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UK watchdogs ask how they can better regulate algorithms

We have bad news: you probably can't... but good luck anyway

Richard Currie Fri 29 Apr 2022 // 10:01 UTC

UK watchdogs under the banner of the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) have called for views on the benefits and risks of how sites and apps use algorithms.
While "algorithm" can be defined as a strict set of rules to be followed by a computer in calculations, the term has become a boogeyman as lawmakers grapple with the revelation that they are involved in every digital service we use today.
Whether that's which video to watch next on YouTube, which film you might enjoy on Netflix, who turns up in your Twitter feed, search autosuggestions, and what you might like to buy on Amazon – the algorithm governs them all and much more.

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Ericsson report details how it paid off Islamic State

Staff sacked after bosses discovered terrorists received money for access to Iraq mobile market

Gareth Corfield Mon 28 Feb 2022 // 19:39 UTC

A leaked internal report details how Ericsson paid hundreds of millions of pounds to Islamic State terrorists in Iraq, substantiating earlier reports that the company was paying intermediaries to buy off ISIS on its behalf.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) revealed over the weekend that the leaked report, which reviews the years 2011 to 2019, included names and precise details of how money from the company found its way to terrorists.
Rather than halting operations in Iraq as Islamic State ravaged the country, some personnel within Ericsson instead bribed "politically connected fixers and unvetted subcontractors", the ICIJ said, while the Swedish biz continued building potentially lucrative mobile networks.

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TskTsk: UK ISP TalkTalk told off by regulator over 'misleading' adverts promising fixed price service

Don't claim 'no mid-contract price rises if that was not the case' says ASA

Tim Richardson Wed 29 Sep 2021 // 18:31 UTC

TalkTalk – the Salford-based telco which has more than four million broadband customers – has been ticked off by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) following nine separate complaints about misleading ads.
The initial objections centre on two ads – on TV and via email - that ran early in 2020 which talked about a 24-month broadband offer that was "fixed until 2022" or promised "no mid-contract rises."
The ASA intervened when the complainants reported that the price of their broadband packages was to "increase during the fixed contract period" despite the assurances made in the ad.

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Court papers indicate text messages from HMRC's 60886 number could snoop on Brit taxpayers' locations

Bitter contract dispute revealed HLR lookup capability baked into agreement

Gareth Corfield Thu 27 Jan 2022 // 11:59 UTC

Exclusive Britain's tax collection agency asked a contractor to use the SS7 mobile phone signalling protocol that would make available location data of alleged tax defaulters, a High Court lawsuit has revealed.
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs had the potential to use SS7 to silently request that tax debtors' mobile phones give up location data over the past six years, according to papers filed in an obscure court case about a contract dispute.
SMS provider MMGRP Ltd, operators of HMRC's former 60886 text messaging service, filed a suit against the tax agency after losing the contract to send text messages on its behalf. Court documents obtained by The Register show that the secret surveillance capability was baked into otherwise mundane bulk SMS sending carried out by MMGRP Ltd.

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Shut off 3G by 2033? How about 2023, asks Vodafone UK

Says it'll be 'asking customers' to make sure own phones support 4G, and to check on friends, family

Dan Robinson Tue 25 Jan 2022 // 14:46 UTC

Vodafone is to begin retirement of its 3G network next year, saying this will free up frequencies to improve 4G and 5G services.
The move follows proposals by the UK government late last year to see 2G and 3G networks phased out by 2033. Other networks have already confirmed plans to start early, with BT phasing out 3G services for EE, Plusnet and BT Mobile subscribers from 2023.
Vodafone said it will begin retiring its 3G network in 2023 as part of a network modernisation programme.

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Brits complained a bit less about connectivity when they were allowed to go outside and see people in the flesh

Top of Ofcom's table for broadband whinges? It rhymes with BorkBork

Richard Speed Wed 17 Nov 2021 // 09:30 UTC

TalkTalk has once again topped UK communications regulator Ofcom's complaint charts.
Ofcom has collated whinges from consumers about landline, fixed broadband, pay-monthly mobile and pay-TV services.
The figures the regulator publishes are relative to the size of a provider's customer base and its latest set of numbers make for interesting reading since they cover the period (April to June 2021) during which the UK began to ease lockdown restrictions.

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Ofcom slams slammers: Telcos fined for switching punters' phone lines without their knowledge or consent

Guaranteed Telecom, Met Technologies nurse £35k penalty, and to them that's meaningful

Liam Proven in Prague Mon 15 Nov 2021 // 10:46 UTC

Ofcom has slapped two small telcos, Guaranteed Telecom and Met Technologies, with a financial penalty for switching the home phone services of more than 100 people without their knowledge or consent.
The businesses used a particularly aggressive style of mis-selling – slamming – to transfer customers to their services without permission, an investigation by the UK's comms regulator found.
Some 110 customers in total were slammed by the companies in 2019 (43 by Guaranteed Telecom and 67 by Met Technologies). A "sizeable proportion" of them included elderly or vulnerable members of the public, Ofcom says.

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Ofcom announces plan to protect endangered species – the Great British phone box

BT is getting axe-happy but regulator's scheme could save 5,000 kiosks

Richard Currie Wed 10 Nov 2021 // 11:45 UTC

Grotty, soaked in urine, and plastered with escort ads if the windows haven't already been kicked in – the public phone box is a British institution on its last legs. And yet comms regulator Ofcom has a plan in place to protect the endangered species.
BT has been tolling the bell for copper phone lines for some time now, but upgrading payphones to digital too would require significant investment. So the telco is choosing which should stay and which should go.
Ofcom has noted that in the year to May 2020, 150,000 calls were made to emergency services from phone boxes, 25,000 to kids' counselling service Childline, and 20,000 to the Samaritans support line for those in emotional distress, so it's clear payphones still fulfil a need.

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UK Telecoms Diversification Taskforce says Ofcom should take lead to ensure telcos don't rely on too few suppliers

Finding Huawei out of this mess

Matthew Hughes Wed 21 Apr 2021 // 11:15 UTC

Ofcom should take a more active role in ensuring the UK's telecommunications providers do not become over-reliant on products from a small number of suppliers.
Or so claims a a new report [PDF] from the Telecoms Diversification Taskforce (TDT), which has urged Government to instruct the British comms watchdog to treat diversification as a "strategic priority."
Although the Ofcom has traditionally governed the telecoms sector with respect to pricing, competition, and spectrum access, it has historically been less concerned with the underlying hardware used by providers. That may change, if the TDT is listened to.

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European carriers push for more OpenRAN support... but it might not end in a win

'Many appear to placing huge bets on it as a replacement for Huawei'

Jude Karabus Wed 24 Nov 2021 // 11:44 UTC

Analysis Hot on the heels of the UK government enshrining in law the power to strip out Huawei, five European carriers have banded together to ask European policymakers to push the development of open radio access network (OpenRAN).
The operators – Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telecom Italia (TIM), Telefónica, and Vodafone – published a report, "Building an OpenRAN system for Europe" [PDF], asking the EU to throw money and support at whitebox mobile infrastructure.
This is almost certainly in the hopes the (ideally) cheaper, interoperable kit will help the carriers' own bottom lines, but also to regain some control after several years of uncertainty, maintenance of mix-and-match kit, plus the shock of rip-and-replace mandates after many of them thought they had invested in a relatively cheap and lasting solution in the form of Huawei 5G equipment.

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