MPs criticise watchdog over telecoms failures

Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who chairs the Commons Public Accounts Committee, also said the communications regulator must do more to allow taxpayers and companies that fund it to judge its performance, adding it was currently impossible to assess if it provided value for money.

A report by the committee found an “overall positive picture” of a competitive communications market, which was functioning well and providing customers with choice and low prices.

But there was scope for Ofcom to “do more” to tackle the volume of silent calls, relatively low levels of switching between telecoms providers and limited competition in fixed-line telephony.

The regulator also needed to do more to demonstrate its focus on value for money and explain its intended outcomes, how it would achieve them and how it measured its success.

Ofcom’s operating expenditure in 2009-10 was £122m, funded through broadcast licence fees and charges and grant-in-aid from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (£75.7m) and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (£600,000).

Mrs Hodge said: “The communications market is in most cases working well and consumers are enjoying the benefits of competition, such as the ability to choose among good-quality goods and services, and falling prices. Customer satisfaction levels are generally high.

“However, we are concerned that Ofcom has not done enough to deal with such persistent problems as silent calls, the difficulty of switching telecom provider, and the limited competition in the fixed-line telephony market.”