Archive for November, 2004

The Unbearable Lightness of Being Ofcom

Today’s FT has an interesting piece on Ofcom’s image and work-product as it nears the end of its first year in the regulation business. We’re told:
[S]ome broadcasters grumble at how the regulator has gone about its work. A board member at one TV network says: “We were promised light-touch regulation in every precursor to [...]

OfcomWatch book corner…

Want to know more about digital television in Europe?
Hot off the presses: Digital Terrestrial Television in Europe. The book is divided into two sections: (i) the initial portion which covers policy and technical issues from a broad perspective; and (ii) the second portion which consists of eight country-specific case studies.
Lots of facts [...]

The European Commission and the Media: What Coordination?

The Barroso Commission, after some havoc, took off yesterday. A matter of primary concern seems to be their relationships with the media industry. The new European Commission thinks that these need improving and has proposed to appoint Commissioner Viviane Reding (the new Commissioner for Information Society, Audiovisual Policy and the Media Economy) as the �coordinator [...]

Ofcom releases spectrum framework review

The document is available here.
The consultation is intended to set Ofcom’s approach to spectrum management for the foreseeable future. Ofcom generally intend to use fewer ‘command and control’ style regulations concerning spectrum use.
Responses to the consultation are due 15 February 2005.
More on this later…

Ofcom asks: How can we make BT play nice in the sandbox?

Ofcom�s Strategic Review of Telecommunications (SRT) Phase 2 report is available here.

Luke has already supplied the main news: BT must ensure �equivalence�, which basically means that rival operators must be given �real� equality of access to BT�s network (similar to what BT�s wholesale arm gives BT�s retail arm). It can be thought of [...]

DCMS Publish Summary of the Responses to Consultation on the EC Media 2007 Proposals

To help develop its detailed negotiating position the European Commission’s proposals for a new Media Programme (Media 2007), DCMS invited contributions from all stakeholders.
The consultation period closed on 24th September and the DCMS has now published a summary of the responses received.

The Register – Ofcom’s review of telecoms due this week

Ofcom’s review of telecoms due this week | The Register
Tim Richardson has done a cracking preview of Ofcom’s Phase 2 Strategic Review of Telecoms consultation document. Link above.
He does a run through of the three likely approaches to BT – equivalence, favourable terms, and break up. He tips ‘equivalence’ as the direction Ofcom is most [...]

FT Creative Business joins the dots…

Today’s FT Creative Business runs a section on ‘talent pools’. It details that the boys at Ofcom learnt their trade under Lord Birt at the BBC’s Strategy Unit in the 1990s. With Lord Birt now an advisor to Number 10, you could say that this is a model of converged regulation.
BBC Strategy Unit…
“Until the early [...]

FT – Government and Ofcom on ‘collision course’ over advertising junk food to children

FT reports:
Banning food advertisements during children’s TV programmes would be “ineffective and disproportionate” in the battle against childhood obesity, according to Britain’s television watchdog.
A health white paper, to be published by the government tomorrow, will hold out the prospect of a ban on junk food ads at certain times of the day if manufacturers and [...]

Ofcom looks to open up broadcast transmission access

Ofcom proposed today that ntl Inc and US-listed Crown Castle international provide network access to their respective broadcast transmission masts.
After analysis of the market, Ofcom is seeking views on its proposals that ntl and Crown Castle each have ’significant market power’ in providing access to their respective masts, site networks and shared antenna systems for [...]