Ofcom publications

Ofcom publications

Consultation: Copper retirement – process for determining when copper regulation can be removed (supplementary consultation to the WFTMR)

The consultation proposes to delay decisions about Openreach’s copper retirement process until after Ofcom has determined the outcome of the WFTMR. Justification is that Openreach’s fibre roll-out is still in its early stages and Ofcom would prefer to wait for more details on the Salisbury and Mildenhall trials.  The consultation period ends on 3 September and the outcome of the WFTMR is due to be published in Q4 2020/21. 

Online Nation 2020 report

The main report is accompanied by a separate summary report and includes online behaviour during the Covid-19 pandemic. Some observations: In April 2020, the reach of education, health and government sites had all grown since January and users of news sites spent more time on these and social media sites on average each day. People used a range of sources to access news about the coronavirus, with BBC services the most popular source. Internet users in the UK spent a daily average of just over 4 hours online. With the proliferation of high-performance smartphones, mobile has steadily grown its share of online revenues reaching 52% of total online revenues.

Adults’ Media Use & Attitudes report 2020

Ofcom’s latest report examines adults’ media literacy and is a reference document for industry, stakeholders and the general public. It includes data on the digitally excluded:  Over the past five years there has been no change in the incidence of adults who do not use the internet (13% offline in 2019 vs 14% in 2014). Many non-users demonstrate a lack of appetite for going online in the near future: 77% say that nothing would encourage them to go online in the next 12 months, and 61% say they don’t currently go online due to a lack of interest or need. One in five state a reason either related to cost (19%) or difficulty (‘being too complicated’) (17%) as a barrier to their going online.

Research: Internet users’ concerns about and experience of potential online harms

According to the latest research into internet users’ concerns about and experience of potential online harms, 62% of adults have had potentially harmful online experiences in the last 12 months and 81% of children aged 12-15. Social media remains the most commonly cited source of potentially harmful experiences among both adults and children.