‘Follow the money – it’s almost always the answer to any policy question’, an ex-colleague of mine used to say. It sure was true at the Oxford Media Convention yesterday where: (i) Ed Richards continued Ofcom’s sales job for the �300 million public service publisher and (ii) Andy Duncan continued Channel 4’s beg-a-thon. Someone in [...]
Yesterday’s Oxford Media Convention featured an interesting panel on the DTV transition.
One speaker, Chris Goodall of Enders Analysis, focused on the government’s cost-benefit analysis of the DTV transition and analogue switchoff. He focused on what he termed certain ‘unreported costs’ of the switchover, basically claiming that the costs of the DTV transition are higher [...]
The EU Commission has announced today the launch of an investigation into the way property tax is applied to BT and Kingston Communication�s networks.
According to the EU Commission, when the Valuation Office Agency (an executive agency of the Inland Revenue) values BT and Kingston�s telecommunications infrastructure for property tax purposes, it applies different valuation methods [...]
It’s the Oxford Media Convention tomorrow. This conference – which started in 2003 – has become a key event in the media and policy calender. And so far it hasn’t failed to deliver as a forum for great debate and key policy statements – basically it sets out the key themes in media policy and [...]
My report Local and Community Television in the United Kingdom: A New Beginning? will be released shortly… I shall direct readers to the executive summary as soon as it is finalised.
In the meantime, I have written an article, which may be of interest.
Further to questioning from concerned consumers, Ofcom have finally admitted that there will be a further four month delay to the publication of their new broadcasting code. This was very quietly �announced� on the Ofcom website today: here
The amount of time that Ofcom have spent pondering broadcasting standards is already excessive, so any further delays [...]
Interesting article in Sunday’s Times about Bill Huff and his UK-related cable aspirations. The Times states:
An unfamiliar name in Britain, Huff has nonetheless become the marriage broker between Britain�s two cable companies, NTL and Telewest. Both collapsed into insolvency because of their debt-financed acquisition splurges at the end of the 1990s. Their crisis was [...]
Last week Charles Allen, CEO of ITV inc, told Carlos Grande of the Financial times that ITV�s new approach to programme making was, �In the past it was a bit like alchemy – we just came up with ideas all the time. Now it is much more like chemistry.� They have obviously given up on [...]
The House of Commons Trade and Industry Committee today announced a decision to hold an inquiry into Ofcom’s Strategic Review of Telecommunications.
The committee say,
“In December 2003, Ofcom (the Office of Communications) launched its Strategic Review of Telecommunications (’the Telecoms Review’). It published its Phase Two consultation document in November 2004.
The Committee is inquiring into [...]
Ofcom are considering whether to allow the use of so-called ultrawide band (UWB) devices in the UK. UWB devices operate over a wide range of spectrum, and are used for things like ground-penetrating radar and communications devices, notably consumer electronics. According to chip-maker, Intel:
A traditional UWB transmitter works by sending billions of pulses [...]
People may be forgiven if they missed their chance to comment on the future of broadcasting standards last summer. It wasn�t that well advertised and apart from a couple of low profile articles such as the rather misleading half page piece on page 10 of the Mail on Sunday back in September, it didn�t really [...]
Ofcom today published a consultation on BSkyB’s application for�consent to broadcast exclusive live coverage of cricket test matches played in England in 2006-2009. Under the arrangement, Five would show highlights. Ofcom is�inviting broadcasters, and any other interested parties, to comment on BSkyB�s request.�
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http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/cricket/
To the public, secrecy means that there is something to hide: that officials can’t justify their decisions, are concealing their errors or have ignored legitimate concerns. They will be skeptical about what the authority tells them, less likely to follow its advice or believe its successes. ~ Maurice Frankel, The Campaign for Freedom of Information
The [...]
To show how far the UK has to go – Deutsche Telekom is offering limited 2Gb downloading for under 4� per month, fighting against Free’s offer under 6�. The benefits of LLU are clear – even if the under-cutting tactics of DT would almost certainly be ruled anti-competitive by OfCom here. Contrast that with Tiscali’s [...]
Ofcom has been singled out for failing to provide up-to-date information about the location of mobile phone masts.
The site, www.sitefinder.radio.gov.uk, is supposed to track all phone masts active in Britain.
However, Sir William Stewart – in a report on consumer information – has said it is ‘totally out of date, and failed to have [...]
The PSP is a debate for government, not Ofcom
The Public Voice coalition, in its response to Ofcom’s Phase 2 report on public service television, sets out a statement of principles to inform the continuing debate on the proposed ‘Public Service Publisher’.
The top line is that the decision on whether to create a new public service [...]
Ofcom urged to address funding issues comprehensively in Phase 3
The voluntary sector coalition, Public Voice, has urged Ofcom to bring together its proposals on the future funding of public service television in the Phase 3 report of the strategic review.
Public Voice is concerned that the Phase 2 report contains a number of apparently separate ideas [...]
Today’s Oxford event produced very interesting discussion, focussing on the ‘old news’ of the strategic review – itself a process driven by the failure of Oftel to produce local loop unbundling in 2000/1, and the NTL/C&W assessment of the likelihood of at least 3 years’ legal and economic argument before any prospect of a structural [...]
The Ofcom Consumer Panel today released issue one of ‘Ofcom Consumer Panel News’.
It’s actually a rather handy roundup of what’s going on in Ofcom that will be of direct and immediate interest to consumers and general news about events/seminars the panel has run.
The aim is to break topic areas into bite size portions in [...]
It’s a bit late for Oxford if you’ve not already planned to hear Cave and Bell (sages of UK telecom without any not-invented-here anti-Oftel bias) – but not for the eForum which has a high-level politico turn-out, unusual for election year, and an intriguing panel on ‘broader band’.
That brings us back to France, our model [...]
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