4 years ago
Ofcom is UK's independent regulator and competitio...
Ofcom is UK's independent regulator and competition authority for the communications industries.
Ofcom regulates the TV and radio broadcasters, telecommunication network operators for fixed and mobile services, postal services, and issues licences for use of radio waves (more properly: radio frequency spectrum).
Ofcom has a statutory duty to take into account in its decisions the interests of listeners, viewers, consumers and generally the citizens of UK. It monitors and publishes reports on the level of customer satisfaction with the services provided by the industry and may consider complaints against the regulated companies (such as complaints about inappropriate content of TV or radio programmes).
Ofcom state on their website that their duties are: "to further the interests of citizens and of consumers. Meeting these two duties is at the heart of everything we do."
Ofcom operates under the Communications Act 2003 and is accountable to the UK Parliament. It is funded from fees paid by the broadcasting and telecommunications industry and may receive grant-in-aid from the Government.
Ofcom informs the Parliament on the more technical matters in their legislation-making process in the area of radio and telecommunications and postal services. Ofcom also represents the interests of UK in international organisations, such as ITU (International Telecommunications Union), CEPT (a European organisation), etc. It also is responsible for the harmonisation and compliance of UK regulations with those of EU in its area of competence.
(Note: It's interesting that a UK regulatory body has an entry in Google+ as if it were a company or a service provider, and that Google+ users are asked to review Ofcom and comment on their experience and satisfaction with its services. On the other hand, this undoubtedly is in the interests of the democratic process, since indeed Ofcom have a duty of service to the public as a government approved regulator. With my brief introduction to Ofcom I wanted to provide information to non-experts about this Google+ entry.)