The Office of Communications said its review of the British telecommunications sector will begin in January next year.
Ofcom said it will assess the importance of telecommunications to the British economy, and the extent to which the sector benefits from competition - including the fixed, mobile, narrowband and broadband markets.
It will also look at the extent to which competition and/or regulation has delivered the goals of lower prices, higher quality of service and wider choice for service providers and consumers, as well as British consumers' perspectives.
Ofcom said it will investigate investment and innovation trends in the industry and the significance of emerging technologies as a driver of new opportunities for service providers and consumers and "the scope for effective competition at all levels in the telecommunications markets and the extent to which that competition is likely to be sustainable in the foreseeable future."
The strategic review will build on the work of the outgoing telecommunications regulator, Oftel, Ofcom said.
"It will be completed in time to inform an assessment of the new EU market review framework as implementation of this is completed across Europe," it added.