Archive for April, 2004

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By Luke on April 29th, 2004

Ofcom Launch Fixed-Line Mis-Selling Consultation

Ofcom Launch Fixed-Line Mis-Selling Consultation
Ofcom is seeking views on the effectiveness of current safeguards designed to protect consumers from the mis-selling of fixed-line telecoms services.
With competing services offered to customers via a number of different marketing channels, including direct mail, telesales, doorstep selling and selling in public places, the regulator sees the potential for abuse [...]

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By Luke on April 29th, 2004

FT’s Lex Offers Some Sense Amongst The BT ‘Breakup’ Media Mayhem,

FT’s Lex Offers Some Sense Amongst The BT ‘Breakup’ Media Mayhem,
“Breaking up BT – that old chestnut – has received another roasting in recent weeks. To its credit, Ofcom seems little more inclined than its predecessors to split BT’s fixed-line network from its retail activities.
The regulator notes that such plans have repeatedly been rejected [...]

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By Luke on April 29th, 2004

Victor Lewis-Smith in the Evening Standard on C4’s Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares…

Victor Lewis-Smith in the Evening Standard on C4’s Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares…
“AS every chef knows, if you use low-quality ingredients and serve them half-baked, you’ll end up with an indigestible dog’s dinner that leaves a funny taste in the mouth. That’s what C4 has done with this programme, which seems to have given Ramsay a [...]

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By Luke on April 29th, 2004

BBC To Up Arts And Current Affairs Output

BBC To Up Arts And Current Affairs Output
With an eye on the review of its charter the BBC has promised to deliver more high-quality arts and current affairs shows as it ups its public service output and builds on last year’s commitment to reduce makeover programming.
The commitment, made in its annual Statements of Programme [...]

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By Luke on April 28th, 2004

BT’s Initial Response To Ofcom’s Phase 1 Strategic Telecoms Review Document

BT’s Initial Response To Ofcom’s Phase 1 Strategic Telecoms Review Document
“BT welcomes the comprehensive review of the UK telecoms sector. The industry is changing rapidly as new technologies appear, new companies enter the market and customer expectations evolve. Communication is fundamental to the good of society, and BT wants an environment in which [...]

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By Luke on April 28th, 2004

Telecoms Review – Phase 1 Published…

Telecoms Review – Phase 1 Published…
Phase 1 of Ofcom’s strategic review was published today. By the end of this year, Ofcom intends to have reviewed the UK telecoms market (inc. fixed, mobile, narrowband and broadband) and set its future regulatory strategy. Ofcom is investigating the role of regulation/competition in delivering benefits for consumers which they [...]

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By Patrick on April 28th, 2004

My Virtual Office, Part II

My Virtual Office, Part II
A couple of weeks ago I announced that I would be testing a new VoIP service called Vonage. Unfortunately, the Vonage system took about 10 days to arrive, so I was unable to test it while in Colorado (it arrived the same day that I left to return to Europe). [...]

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By Luke on April 26th, 2004

Parkinson To Quit BBC

Parkinson To Quit BBC
Is it a coincidence that Parkinson has quit the BBC only days after Ofcom’s PSB report? I think not…
Having read the report over the weekend the veteran broadcaster appears to have seen the writing on wall. The report states – “the most common concern in our audience survey were that there are…too [...]

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By Russ on April 23rd, 2004

Oh, that a regulator’s reach should exceed its grasp…

Oh, that a regulator’s reach should exceed its grasp…
Mike Butcher at m-bites (one of our recommended links) alerted OfcomWatch to this interesting article on whether PVR/iTV technology will permit advertisers to evade Ofcom’s regulation of advertising.
Answer: Yes, it will. Or, yes it likely will. Or, yes it will, but that’s not a [...]

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By Russ on April 22nd, 2004

Ofcom PSB Review Consultation Document Released

Ofcom PSB Review Consultation Document Released
It’s glossy, it’s colourful, and it asks the burning questions (’is television special?’)… It’s Phase I of Ofcom’s PSB consultation, available here. I’ll likely have more thoughts later, but here are some initial reactions and notes:
* Responses to the consultation are due no later than June [...]

