and honest conversations directly with our people and employee representative groups on these proposals and will continue to support any impacted individuals throughout this process.”

However, VMO2 has informed us that this may not translate into the same number of roles being cut, as the hope is that it will be possible to map many of them into other roles. Nevertheless, there remains a lack of clarity over how all these changes will impact the timescale for achieving nexfibre’s original build target, although there’s been plenty of talk about complementing it with consolidation (example).

Original article Total Telecom:Read More

News

The upgrades will provide customers with more reliable service during busy football matches

O2 has carried out a targeted upgrade to its mobile network in and around Stamford Bridge, aiming to improve connectivity for the tens of thousands of fans who attend Chelsea FC matches and other events at the west London stadium.

The development will reportedly increase mobile capacity and performance across the stands, concourses, and hospitality areas.

The upgrades included the optimisation of the rooftop site within Stamford Bridge and the installation of new and upgraded small cells in the surrounding streets. O2 says these measures were intended to reduce congestion at peak times, making it easier for supporters to share photos and video, use mobile ticketing, and make contactless payments before, during, and after matches.

Following these upgrades, visitors are reportedly using more than twice as much data on match days and experiencing roughly four times higher speeds.

“Stamford Bridge is an iconic stadium with extremely high demand on matchdays. By optimising our network inside the ground and in the surrounding areas, we are giving O2 customers a more reliable mobile experience so they can enjoy every moment, from kick-off to the final whistle,” said Steven Verigotta, Director of Mobile Delivery at Virgin Media O2.

The Stamford Bridge improvements form part of Virgin Media O2’s wider Mobile Transformation Plan, which focuses on expanding 4G and 5G coverage, rolling out small cells in dense urban locations and tackling known network bottlenecks along transport routes and at major venues.

The operator has also been deploying spectrum it acquired from Vodafone UK last year, a move it says underpins capacity enhancements nationwide.

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The post Virgin Media O2 gives Chelsea stadium a mobile infra upgrade appeared first on Total Telecom.

Original article ISPreview UK:Read More

The UK telecoms and media regulator, Ofcom, has today launched a new consultation that sets out their plan to introduce a new code for designated connected TV platforms (e.g. Freely, Android TV, Roku OS, Sky Stream, Virgin Media Horizon etc.), which will require them to ensure that content and services (e.g. iPlayer) from Public Service Broadcasters’ (PSBs) are made “prominent” on their services.

The proposed changes reflect the latest phase of Ofcom’s work in implementing the new Media Act 2024, which introduced a new regime to make public service content easier to discover and watch on the connected TV platforms that people increasingly use for choosing and accessing TV programmes.

“For the first time, the most-used connected TV platforms in the UK must make sure BBC iPlayer and any other PSB players designated by Ofcom, along with their public service content, are available and prominent,” said Ofcom’s latest consultation. Connected TV platforms that fall within the scope of this must also take steps to incorporate accessibility features to help disabled users.

The regulator has already revealed the 15 connected TV platforms that have been designated as subject to the new requirements (details), which largely reflects platforms with at least 700,000 active users. The list also includes the new broadband-based live TV streaming platform, Freely, which is supported by most of the major UK TV broadcasters (BBC, ITV etc.) and is an evolution – not (yet) a replacement – for the existing Freeview service (inc. Freeview Play and Freesat).

The latest consultation goes beyond this by focusing on the regulatory duties (Code of Practice) that will apply to designated connected TV platforms and PSBs, which explains how providers of designated connected TV platforms can meet their new prominence and accessibility duties.

Ofcom’s Proposed Code of Practice

➤ Giving an appropriate level of prominence to PSB players, their public service content and any public service channels included in the players.

We are proposing a range of actions for providers to take with regard to the user interface that people see and navigate on connected TV platforms. These include that: designated PSB player apps should be immediately visible and generally appear within the first nine tiles on app menus; when public service content is most relevant to a user search, it should be the most prominent result; and public service content should be clearly attributed to the relevant PSB player.

➤ Making their services accessible to disabled people – particularly those with sight or hearing conditions.

Our proposed recommended actions include: providing a voice guidance function, or similar, as an alternative to visual information; ensuring users can enlarge text and images through a ‘magnification’ or ‘zoom’ function; and making sure accessible content is labelled as such, for example indicating where a programme has subtitles.

Crucially, the Code itself is “not mandatory” for platform providers, but they will be treated as compliant with their prominence and accessibility duties if they adopt the recommended actions it sets out. “Providers may choose to take alternative actions that they consider satisfy these duties, but where they do, they will not automatically be treated as compliant. Should Ofcom have concerns about those actions, we may choose to investigate,” said the regulator.

The consultation will remain open for feedback until 25th March 2026 and Ofcom then intends to issue a statement and the final Code + Guidance “later this year“. But such a major change, once finalised, will take time to fully implement, and so the regulator has proposed to give providers 12 months to bring themselves into compliance with the new regime. But this figure is still subject to potential change.

The issues that Ofcom are touching on above naturally flow into the wider and often-divisive debate over the future of TV distribution in general (here), such as the question of at which point it may become necessary to start switching off the old terrestrial signals in favour of a broadband-only delivery model. Not to mention future funding and the TV licence fee, which is always a “fun” topic and still the subject of much debate.

The PSBs currently support a transition to IPTV in the 2030s as it is becoming increasingly challenging “to bear double costs from running multiple distribution platforms”. However, without intervention, by 2040, some 5% of homes (1.5 million) are currently forecast to still be relying on digital terrestrial television via the airwaves. Ofcom is of the view that the time for debating such issues is fast running out, and the time for decisions is now upon us.