Investigation into communication providers’ compliance with BCMR 2019 information requests

Ofcom has today published a non-confidential version of the Confirmation Decision issued to Virgin Media on 18 February 2019:

Confirmation Decisions under 139A of the Communications Act 2003 to Virgin Media (PDF, 279.4 KB)

Ofcom has today published a non-confidential version of the Confirmation Decision issued to CityFibre on 18 February 2019:

Confirmation Decisions under 139A of the Communications Act 2003 to CityFibre (PDF, 173.2 KB)

Ofcom has today published a non-confidential version of the Confirmation Decision issued to MS3 on 18 February 2019:

Confirmation Decisions under 139A of the Communications Act 2003 to MS3 (PDF, 187.9 KB)

On 18 February 2019, Ofcom issued a Confirmation Decision to Virgin Media ('VM') under section 139A of the Act, confirming that VM has contravened the requirements imposed under section 135 of the Act, by failing to provide specified information by the deadline set by Ofcom, in accordance with its obligations under section 135 of the Act. For the reasons set out in the Confirmation Decision, we decided to impose a penalty of £25,000 on VM in respect of the contravention we identified.

CW/01229/08/18

On 18 February 2019, Ofcom issued a Confirmation Decision to CityFibre under section 139A of the Act, confirming that CityFibre has contravened the requirements imposed under section 135 of the Act, by failing to provide specified information by the deadline set by Ofcom, in accordance with its obligations under section 135 of the Act. In the specific circumstances of this case and for the reasons set out in the Confirmation Decision, we decided not to impose a penalty in respect of the contravention we identified.

CW/01228/08/18

On 18 February 2019, Ofcom issued a Confirmation Decision to MS3 under section 139A of the Act, confirming that MS3 has contravened the requirements imposed under section 135 of the Act, by failing to provide specified information by the deadline set by Ofcom on two occasions, in accordance with its obligations under section 135 of the Act. For the reasons set out in the Confirmation Decision, we decided to impose a penalty of £2,000 on MS3 in respect of the contraventions we identified.

CW/01227/08/18

Ofcom’s Business Connectivity Market Review (‘BCMR’) examines the markets for the provision of leased lines in the UK. Leased lines are high speed, high-quality, point-to-point data connections that telecoms providers use for connecting offices, mobile base stations and broadband access networks. As such, they are essential to support the provision of mobile, business and residential broadband services, and form the backbone of the UK’s digital infrastructure.

In the course of the BCMR 2019, Ofcom sent statutory information requests to various communications providers (‘CPs’) active in the business connectivity markets, requiring them to provide specified information by the deadline set by Ofcom, in accordance with their obligations under section 135 of the Act.

Following an investigation, Ofcom found there to be reasonable grounds that Virgin Media Limited (‘VM’), CityFibre Infrastructure Holdings Limited (‘CityFibre’) and MS3 Networks Limited (‘MS3’) contravened section 135 of the Act by failing to provide specified information by the deadline set by Ofcom. In September 2018, they were issued with provisional breach notifications under section 138 of the Act and given the opportunity to make representations to Ofcom on the matters contained within the notifications.