UK telecoms compliance, handled in one order.

What's actually required

Every UK communications provider is automatically bound by Ofcom's General Conditions (GC) of Entitlement from the moment they start providing a service — no application needed. The parts that matter for a new MVNO or VoIP provider:

• General Conditions C1–C7 — pricing & contract transparency, information publication, billing, accessibility for vulnerable customers, Calling Line ID, and switching. We draft the contracts and policies for you.
• End-of-contract notifications — send a reminder 10–40 days before a customer's minimum term ends, then an annual reminder once they're out of contract. Applies to any residential/SME contract, mobile or VoIP alike.
• ADR scheme enrollment (GC C4) — the one genuine legal gate: if you'll have residential or small-business customers, you must join CISAS or the Communications Ombudsman before onboarding them. Not required if you're a wholesale MVNO/MVNA selling to other businesses rather than end users.
• Numbering — most new entrants launch on numbers sublet from their host network or a wholesaler. Applying to Ofcom directly for your own allocation is optional, for scale later, not a launch requirement.
• Host Network Operator Agreement (MVNOs) — a private commercial contract with an MNO or MVNE, entirely separate from Ofcom compliance.

VoIP-specific: emergency call access

VoIP carries one real obligation mobile/MVNO doesn't: under General Condition A3.2 and sections 105A/105C/105K of the Communications Act 2003, a VoIP provider must (a) warn customers the service may not work during a power cut and advise on backup options, since VoIP needs mains power at the customer's premises unlike a traditional landline, and (b) prompt "nomadic" users to register and keep their location up to date, since an IP-based call isn't inherently tied to a fixed address the way a landline number is. We build this into your compliance pack if you're a VoIP provider.

Beyond Ofcom: what else to check

A handful of other UK rules can apply depending on your model — we flag these during intake so nothing surprises you later:

• ICO / PECR registration — a separate, mandatory requirement for handling personal data or direct marketing. See our ICO registration service if you haven't covered this.
• Consumer Rights Act 2015 & distance-selling rules — a 14-day cooling-off period applies to anything sold online or by phone, and customers must be able to cancel in a single communication without unreasonable hoops. General consumer law, not Ofcom-specific, but binding on any UK consumer-facing telecoms contract.
• No UK STIR/SHAKEN — the binding mechanism instead is GC C6's spoofed-CLI blocking plus the "Do Not Originate" list; a new rule on international CLI spoofing applies from 15 July 2027 if you'll carry international traffic.
• FCA authorisation — only relevant if you issue your own redeemable stored value (e.g. airtime credit), not if payments simply route through a licensed processor.
• Premium-rate numbers — now regulated directly by Ofcom (GC C2.11/C2.12) since it absorbed this from the old PSA in February 2025.
• Ofcom's administrative fee (s.38 Communications Act) only applies above £5m relevant turnover — a new small entrant starts exempt.
• Coming, not yet live: the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024's new subscription-contract regime (auto-renewal cooling-off, mandatory reminder notices, easy online cancellation) is delayed to spring 2027 — not a current requirement, but worth planning for. Ask us to notify you when the compliance work becomes real rather than tracking it yourself.

Selling into the EU too?

Ofcom compliance only covers the UK. Under the EU's Electronic Communications Code, each member state where you actually have customers requires its own separate notification to that country's regulator — triggered by where your customers are, not where you're incorporated, and with no exemption for a UK (non-EU) company. A few things worth knowing before you expand:

• No single EU-wide filing exists yet. Registering an entity in one member state (e.g. Bulgaria) covers that country only — it doesn't grant a passport to serve other EU countries without notifying them too. A "Single Passport" reform is proposed under the EU's Digital Networks Act, but it isn't law yet.
• This applies to wholesale providers too — the notification duty is based on whether you're genuinely providing the service under your own name/contract, not on whether your customers are consumers or other businesses. The only real exemption is being a pure sales agent for someone else's service with no independent contract or control — a much narrower case than "we sell wholesale."
• It's a light-touch, declaratory notification in principle (no fee, no approval decision required under the EECC framework) — but the exact process is set by each country's own transposing law, so it's worth confirming against your specific target countries rather than assuming it's identical everywhere.

UK Telecoms Compliance & Launch Package

Already have a company? Get the compliance layer only

If you've already formed your UK company, you can order just the Ofcom compliance work.

Why UK telecoms providers work with us

• One intake covers company formation, GC compliance, and ADR enrollment together — you're not re-explaining your business to three different providers.
• We flag ADR mandatoriness based on your actual customer model — residential/SME-facing vs. wholesale-only — rather than a one-size-fits-all bundle.
• We also flag the adjacent obligations most new entrants miss — ICO/PECR, FCA scope, premium-rate numbering — during intake, not after you've already launched.