Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

New measures to increase fairness for mobile customers

22/07/2019

New measures to increase fairness for mobile customers Add to Your Pages

22 July 2019

Mobile customers must be told cost of buying handsets and airtime separately

Plans to ban linked split contracts' over 24 months

Mobile companies to cut bills for millions of out-of-contract bundled' customers

Ofcom has today set out a range of measures to increase fairness for mobile customers including greater transparency, fairer contract terms and a range of price cuts by operators.

Many mobile customers pay for both their handset and its usage (or airtime') bundled together in a single contract.[1]

We have been concerned that these customers could be paying more than they need to once they pass their initial contract, so last year we began a review of the market.

What we have consideredWe previously proposed options including greater transparency around handset pricing; and moving customers automatically onto a default tariff such as an equivalent SIM-only' deal when their initial contract has passed.[2]

Since then, new EU laws have been passed. They provide a package of measures designed to address many of the concerns we have identified. But they fall short of giving Ofcom the legal power to impose default tariffs, ruling out such a measure.

New research also shows that default tariffs could leave many customers worse off. Ofcom has analysed the market in unprecedented detail, analysing the prices paid by all two million mobile customers on bundled deals who are out of contract. We have found that more than a quarter would actually pay more if they switched to an equivalent SIM-only' deal.

New protections for mobile customersBut we remain concerned about the 1.4 million out-of-contract' customers, who would save money if they switched to a cheaper SIM-only deal. These customers are collectively paying around £182m a year more than they would if they switched to a new deal.[3] So we are taking a range of steps to increase fairness in the market.

New transparency rules. Under the new EU rules, which must be implemented by the end of next year, mobile customers entering into a bundled contract will be told the cost of buying the handset and airtime separately. We want to introduce this for UK customers as quickly as possible, and will set out our plans in the coming months.

New contract rules. Mobile customers are increasingly turning to split' contracts with separate contracts for the handset and airtime so they can afford an expensive mobile phone in instalments.[4] We are concerned that longer split contracts could make it harder for customers to switch, if they have to pay off their handset first. So today we have proposed a new rule to ban mobile operators from linking split contracts where the handset contract is longer than 24 months.

Alerts when your contract is up. Under Ofcom rules announced in May, mobile companies must tell customers when their contract is coming to an end, and explain their best deal including a SIM-only tariff. And if a customer wishes to switch to a different network, from this month they can leave their current provider with a simple text message.

Mobile bills reducedFinally, we have also challenged industry to take action. Today we are announcing commitments from a number of the UK's biggest mobile companies to reduce customers' bills.

Virgin Mobile will move its out-of-contract customers to the equivalent 30-day SIM-only deal.

Tesco Mobile will reduce the monthly charges of out-of-contract customers who are overpaying to the best available airtime tariff.

O2 will reduce the monthly price of its out-of-contract customers to the equivalent 30-day SIM-only deal. This will apply to its direct customers only, but O2 will discuss options for customers who take out O2 contracts with third-party retailers.

Vodafone and EE will reduce their prices for customers out of contract for more than three months. Both companies will confirm the level of this discount before the end of the year. We expect their discount to take into account the level of savings available if customers switched to a comparable SIM-only tariff.

Three is the only major provider that has refused to apply any discount to its out-of-contract customers. As a result, these customers will continue to overpay and will not receive similar protections if they stay on their current deal.

All of the discounts will come into effect by February 2020.

Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom's Consumer Group Director, said: Our research reveals a complex mobile market, where not everyone is getting a fair deal.

So we're introducing a range of measures to increase fairness for mobile customers, while ensuring we don't leave existing customers worse off.

All the major mobile companies except Three will also be reducing bills for millions of customers who are past their initial contract period.

Next stepsSwitching campaign: in the autumn, Ofcom will launch a consumer information campaign to highlight the benefits of switching mobile and broadband provider.

Broadband pricing: later this year, we will report on our review of how companies set their broadband prices, and why some customers pay more than others particularly those who may find themselves in vulnerable circumstances.

NOTES TO EDITORS1. Bundled contracts have fallen as a proportion of pay-monthly contracts from 74% in 2014 to just 46% in 2019. In this period, 12-month SIM-only contracts have risen from 15% to 34%.

2. We also raised concerns that, while split contracts bring benefits in increased flexibility and pricing transparency, some split contracts could tie customers into excessively long contracts with providers in some cases up to 36 months.

3. These 1.4 million customers are overpaying, on average, just under £11 per month more than if they switched to a comparab
LINK: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__search/s/redirect?collection=web&url=https:...
See more stories from ofcom

Most recent headlines

04/08/2024

Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....

03/06/2024

Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...

19/05/2024

TV Techs Weekly Product Wrap-Up

Missed any of our product coverage during your busy week? The TV Tech weekly product and services news wrap-up provides links to all of our coverage from May 13...

19/05/2024

The CW Shares Its 2024-2025 Lineup

LeVar Burton will host the new game show Trivial Pursuit on The CW, while Raven-Symon will host Scrabble....

