# Ofcom

> Ofcom is the Office of Communications, the United Kingdom's independent regulator and competition authority for telecommunications, spectrum, broadcasting, post and online safety. It publishes two public APIs over its Connected Nations coverage dataset — fixed broadband availability and mobile coverage, both keyed on a UK postcode — through an Ofcom-branded Microsoft Azure API Management developer portal at api.ofcom.org.uk. It is a data producer and rule-setter, not a network operator: it supervises EE, VMO2, Vodafone and Three rather than selling connectivity.

Generated by API Evangelist from https://github.com/api-evangelist/ofcom. Ofcom publishes no llms.txt of its own (https://api.ofcom.org.uk/llms.txt returns 404).

## APIs

- [Ofcom Connected Nations Broadband API](https://api.ofcom.org.uk/apis): Predicted fixed broadband availability for a UK postcode — per-premises maximum predicted download and upload speeds by Basic, Superfast and Ultrafast band, plus percentage availability of each speed category. One operation: `GET /coverage/{PostCode}` against `https://api-proxy.ofcom.org.uk/broadband`.
- [Ofcom Connected Nations Mobile API](https://api.ofcom.org.uk/apis): Predicted mobile coverage for a UK postcode scored 0 (none), 3 (limited) or 4 (likely) for EE, H3 (Three), TF (Virgin Media O2) and VO (Vodafone), split by voice/data and indoor/outdoor with separate no-4G variants. One operation: `GET /coverage/{PostCode}` against `https://api-proxy.ofcom.org.uk/mobile`.

## Specs

- [Broadband OpenAPI 3.0.1](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/ofcom/refs/heads/main/openapi/ofcom-connected-nations-broadband-api-openapi.yml): Harvested verbatim from Ofcom's own Azure APIM export endpoint.
- [Mobile OpenAPI 3.0.1](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/ofcom/refs/heads/main/openapi/ofcom-connected-nations-mobile-api-openapi.yml): Harvested verbatim from Ofcom's own Azure APIM export endpoint.
- [APIs.json](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/ofcom/refs/heads/main/apis.yml): The API Evangelist index for Ofcom.

## Authentication

- Azure API Management subscription key. Send it as the `Ocp-Apim-Subscription-Key` request header, or as a `subscription-key` query parameter. No OAuth, no OpenID Connect, no mTLS.
- Keys are issued per product. Sign-up at https://api.ofcom.org.uk/signup is open and self-serve, but every product is `approvalRequired=true` — an Ofcom human approves the subscription before a key is issued.
- Calling the gateway without a key returns HTTP 401 with `Access denied due to missing subscription key.`

## Rate limits and products

- Broadband Coverage (Basic) — 100 calls/minute, 50,000 requests/month.
- Broadband Coverage (Premium) — 500 calls/minute, 150,000 requests/month.
- Mobile Coverage (Basic) — 100 calls/minute, 50,000 requests/month.
- Mobile Coverage (Premium) — 500 calls/minute, 150,000 requests/month.
- Product list: https://api.ofcom.org.uk/products

## Docs

- [Developer portal](https://api.ofcom.org.uk/): Ofcom-branded Azure API Management portal — API listing, product listing, interactive console, open sign-up.
- [API list](https://api.ofcom.org.uk/apis)
- [API reference and interactive console](https://api.ofcom.org.uk/api-details)
- [Products and rate limits](https://api.ofcom.org.uk/products)
- [Sign up](https://api.ofcom.org.uk/signup) / [Sign in](https://api.ofcom.org.uk/signin)
- [Ofcom API terms of use 2025 (PDF)](https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/ofcom/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers-/broadband-and-mobile-coverage-checker/ofcom-api-terms-of-use-2025.pdf?v=399736)
- [Broadband and mobile coverage checker](https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/coverage-and-speeds/ofcom-checker): the consumer front end over the same Connected Nations data.
- API support: cnapisupport@ofcom.org.uk

## What Ofcom does not publish

- No webhooks, no event catalog, no AsyncAPI — both APIs are synchronous request/response lookups against a periodically refreshed dataset.
- No GraphQL, no gRPC, no MCP server (Azure APIM reports `mcpProperties: null` and `isAgent: false` for both APIs).
- No first-party SDK on npm, PyPI, Maven, NuGet or CRAN, and no first-party CLI. Community clients exist: `@stevegoossens/ofcom` (Node) and `francisbarton/tapioca` (R).
- No `/.well-known/` discovery surface, no OAuth scopes, no status page, no public Postman workspace.
- Spectrum licence registers, the national numbering plan and market research are published as documents and spreadsheets, not APIs.