Is It Goodbye - Finally - to the Fax Machine?
upstart writes:
Is it goodbye - finally - to the fax machine?:
The fax machine is about to be pushed closer to the dustbin of history.
The device - formally known as a facsimile machine - was once a regular feature of British offices. But now the UK's communications regulator Ofcom is consulting on changes to telecoms rules that could formalise its obsolescence. It would mean telecoms providers would no longer be required to provide fax services under the universal service obligation (USO).
"We're proposing changes to the rules" Ofcom said.
Currently there are two designated telecoms providers responsible for universal service in the UK - BT and KCOM (in the Hull area only).
In 2003, Ofcom set up the USO, when fax machines were more prevalent and not so many people were connected by email and online messaging services.
[...] The regulator consulted widely on this last year: "We considered it was appropriate for fax to be removed from the USO, given its limited ongoing use."
[...] In 2018 there was an immediate ban on the health service buying them, with the aim of phasing them out by 2020.
At the time it was reported that many hospitals were still reliant on the machines, with thousands still in use.
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