19/05/2024

Biden, Trump Agree to Debates on CNN, ABC

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have agreed to debates, set for June 27 on CNN and September 10 on ABC....

19/05/2024

End of the Line for Young Sheldon' on May 16

Young Sheldon signs off after seven seasons on CBS, when the series finale airs Thursday, May 18. Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik reprise their roles as Sheldon Co...

18/05/2024

If Bundling Is Back, What's the Ideal Bundle?

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. Bundling is back in a big way, with all the major streaming companies and many pay TV operators exploring ways to simplify the consumer experie...

18/05/2024

FCC to Vote on LPTV Rules during June Open Meeting

WASHINGTON, D.C. Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has announced a tentative agenda for the June Open Commission Meeting schedule...

18/05/2024

Matthews Launches New Multipurpose Grip Rail Telescopic Grid Pipe Solution

Matthews Studio Equipment has introduced Grip Rail, which the company said offers a better way to mount equipment on location, in the studio, or on the fly....

18/05/2024

IAB Tech Labs, Google Partner on New First Party Data Solution

In a notable development in the industry-wide effort to address privacy concerns while improving efficacy of marketing efforts in a cookieless ad landscape, IAB...

18/05/2024

TV Tech Weekly Product Wrap-Up

Missed any of our product coverage during your busy week? The TV Tech weekly product and services news wrap-up provides links to all of our coverage from May 13...

18/05/2024

DHD Elevates the Art of Podcast Production

DHD Elevates the Art of Podcast Production Brie Clayton May 17, 2024 0 Comments Hero image: the DHD DX2 base and expansion modules Latest-generation ...

17/05/2024

Aerojet Rocketdyne's Camden Site Leverages Modernization Investments to Accelerate Solid Rocket Motor Production

Aerojet Rocketdyne has worked to modernize facilities at its Camden, Arkansas, l...

17/05/2024

FCC Plans to Revise LPTV Rules

The FCC has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would revise rules governing low power TV stations (LPTV) in a number of areas, including online ...

17/05/2024

Demystifying Post-Production: Introducing Cinema 4D Particles Week 4

Demystifying Post-Production: Introducing Cinema 4D Particles Week 4 Brie Clayton May 17, 2024 0 Comments With the spring release of Maxon One, we&#...

17/05/2024

Takashi Yamazaki Film Godzilla Minus One Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio

Takashi Yamazaki Film Godzilla Minus One Graded with DaVinci Resolve Studio Brie Clayton May 17, 2024 0 Comments Hero image credit: 2023 TOHO CO., LT...

17/05/2024

Sterling Event Group Streamlines Live Event Productions with AJA

Sterling Event Group Streamlines Live Event Productions with AJA Brie Clayton May 17, 2024 0 Comments Live event productions only happen once, which ...

17/05/2024

Meet the product manager

Muster Ngobi, product manager at LYNX Technik tells TVBEurope how the ever-evolving media industry provides a truly dynamic working environment By Matthew Corr...

17/05/2024

TV, Streaming Schedule for 2024 NFL Regular Season Is Released

NEW YORK As declines in linear TV viewing make the ongoing popularity of live sports, particularly football, central to financial success of the TV industry, th...

17/05/2024

Netflix Ad Tier Hits 40M Monthly Active Users

During Netflixs second Upfront presentation to advertisers, Amy Reinhard, Netflix's president of advertising, walked advertisers through the continued growt...

17/05/2024

Scripps Promotes Jeff Kiernan to VP, Local News

CINCINNATI The E.W. Scripps Company has added to its leadership team for news by promoting Jeff Kiernan a veteran journalist and general manager of Scripps'...

17/05/2024

Survey: New Disney-Fox-WBD Sports Streamer May Hurt Pay TV Sub Counts

Top executives from Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery have consistently insisted that their joint venture to launch the Venu Sports streaming bundle in the...

17/05/2024

Caitlin Clark's WNBA Debut Set Viewing Records

ESPN has announced that its coverage of Caitlin Clark's WNBA debut in the Indiana Fever versus the Connecticut Sun season opener was the most-watched WNBA g...

17/05/2024

ATEM Mini Extreme ISO switcher and Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K

ATEM Mini Extreme ISO switcher and Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K Brie Clayton May 16, 2024 0 Comments Blackmagic Design announced today that Yoic...

17/05/2024

Pixomondo's Virtual Production Academy Expands with Programs at Sony PCL, Vook, and Vancouver Film School

Pixomondo's Virtual Production Academy Expands with Programs at Sony PCL, Vo...

17/05/2024

WBD Upfront Show Offers Peeks at House of the Dragon,' White Lotus,' Biden-Trump Debate

The Warner Bros. Discovery upfront presentation took place Wednesday, May 15 at ...

17/05/2024

The Black Keys, Jelly Roll, Kate Hudson Set To Perform on The Voice' Finale

Season 25 of The Voice wraps on NBC Tuesday, May 21, with performances from The Black Keys, Jelly Roll, Kate Hudson, Lainey Wilson, Muni Long, Thomas Rhett and ...

