Home Office White Paper proposes new National Police Service with lead role on fraud and cyber
The Home Office has published aWhite Paper titled ‘From Local to National: A New Model for Policing’, setting out major structural reforms to policing in England and Wales and creating a new National Police Service (NPS) that will take the lead on fraud, economic crime and cyber crime. Under the plans, the current 43‑force structure […]
The 2026 Comms Council UK Awards is now open for entries
Comms Council UK, the UK body representing the VoIP and advanced communications industry, today launches the 2026 Comms Council UK Awards, sponsored by Magrathea. This year’s ceremony will be taking place on the afternoon of 16th July at Kitty Hawk in London. Tickets are on sale here. Entering the 18th year, our awards continue to […]
Report Fraud launches
On the 20th January, the City of London Police announced the full public launch of Report Fraud – a new national service designed to transform how victims and businesses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland report cyber crime and fraud, and how law enforcement and industry respond. The service has been created to provide a […]
Peers press Government on fraud reimbursement and platform responsbility
During the Committee Stage of the Crime and Policing Bill in the House of Lords, peers proposed substantive amendments to test whether the Government will place additional responsibilities on telecoms and digital providers to tackle fraud, cyber-enabled crime, and scam activity. The Committee Stage is where legislation is scrutinised line by line, and changes agreed […]
Government announces Cyber Action Plan to strengthen resilience and incidence reporting for public sector and Government departments
The Government announced its Cyber Action Plan to strengthen cyber resilience and incident response across government departments and the wider public sector, supported by over £210m of government funding. Whilst this is markedly lower than the £2.6bn pledged in the 2022 National Cyber Strategy to modernise legacy systems, the plan reinforces a clear shift towards […]
Cyber Security and Resilience Bill undergoes second reading in the House of Commons
On the 6th January, the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill underwent its second reading in the House of Commons. The Bill is now set to be passed through the House of Commons, with the expectation of Royal Assent in mid-2026. The legislation represents the most significant effort to date in modernising the UK’s cyber framework […]
Openreach to increase WLR products to accelerate PSTN migration
Openreach will increase the wholesale cost of its WLR (wholesale line rental) products from April 2026 to accelerate migration off the PSTN ahead of the January 2027 switch‑off. Prices will rise by 20% in April 2026, then to 40% above today’s level in July and 40% in October, effectively doubling costs within a year. The […]
Minister Lloyd questioned by Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee
The Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee held an oral evidence session on digital inclusion and telecoms this week with the Minister for Digital Economy, Baroness Lloyd, and two other civil service officials from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) Baroness Lloyd has overall responsibility for telecoms as part of her ministerial remit. […]
Ofcom opens consultation proposing new rules on how mobile providers must stop scammers from sending mobile messages
Ofcom has opened a consultation proposing new General Conditions for mobile operators and business messaging aggregators to cut scam mobile messages across both person to person and application to person channels. Measures include limits on PAYG SIM volumes, blocking known scam numbers and messages in transit based on reports of malicious sender IDs, URLs and […]
Update on meeting with PSTN team at DSIT
Comms Council UK met with DSIT officials to discuss PSTN migration, business fibre connections and measures to tackle fraud. DSIT is seeking examples of industrial estates or business parks where a lack of fibre is hindering PSTN migration. Members with PSTN residential customers or Critical National Infrastructure clients are invited to consider signing the Government’s […]