British telecom and media regulator Ofcom is proposing rules changes that will mean telecoms providers will no longer be required to provide fax services under the universal service obligation (USO).

The USO is a set of rules that makes sure phone services are available to people across the UK at an affordable price. There are two designated telecoms providers responsible for universal service in the UK – BT and KCOM.

The current USO was set out in 2003, when fax machines were more prevalent and email and instant messaging were less ubiquitous. So, at that time it was important the USO required BT and KCOM to provide fax services, Ofcom said in a statement Tuesday.

Almost 20 years later, the telecoms landscape has changed. Not only are alternatives to fax machines now more widely available, migration of telephone networks to internet protocol (IP) technology means fax services can no longer be guaranteed to work in the same way.

“We previously consulted on this subject last year. We considered it was appropriate for fax to be removed from the USO, given its limited ongoing use, as well as the fact that developments in technology now mean there are a range of alternative available for people to use,” Ofcom said.

The telephony universal service obligation ensures that a minimum set of telephony services are available at an affordable price to people across the UK.

BT and KCOM are the designated universal service providers in the UK, and Ofcom’s current USO rules require them to provide facsimile (fax) services. The scope of the USO is set by UK government through legislation and, until recently, it had required that fax services be provided throughout the UK as a universal service.