BBC iPlayer Users in the UK Face IP Based Geo Blocking Woes UPDATE

Some people in the United Kingdom who may be trying to access the BBC’s popular online video streaming and catch-up TV service, iPlayer, may today be struggling to access the service due to a known issue with geographic blocking of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

The BBC, much like other streaming platforms, uses a system that attempts to restrict geographic access for non-UK users via IP based blocking. But such systems aren’t perfect and can sometimes end up blocking legitimate UK users too (e.g. when a non-UK assignment of IP addresses are purchased and re-deployed for use in the UK, it can take a bit of time for the BBC and other UK services to adapt).

However, the BBC are today warning of a much more “widespread issue“, which is causing many more users than usual to be “recognised as being outside of the UK” and thus restricting their access to iPlayer. People in this boat may be seeing the error message “02066“.

BBC iPlayer Statement

*** Monday 30 October ***

We are aware of a widespread issue where users are recognised as being outside of the UK. Some users are seeing error message 02066.

We are investigating and will update this page as soon as we know more.

In the meantime, using another network where possible may help.

The normal advice is to disable any Proxy Servers or Virtual Private Networks (VPN) you may be using, which often assign a non-UK IP address, and instead rely on those assigned by your home broadband ISP or mobile operator. But in this case, if you’re already doing that and getting this error, then it might actually be worth enabling a VPN and connecting via a UK based server (this may or may not work as VPN assigned IPs often end up being blocked).

UPDATE 31st Oct 2023 @ 4pm

The latest update from the BBC simply states: “We have investigated this issue and we believe this is now fixed.”