Following in Australia’s footsteps, policymakers around the world have been introducing their own age-based social media restrictions. Given the limitations of an outright ban, legislation should instead focus on making platforms safer by design, tackling both functionality and harmful content.

Regulatory sandboxes are becoming essential tools for policymakers to balance oversight of, and innovation in, new technologies. We explore key examples and global best practices in the use of sandboxes across tech and telecoms in privacy, spectrum, satellite and AI.

AI is being rapidly adopted across the customer journey, presenting both opportunities and risks. As regulators increasingly engage with the potential impacts of the technology, they must strike an effective balance between mitigating harms and promoting responsible innovation.

While consumer experiences of mobile coverage often fail to live up to what is promised, regulators have been slow to adopt the most effective testing and reporting practices. They should prioritise the most accurate testing methods despite their additional costs, with Arcep’s approach in France one to follow.

The fragmented nature of the UK’s fibre market is a barrier to effective network competition becoming established for the long term. With consolidation now necessary, we review the likely approach the CMA would take to three rumoured transactions.

The proliferation of altnets changed the fibre landscape in the UK, compelling the incumbent into action. Consolidation of networks, brands and customers is now on the horizon, which could ultimately lead to a more sustainable and competitive market structure.

With the US Government intending to withhold significant funds under its federal rural broadband expansion programme, the country will gamble with the affordability and longevity of what was billed as a generational investment in connectivity. We tell a cautionary tale for other jurisdictions considering a reshuffle of their public broadband investments.

The fallout of the O2 price rise has seen DSIT ask Ofcom to look at in-contract price rises again in the UK, including a “rapid review” of how easy it is to switch providers. Our research suggests Ofcom has already gone the furthest in Europe, leaving few good options available to the regulator from doing nothing through to banning the practice entirely.

As the saga of banning TikTok in the US has drawn to an apparent close, we reflect on the economic and security-based interests at play. Given these layered motivations, we don’t expect similar divestments of the app are likely to emerge elsewhere in the same way vendor restrictions did in telecoms markets.

In recent years, policymakers in Australia have developed a self-styled reputation for developing a world-leading regulatory playbook for tech and telecoms. So far this effort has had mixed success in challenging the more famous ‘Brussels Effect’ for influence over regulation further afield.

A trend in cross-border investment in the telecoms sector continues to play out, with operators, financial institutions and governments all contributing to developments. We explore the motivations behind recent deals and the factors that will influence whether further transactions are on the horizon.

Policymakers have called for pro-growth regulation, but what should this look like in practice for the telecoms sector? We analyse past approaches and consider if and/or how they might be reframed and reapplied for modern times through government interventions or regulatory reforms.