Access and Inclusion

Statement published 15|10|09

One page overview

Ofcom's duties mean that we have a significant role to play in ensuring that all citizens, irrespective of their age, income, location, education or disability can access and use digital communications services. We refer to our work in this area as Access and Inclusion. In some cases we have been given specific powers and duties and in others the Government has taken the lead and we have provided advice and support.

In our consultation of March 2009, we indicated three core Access and Inclusion issues which we considered to be a priority in our work: the availability of key communications services, the take-up of these services and their effective use. Within these categories we identified our highest priorities, with broadband services as an area of particular focus.

We have made significant progress with these priorities since our consultation. We have taken forward our work on Broadband Take-up and Digital Participation. Ofcom was asked by Government to lead a Consortium to develop and deliver a Social Marketing Programme and Targeted Outreach as part of a National Plan for Digital Participation. The Consortium will be launched formally on 15 October.

Upon request from Ministers we have provided technical support to help the Government towards its goal of a 2Mbit/s universal service commitment for broadband.

We are conducting a range of initiatives to improve services for disabled users. We are currently looking at the future of TV Access Services. We have also published an independent study on the potential benefits of improved relay services to facilitate access to telephone services for hearing impaired users. On Media Literacy we have launched guides for parents and carers on protecting children in a digital world and together with Mencap, Switch On! a resource for practitioners working with people with learning difficulties and disabilities.

We are reviewing the implementation of the existing Universal Service Obligation for fixed telephony to ensure that it continues to deliver the greatest possible benefits in changing market conditions. We expect to publish our initial thoughts before the end of the year.

Emergency (999/112) mobile roaming has been launched in the UK. This is the result of a collaborative effort between us, the mobile operators, the fixed operators who handle the incoming calls and the emergency authorities. Mobile phones will now automatically switch to an alternative network for an emergency call if the user is outside of their own service providers coverage area.

We are commencing research to examine the causes of mobile not-spots, as announced in our Mobile Sector Assessment.

Overall, stakeholders were highly supportive of our approach to Access and Inclusion in their responses to our consultation. Many provided valuable comments on specific areas of our work, which we have considered and discuss further in this statement.

This statement provides a progress update and summary of our next steps on Access and Inclusion. We will provide future updates through our annual Consumer Experience Reports and we invite stakeholders to contribute to setting priorities for our future Access and Inclusion work through our annual planning process. Our next Consumer Experience Report and Draft Annual Plan will both be published in December.

The full document is available below