Ofcom has been consistently moving to reduce the amount of time that it takes to change mobile numbers from one to another – or port them as it’s know in the telecoms trade.
Their latest direction to the industry is that as of 1 September 2009, they’ll need to drop the amount of times to a mere two hours.
(more…)
Stewart Purvis, news super-hero and friend of DL, has been appointment as the new Partner for Content and Standards at Ofcom.
The Content and Standards Group oversees regulation of television and radio quality and standards and compliance with the Broadcasting Code.
He’s a hard-bitten newsman who has a strong understanding of technology and the changes that it is bring to the world of media.
(more…)
The plan is to allow planes to carry their own mobile micro-cell from about 2010 – as long as they don’t switch it on before they reach a height of 3,000 metres.
At least, that’s what Ofcom expects we’ll want as users; you have till 30 November to register your opinion.
(more…)
Phone services offering freebie calls over the Internet are still only being used by a niche following according to new research.
A study by Ofcom has discovered that Voice- Over-Internet- Protocol (VoIP) services – like those offered by Skype, BT and Tesco – have failed to fire the public imagination.
(more…)
Today Ofcom have released their yearly Communications Market report, covering fixed and mobile telecoms, TV, radio and Internet use.
It’s a massive collection of information and statistics running to 332 pages, covering the habits and preferences of the UK population during 2006.
(more…)
We got the exclusive opportunity to interview the members of the Open Source Consortium (OSC) that has met with the BBC Trust, directly after they had been discussing the BBC iPlayer with them for the first time.
From there we scooped the iPlayer On Linux a must story, but there was a lot more detail in the interview than we could get into the piece.
Various highlights were
If you, like many others, are unhappy about the iPlayer only being available on a particular version of Windows, get yourself over to the iPlayer petition. Every vote counts, so join the current 12,000+ that have said they don’t like it.
Sorry about the popping in part of the recording (like the beginning), but I left the mic windshield at the office – blast!)
[audio:https://digital-lifestyles.info/media/audio/osc-post-bbc-trust-iplayer-meeting.mp3]
Ofcom has published a proposal that some VoIP services should allow users to call 999 to connect to emergency services as soon as by early 2008.
They’ve carried out research that has revealed that as many as 78% of those with VoIP thought that they could, or did not know if they could.
Ofcom’s concern is that VoIP users cannot connect to emergency services when they really need it – ie. in an emergency.
If people have to locate a landline or mobile phone, costing them a delay of seconds or minutes in getting through to emergency services, it could prove critical.
(more…)
Ofcom has floated a proposal to simplify the process of moving your mobile phone number to another provider and cutting the transfer time to within two hours, a stark contrast to the five days it takes now.
With the two hour goal just over two years away, Ofcom has ruled that the mobile industry must reduce the time taken to a getting-close-to-reasonable two working days, starting on 1 April 2008 (why do UK organisations persist in using 1 April? It’s so open for abuse if problems arise).
(more…)
The champagne corks have been popping in the 4 digital group offices this morning, as they hear from Ofcom that they have been successful in their bid to gain 10 national DAB radio licences.
The group, lead by UK TV network Channel 4, has the ambition of providing a serious competitor to the dominant national BBC radio services, to provide a “distinctive and different experience of radio.”
(more…)
OfCom’s Consumer Panel has released a report, Children and the Internet, based on recent research whose findings state that children who do not have an Internet connection at home can become socially disadvantaged.
By way of illustrating how key the Internet is to the younger people in the UK, the report found that “From about age ten, most children believe that Internet access is a ‘must have’.”
(more…)