March 17th 2004
By: Russ
Hey, check out footnote 226...
I was out of town this past weekend and missed the FCC's release of the full-text of its VoIP notice of proposed rulemaking ('Notice'). Paragraph 76 (and footnote 226) of the Notice addresses IP-numbering issues, covered in two Ofcom Watch posts on February 25, 2004.
March 15th 2004
By: Luke
EU: Anti-Microsoft Ruling Almost Certain
Guardian reports:
The EU today took a step closer to a landmark antitrust decision against Microsoft as member states backed a ruling to force the company to strip out audio-visual software from its Windows operating system.
The decision followed a meeting of competition experts from the 15 EU ...
March 12th 2004
By: ChrisH
Communications in Wales after the Communications Act
Interesting looking conference... for those who can make it.
The Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies (University of Wales, Aberystywth) is holding a conference on the implication of the Communications Act 2003 for culture and communications in Wales (29th - 30th March 2004)
Confirmed Speakers ...
March 12th 2004
By: Russ
3G Delays Result in Policy Requests
There is a spate of reports out today concerning several 3G licensees' attempts to loosen regulatory burdens associated with the required build-out of their 3G networks.
No surprise, for several reasons. The most interesting issue from my perspective as a policy-watcher is one of predictive ...
March 10th 2004
By: Luke
FM License Timetable Published
Ofcom has published its first proposed timetable of new FM local commercial radio licences to be advertised in six areas across the UK: Edinburgh; Blackburn; Belfast; Ashford, Kent; Manchester; and Kidderminster.
March 10th 2004
By: Luke
Increase In Regulatory Costs Under New Labour
A London Business School report published today reveals that the annual cost of regulating businesses through government watchdogs has spiralled by more than 80 per cent since New Labour came to power in 1997.
Spending by regulators rose from �141.5m to �261.5m between 1996-1997 and ...
March 9th 2004
By: Luke
The Times Joins Up The Dots...
In today's People column Andrew Pierce says:
"You would never have known that Stephen Carter, the head of Ofcom, walked away with a �1.6 million payoff and bonus from his previous employer, NTL, which filed for bankruptcy protection in 2002. Ofcom has just appointed an advisory ...
March 8th 2004
By: Patrick
Structure of a Spectrum Revolution
At a European Workshop on Spectrum Trading, I took the somewhat controversial postion (frankly, very controversial considering the audience) that leasing or trading spectrum is about as crazy as the state selling or leasing the color red. (Of course, I credited Eli Noam for this ...
March 8th 2004
By: Luke
Lunch With Roger Darlington
I met Roger Darlington for lunch today. Roger is a member of Ofcom's Consumer Panel and Chairman of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF).
Roger also runs CommsWatch, a weblog that tracks policy and regulatory issues, developments and events relating to the UK's communications sector. It also allows Roger ...
March 8th 2004
By: Luke
Sunday Times On Johnson Appointment
Yesterday's Sunday Times reported:
"Why are so many people grousing about the recent appointment by Ofcom of Luke Johnson as the chairman of Channel 4?
Meejah insiders, including one notable Labour lord, are wondering if it was a fix. Apparently, Stephen Carter, Ofcom's chief exec, is a ...
