ofcom

Playboy hit with $160,000 fine over child restrictions

Playboy has been slapped with a fine for allegedly making it too easy for children to access pornographic material on its Web sites.

Ofcom, the U.K.'s communications regulator and competition authority, announced yesterday that it has fined Playboy 100,000 British pounds ($160,200) for failing to include "acceptable controls" ensuring a person viewing pornographic material on Playboy TV and Demand Adult was at least 18 years old.

Ofcom charged Playboy with "failing to protect children from potentially harmful pornographic material," adding that the failure was "serious, repeated, and reckless."

Playboy did … Read more

Vodafone blasts approval of Everything Everywhere 4G in U.K.

The United Kingdom's telecom regulator Ofcom has approved an application made by Everything Everywhere to run the nation's first 4G service.

Ofcom's approval means that the parent company of Orange and T-Mobile is now allowed to rebrand its 1800MHz existing spectrum to offer 4G services in the U.K. Following a consultation, the telecom regulator believes the decision will result in "significant benefits to consumers, and that there is no material risk that those benefits will be outweighed by a distortion of competition."

EE has been issued a license which is valid from September 11. … Read more

UK's 4G mobile spectrum sale earmarked for the end of 2012

Ofcom has unveiled plans for the auction of spectrum that will pave the way for the launch of 4G mobile networks in the United Kingdom.

The telecoms regulator has now set itself a rough deadline for auctioning 4G spectrum in the U.K., saying the sale is "set to get under way by the end of 2012."

Once the auction takes place, operators are expected to establish 4G networks using the auctioned spectrum from the middle of 2013, and to start offering 4G services to consumers later that year.

The telecoms regulator also promised that 4G in indoor … Read more

Microsoft turns to unused TV airwaves to solve spectrum crisis

Microsoft says it has the fix to the world's spectrum crisis: unused broadcast TV spectrum called "white space." But consumers shouldn't get too excited. It could take years before technology supporting white space spectrum finds its way into popular mobile products.

On Monday, Microsoft announced that it has joined forces with broadcasters and technology companies in the United Kingdom to launch the most wide-scale test network to date of the technology, designed to show how this spectrum can be used to offload wireless data traffic in urban areas as well as provide wireless broadband service in … Read more

eBay complains about UK mobile broadband coverage

The online auction firm eBay has complained to Ofcom about a lack of mobile broadband coverage in parts of the UK.

According to research conducted at the behest of eBay, 16 percent of the UK remains an "m-commerce not-spot", meaning mobile spending in such areas is at least 20 percent below the national average. The Scottish highlands and islands and rural areas of England and Wales fared worst in the study, which was carried out by Verdict.

"Mobile shopping represents a massive opportunity not just for retailers, but for the economy as a whole," eBay UK … Read more