Page 152 - SAMENA Trends - June-July 2025

REGULATORY & POLICY UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

BT has been required to refund or credit £18 million have been charged for leaving before the end of their
to customers, following enforcement action by contract period. We told the company that if it was
Ofcom. Last year, Ofcom fined BT £2.8 million after unable to refund any money, it must donate it to charity.
it failed to provide customers with clear and simple As a result of this enforcement action, BT has now
United contract information before signing up to a new deal. refunded or credited £18 million back to customers and
The company broke our consumer protection rules
donated £440,000 across 17 charities where refunds or
Kingdom designed to ensure telecoms customers get clear, credits were not possible. (July 29, 2025) www.ofcom.org.uk
comparable information about the services they are
considering buying. Following engagement with Ofcom, Ofcom has unveiled a revision of its General Procedures
BT contacted the majority of affected customers, for investigating breaches of broadcast licences.
explaining that it had not provided them with the The approach was last updated in April 2017,
information to which they were entitled, and giving subsequently there have been developments in
them the opportunity to request the information and/or the type of broadcasters regulated, changes in
cancel their contract without charge. However, before approach to regulation, and an increase in caseload.
these communications were sent, some customers NigeriaFollowing a consultation Ofcom plans to publish
affected by the breach left BT before the end of their a detailed administrative priorities framework; clarify its
contract and may have been charged an early exit fee. position on sharing information about complaints with
Our rules are clear that if the required contract summary broadcasters; and set a 20-working-day time limit for
and contract information is not given, the contract is making complaints. However, the regulator will not go
not binding on customers. As a result, an early exit fee ahead with a proposal to not respond to complainants
should not have been payable by these customers. As with the outcome of its assessments. It means
well as fining BT, we also required it to amend its sales complainants will continue to be directly informed of its
process and refund any affected customers who may decisions. (June 24, 2025) www.broadbandtvnews.com

The Federal Communications Commission launched unnecessary “grandfathering” requirements when a
a rulemaking to accelerate the transition from aging provider stopped offering it to new customers, and
copper line networks to the modern, high-speed ones waived costly and excessive notice requirements which
that Americans want and deserve. This proceeding aims have not received any opposition comments in years.
United to free up billions of dollars for new networks, instead (July 24, 2025) www.fcc.gov
of forcing providers to keep investing in old ones. The
States Notice of Proposed Rulemaking adopted today looks to The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities announced
encourage the swift transition to IP-based networks and the launch of a $40 million effort to extend high-speed
advanced communications services for consumers. internet service to remote and underserved areas of the
It proposes and seeks comment on revisions to the state. The program, entitled New Jersey's Broadband
Commission’s network change disclosure rules and Infrastructure Deployment Equity, will prioritize fiber-
section 214(a) discontinuance processes to eliminate optic infrastructure offering at least 100 Megabits per
regulatory barriers and costs. The Commission will second (Mbps) speeds and will provide at least one
consider deregulatory options through this proceeding low-cost option for each community. “This has been
in order to encourage providers to build, maintain, years in the making,” said Taryn Boland, the BPU's
and upgrade their networks so all consumers and chief of staff, speaking at an event in Salem County on
businesses can benefit from technological strides in June 25 to officially mark the beginning of this major
the communications marketplace. The Commission effort towards closing the digital divide in New Jersey.
supports the transition to modern, all-IP networks which “Broadband access is critical and the impact it has on
can deliver a plethora of advanced communications our communities is immense.”
services to consumers. This proceeding will also (July 6, 2025) www.broadbandbreakfast.com
diligently safeguard consumers’ access to critical
emergency services and protect public safety. This item The Federal Communications Commission today
builds on recent actions taken by the FCC’s Wireline proposed updating the Telecommunications Relay
Competition Bureau to help accelerate the transition Service (TRS) standards to be more consistent with
from aging copper lines to modern network infrastructure current usage of TTY-based relay services. TRS
in communities across the country. For example, the services ensure functionally equivalent communication
agency enabled providers to use streamlined procedures for Americans with hearing and speech disabilities.
more often when they apply to discontinue outdated In this proceeding, the FCC is looking to delete
services over copper lines, offered greater flexibility in the requirement that TRS providers support the
determining appropriate replacement services, waived ASCII format of text telephony (TTY) technology on

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