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By Russ on April 22nd, 2004

Gmail

Gmail
I just signed-up for my Google gmail account. Google, which owns Blogger, is apparently letting Blogger users be among the first to test-out the service. Woohoo!
Gmail says:
You may also have noticed some text ads or related links to the right of this message. They’re placed there in the same way that ads are [...]

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By ChrisH on April 21st, 2004

The BBC Charter Review (sic)

The BBC Charter Review (sic)
The Guardian’s reference to the “BBC Charter Review” (i.e. the Ofcom PSB Review) complete with an online correction, provides a timely reminder that for many citizens the two terms – BBC, PSB – are inexorably linked. ‘Public Service Broadcasting’ is something of a cipher, a catch-all term for a number of [...]

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By Russ on April 21st, 2004

Deborah Bonello on PSB programming…

Deborah Bonello on PSB programming…
Today’s mediaweek.co.uk has a small piece on Ofcom’s PSB review. Bonello asks whether it is time to let PSB obligations on terrestrial commercial broadcasters die. It’s a wandering piece; can anybody figure out what she’s getting at?

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By Paul on April 19th, 2004

Broadcasting standards consultation likely in early July

Broadcasting standards consultation likely in early July
I contacted Ofcom recently seeking clarification over the timing of the promised broadcasting standards consultation which they have promised for the “summer of 2004″.
Fran O’Brien from Ofcom’s content and standards group reported back that Ofcom were planning to run the consultation through July, August and at least the [...]

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By Russ on April 19th, 2004

New Report on U.S. Broadband Penetration

New Report on U.S. Broadband Penetration
The folks at the Pew Internet & American Life Project keep churning-out great work. Today, they released an updated report on U.S. broadband penetration. Among the findings:
* 68 million Americans (55% of all U.S. adult internet users) have broadband at work or home. 48 million Americans [...]

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By Amit on April 16th, 2004

European Commission takes second legal step against eight Member States for not adopting the Directive on Privacy and Electronic communications

European Commission takes second legal step against eight Member States for not adopting the Directive on Privacy and Electronic communications
The Commission has announced the second step in infringement proceedings against Belgium, Germany, Greece, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Finland for failing to notify the Commission of measures transposing the Directive on Privacy and Electronic [...]

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By David on April 15th, 2004

E-numbering service to be launched in Austria

E-numbering service to be launched in Austria
When Patrick posted ‘My new virtual office’ he chose Vonage in preference to Skype because it was a Hybrid IPT service – bridging the world between IP and Telephony and offering both an incoming and outgoing gateway to the old telecoms world.
A recent report from Communications Daily discussed [...]

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By Russ on April 14th, 2004

OfcomWatch Miscellany Round-up…

OfcomWatch Miscellany Round-up…
* Any users of the beta-version of Google’s gmail out there? We’d love to hear from you. Gmail seems to be getting a significant amount of bad press, but it seems like a winning idea to me.
* Video games continue their ascent. The latest: 3/4ths of Nielsen [...]

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By Luke on April 13th, 2004

Ofcomwatch’s First 90 Days

Ofcomwatch’s First 90 Days
Since Ofcom launched on December 29, 2003, Ofcomwatch has received 36,406 hits. So we are well on target for our goal of 100,000+ by the end of the year.
Of course the real key is in the unique user profiles. This currently stands at 2376. So a chunk of our traffic is repeat [...]

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By Luke on April 13th, 2004

Ofcom: Yet To Beat The ‘Average’

Ofcom: Yet To Beat The ‘Average’
Ofcom’s performance for its first 90 days of operation has been rated ‘Average’ in Ofcomwatch’s latest poll.
Almost 40% of respondents said that the regulator had merely done an ‘Average’ job so far. This comes as something of a surprise – when we checked our stats recently Ofcom terminals [...]

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