Can Ofcom’s ‘fairness framework’ improve Britain’s dismal broadband industry?

The regulator’s ideas have merit, but there are potential pitfalls – and this industry has a long way to go before it gets close to the service standards of CEO Sharon White’s new employer John Lewis, writes James Moore

OfCom CEO Sharon White is about to become the boss of John Lewis (Ofcom)

OfCom’s outgoing CEO Sharon White has made it a priority to improve the way broadband, phone and pay TV providers treat their customers – and she doesn’t seem minded to go quietly.

The soon to be CEO of John Lewis has unveiled what the watchdog describes as its “fairness framework”.

For those looking at that slogan and understandably thinking “ugh”, there is meat on the buzzwords’ bones. The framework sets out the type of behaviour the regulator regards as “unfair” and thus liable to provoke disciplinary action.