17/05/2024

CNN Boss Mark Thompson's Plan Includes More News in More Categories on More Devices (Upfronts)

New CNN CEO Mark Thompson spelled out his plan for the struggling news network d...

17/05/2024

Netflix To Launch In-House Advertising Tech Platform

Netflix, a newcomer to the advertising business, said it plans to launch an in-house advertising technology platform....

17/05/2024

Netflix Plots TV Takeover at Upfront Presentation

Netflix shared some programming projects at an upfront presentation in New York. Those include the basketball-themed comedy series Running Point, a Mindy Kaling...

17/05/2024

Plex Geek Week Sale Offers 20% Off Plex Lifetime Pass

Plex is offering movie and music collectors a 20% discount off its Lifetime Plex Pass as part of its Geek Week sale....

17/05/2024

GroupM Names Toby Jenner as President, GroupM Clients

Giant media buyer GroupM said it named Toby Jenner as global president, Group M Clients, a new position at the company....

17/05/2024

Clients of Independent Agencies Boost Programmatic Buying

Smaller advertisers are increasingly buying connected TV programmatically, according to a new report from FreeWheel, Comcast's ad-tech unit....

17/05/2024

TCLtvPlus Adds Streaming Music Channels From Vevo

TCLtvPlus, the streaming app on smart TVs made by TCL, has added live linear channel from music-video programmer Vevo....

17/05/2024

StackAdapt Adopts Data From Samba TV for Programmatic Campaigns

StackAdapt said it made a deal to integrate data from Samba TV into its programmatic advertising platform....

17/05/2024

Tonight on Skeem Saam: Lehasa gets a rude awakening when Kgosi blackmails him

Tonight on Skeem Saam: Lehasa gets a rude awakening when Kgosi blackmails himDon't miss Friday, 17 May's riveting episode of South African soapie Skeem ...

17/05/2024

Tonight on House of Zwide: Dorothy is blown away by Ona's sketches for her wedding dress

Tonight on House of Zwide: Dorothy is blown away by Ona's sketches for her w...

17/05/2024

Tonight on Scandal: Dintle has a visit from her past that leaves her very unsettled

Tonight on Scandal: Dintle has a visit from her past that leaves her very unsett...

17/05/2024

Save Time and Money with WO Traffic v24.0

WO Traffic provides a solid foundation from which stations can manage, execute, and scale end-to-end ad trafficking and sales, both today and into the future. W...

17/05/2024

Broadcast Innovation in India: How AI and Automated Production Helps Smaller Sports Grow

Broadcast Innovation in India: How AI and Automated Production Helps Smaller Spo...

17/05/2024

SVG Sports Cloud Production Forum Gives Refresher Course on Cloud-Based Tools, Ecosystem

SVG Sports Cloud Production Forum Gives Refresher Course on Cloud-Based Tools, E...

17/05/2024

WNBA Tip-Off 2024: Scripps Sports Constructs New Studio for Second Season of WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION

WNBA Tip-Off 2024: Scripps Sports Constructs New Studio for Second Season of WNB...

17/05/2024

SVG College Summit 2024: Auburn's War Eagle Productions Breaks Down How They Produce Live Gymnastics Broadcasts

SVG College Summit 2024: Auburn's War Eagle Productions Breaks Down How They...

17/05/2024

Netflix & Shondaland Announce the Song List and Soundtrack for 'Bridgerton' Season 3: Part 1

Back to All News Netflix & Shondaland Announce the Song List and Soundtrack for...

17/05/2024

Skeem Saam: Thursday's episode, 16 May 2024 [video]

Skeem Saam: Thursday's episode, 16 May 2024 [video]Missed an episode of Skeem Saam? No problem! Watch the latest episode of your favourite South African soa...

17/05/2024

Prison Journalism: Letter to my mothers

Prison Journalism: Letter to my mothersThabo Mthembu was incarcerated in Pollsmoor Prison from 2014 to 2019. Read Thabo's story by Thabo Mthembu 17-05-20...

17/05/2024

Paul McCartney becomes UK's first billionaire musician

Paul McCartney becomes UK's first billionaire musicianMusic icon Paul McCartney has become the UK's first billionaire musician, according to the Sunday ...

17/05/2024

Tonight on Smoke and Mirrors: Sakhile advises Tiny against sabotaging Petunia

Tonight on Smoke and Mirrors: Sakhile advises Tiny against sabotaging PetuniaDon't miss Friday, 17 May's riveting episode of South African soapie Smoke ...

17/05/2024

RT'S Operation Transformation comes to a close after 17 seasons

RT has today announced that Operation Transformation (OT) is to end after 17 seasons. As series come to an end each year, RT undertakes an editorial review to...

17/05/2024

Studio One: Your Binaural Beats Lab

By Craig Anderton When I heard about binaural beats, I was interested-I like beats, and I'm into binaural audio. But this has nothing to do with either o...