Posted on: 3rd March 2026, by Magrathea
Welcome to the March newsletter, combining news from Magrathea and around the industry.
What’s included
- DSIT: Why the draft Statement of Strategic Priorities should not be ignored (article link)
- Comreg: Consumer Care Statistics report
- Ofcom: Net Neutrality report
- Ofcom: Pricing and consumer engagement – Trends in the UK communications sector
- TOTSCo: business switching – price reductions confirmed
- Reminder: Testing imported numbers
- Service spotlight: Irish Numbering & Porting
- Service Spotlight: Telehouse Colocation Space
- Events and outings
- What’s on our minds
DSIT: Why the draft Statement of Strategic Priorities should not be ignored
On 11 February 2026, the UK Government laid before Parliament its draft Statement of Strategic Priorities for Telecommunications, the Management of Radio Spectrum, and Postal Services.
Whilst just another routine policy document, this one does set out the priorities that our regulator has to follow and for that reason it’s worth paying attention. Read more about why here.
Comreg: Consumer Care Statistic report
For clients operating in Ireland, Comreg have issued their latest report comparing number of complaints to previous quarters. Looking across the data it’s difficult to pull out trends, Q4 2025, wasn’t the worse quarter for complaints, but neither was it the best. However, it will be up to Comreg as to whether this data will direct more of their attention on complaint handling. The key takeaway for service providers is to ensure they have clear and robust complaint handling procedures with correct timescales applied and staff know how to follow them. If you’d like to look at the data it can be found here.
Ofcom: Net Neutrality report
Ofcom’s annual Net Neutrality monitoring report reviews how ISPs are managing traffic and whether any practices risk restricting how end-users access online services. The 2025 findings confirm that providers are broadly complying with the rules, with traffic management largely limited to legitimate commercial packaging of speeds rather than discriminatory blocking.
For wholesale providers and ISPs, the report is a useful benchmark of regulatory expectations and an indicator of where enforcement focus may sit in the year ahead. You can read the full report here
Ofcom: Pricing and consumer engagement – Trends in the UK communications sector
Ofcom’s latest data shows overall communications prices falling in real terms, with the best value going to consumers who actively switch, purchase bundles and look beyond the traditional incumbents. The OTS process appears to be supporting consumers in getting the best value, with 2 million consumers switched to date.
Consumers who pay the most are the ones out of contract, which is estimated to be in the millions. So, for clients who are operating in this market the data highlights opportunity. Smaller operators are often able to compete effectively on value, and if only a small percentage of consumers still require a fixed line for outbound calls, this addressable market remains significant. The full report can be found here.
TOTSCo: business switching – price reductions confirmed
TOTSCo has confirmed updated pricing for Business Switching that reduces unit charges for all users and introduces improved discounts for smaller providers. The standard unit price has been cut, and brands with fewer than 5,000 business customers will pay proportionally less, with further discounts available for full management MAPs. These changes align business switching costs more closely with the residential OTS tiered model and will apply to 2026 charges once the required notice period has passed. More details on the new pricing is here.
Reminder: Testing imported numbers
We automatically test to see if an imported number is hitting our network before confirming to clients by email. However, we always recommend that clients then test again to ensure the number is working on your systems as expected by the end-user, ideally using multiple sources. Any problems can then be reported to our team and quickly managed.
Service spotlight: Irish Numbering & Porting
With St Patrick’s Day just around the corner we wanted to once again shine the spotlight on our Irish services. In case you’re not already aware, we provide a full range of Irish numbers, alongside all associated services, including porting and emergency call handling. With our Dublin node, we can also deliver locally originated traffic to local services – so if you have an Irish requirement, we would be delighted to help.
For clients based in the EU, we also offer the option to pay in Euros. Both Sterling and Euro values will be clearly shown on your invoice for simplicity and transparency.
Service spotlight: Telehouse Colocation Space
For clients requiring enhanced resilience, security and a direct physical connection to our network, we offer colocation space in Telehouse East. This gives you a presence in this renowned datacentre, directly connected to our core network, enabling greater infrastructure control and improved overall network robustness.
For pricing and availability, please contact sales@magrathea-telecom.co.uk or you can find more information in the Guide via the Magic Portal.
Events and outings
On 10th March we have Channel Live in the diary. Tracey, in her capacity as Chair of CCUK, will be talking about fraud, compliance and telco risk. Also Hayley West, our business development specialist, will be on hand too so, if you are thinking about attending, you can find the full conference program here and drop us a note if you would like to meet up on the day.
We will also be visiting Cavell Summit Europe on 25th March – so again please let us know if you would like to meet up there.
What’s on our minds…
Our porting and support team are once again noticing an influx of ‘ported number faults’. This usually occurs months or years after a number has been imported and working fine, suddenly leaving the end customer without service.
Often the result of a database glitch or human error, they can be quick to fix, but we do have examples that have taken weeks to get restored. When these happen, our team pull out all the stops to make use of their contacts and get the numbers back online but we are in the hands of the range holder.
Of course, we know that some networks are mid-migration to IP routing so it’s possible that has caused some glitches and hopefully it will settle but meanwhile, please be kind to our team who handle these tricky issues which are entirely outside of their control.
Kind regards
Client Support, Magrathea
The information contained in this guidance is for your information only and is not intended to be relied on. It does not constitute legal professional advice, nor is it a substitute for you obtaining your own legal professional advice. Magrathea accepts no liability whatsoever for any errors, omissions or statements in this guidance or for any loss which may arise from your use of this guidance.