The UK government has formally published its Statement of Strategic Priorities for telecommunications, radio spectrum, and postal services, setting out a new regulatory framework that will guide Ofcom's decisions for years to come. The document, laid before Parliament on 11 February 2026, replaces a framework that had been in place since 2019 and arrives at a moment when connectivity is increasingly critical to both economic growth and everyday lives for households and businesses.
A Framework Built Around Growth
The statement sets out five growth priorities covering gigabit broadband rollout, 5G investment, spectrum access, consumer protection, network resilience, and postal sustainability. Crucially, the document places economic growth at the centre of Ofcom's regulatory mandate, with the government stating that growth is its primary objective and that Ofcom must have regard to it when making regulatory decisions. The government's ambition is for 99% of UK premises to have access to gigabit-capable broadband by 2032, and for all populated areas to have high-quality standalone 5G by 2030. At present, the UK is already at 86% gigabit coverage, supported by a combination of Project Gigabit funding and tens of billions of pounds in private investment.
Openreach and the Competition Question
A significant portion of the statement addresses the role of Openreach, BT's infrastructure arm, in the UK's broadband market. The government directs Ofcom to monitor Openreach's commercial terms and pricing closely, given that the company benefits from economies of scale that new entrants cannot yet match, and instructs the regulator to prevent Openreach from offering arrangements that would have a detrimental effect on the establishment of sustained competition. The government also reaffirms the fair bet principle, which gives investors assurance that regulatory support for infrastructure investment will remain in place.
The Independent Networks Co-operative Association, which represents many of the UK's alternative broadband providers, welcomed the document as a clear endorsement of early regulatory intervention where there is a risk of harm to competition, with Ofcom encouraged to act on credible risk rather than waiting for proven damage. The government ran a statutory consultation between July and September 2025, drawing responses from around 70 stakeholders including telecoms companies, trade bodies, local authorities, and consumer groups.
Security, Resilience, and Spectrum
Beyond fixed broadband, the statement addresses spectrum management, network security, and the transition away from legacy infrastructure. Ofcom is directed to progress its review of spectrum for space-based services, with a strong focus on enabling direct-to-device satellite connectivity, and to begin a multi-year cross-sectoral review of spectrum use below 1 GHz, covering digital terrestrial television, mobile, and critical national infrastructure. Network resilience features prominently throughout the document, with the government citing growing cyber threats and the risk of disruption to subsea cables. The anticipated Cyber Security and Resilience Bill is expected to extend Ofcom's cybersecurity oversight role to data centres, adding a further layer to the regulator's responsibilities.
What Comes Next
The statement works alongside Ofcom's Telecoms Access Review, the regulator's five-yearly exercise in setting detailed market rules for fixed broadband, with Ofcom's final decisions expected in March 2026, before the current rules expire at the end of that month. That review will carry the greater immediate weight for industry investment decisions, as it sets the specific regulatory conditions that apply until 2031. Through the recent Spending Review, the government committed £1.8 billion to deliver gigabit-capable broadband to hard-to-reach communities through Project Gigabit.
Ofcom is required to report to the government within 40 days of the statement's designation, setting out how it plans to act on the stated priorities. Industry observers note that the real test will lie in how the regulator translates the government's growth-focused direction into its forthcoming decisions, and whether the ambitions set out on paper result in meaningful changes on the ground.
