Facebook whistleblower Sophie Zhang gave UK lawmakers her perspective on how best to implement the pending Online Safety Bill in a hearing in Parliament on Monday. The former Facebook data scientist used her inside knowledge of moderation practices to answer questions from the Draft Online Safety Bill joint committee about how to ensure that tech companies comply with upcoming …
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Mobile networks in the UK have been banned from selling locked phones that can only be used with one carrier. British telecoms regulator Ofcom announced the new rule on Tuesday, although it isn’t due to come into force until December 2021. Several phone networks in the UK, including EE, Vodafone and Tesco Mobile, sell phones as part of contracts that cannot …
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EE and Virgin Media were slapped with a combined £13.3 million ($17 million) fine for overcharging phone and broadband customers who wanted to leave their contracts early, Ofcom announced Friday. The UK communications regulator said neither telecoms company made the charges for failing to see out the minimum contract term sufficiently clear, breaching consumer protection rules. About 400,000 EE customers …
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If you feel like you hardly use your phone to actually talk to anyone, you’re not alone. In 2017, for the first time ever, the number of calls on traditional mobile networks fell in the UK, according to a Thursday report by telecommunications regulator Ofcom. The total volume declined by 1.7 percent, the report says. The survey also highlights how dependent …
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The British government on Saturday announced the winners of a £25 million competition to test 5G technologies across the UK. The fund will be split six ways, with amounts of between £2 million and £5 million spread across projects exploring the benefits of 5G for rural communities, tourism, health care, agriculture, manufacturing and self-driving cars. The introduction of 5G is …
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If you’ve ever passed on a cheaper phone plan because it wasn’t on your network, you’ll know that switching providers can seem like more hassle than it’s worth. But that’s about to change. UK communications regulator Ofcom announced new rules on Tuesday that will make it easier to switch networks. It says that one of the biggest hurdles in the process …
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To phone users in the UK, it won’t come as much of a surprise to hear this, but now it’s confirmed: Mobile coverage around the country is officially rubbish. Urgent and radical action is needed to rectify the issue, Lord Adonis, head of the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC), said Monday in a letter to regulator Ofcom. New figures from an NIC …
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The UK’s telecoms watchdog has issued its largest ever fine, after Vodafone was rumbled taking customers’ money and failing to credit payment to their account. Telecoms regulator Ofcom today levied a fine of £4.6 million against Vodafone for trousering payments without crediting customers, and for subsequent failures in dealing with customer complaints. Vodafone, one of the UK’s major mobile carriers, …
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