A Platinum Circle megavalue reader points me to the latest edition of the EC Competition Policy newsletter (see pages 8 – 15), which contains an examination of what sort of public network funding scenarios might constitute state aid. My reading is that this seems to broadly support the open infrastructure model being pursued in the [...]
In the second interview in OfcomWatch’s Interview Series, Paul Tavener spoke to Tim Suter and Matt Peacock over a variety of broadcasting standards issues. Further interviews on a selection of other topics will be posted in the coming months on the Ofcomwatch Interviews page.
This interview was carried out on behalf of both Ofcomwatch and Ofwatch [...]
This comes my way via the activist sphere. Sounds like an interesting event, and potentially one capable of influencing OFCOM thinking, if the right people turn up. Best of all, it’s free. Many of the best things are.
~ James Enck
In advance of May 5th, broadband consultancy Point Topic has combined a mass of data and new market models to show for the first time how many business and residential broadband users there are in each constituency in England and Wales.
The constituency results show a big range between the peaks and the valleys of “Broadband [...]
Whilst being of the opinion that Ofcom is a light touch evidence based regulator and will, eventually, act in the interests of citizens and consumers, one thing they definitely are not is quick. In the fast paced and rapidly evolving world of media communications, with ever increasing internet speeds, Ofcom are regulating at a snails [...]
Probably the greatest novelty in the last decade of communications regulation has been the shift from regulation to competition. Competition law concepts (i.e., dominance) and methodologies (i.e., market definition) are increasingly used ex-ante for regulatory purposes. The European Framework for Electronic Communications (and the 2003 Communications Act implementing the Directives) are paradigmatic in this respect.
This [...]
France was one of the last big European countries to launch DTT services (after the UK, Germany, and Italy) but it could very well soon take over its neighbours. In only 3 weeks since its launch in March 31st, about 300,000 DTT decoders have been sold. Coverage is not nationwide but it will be by [...]
Sarah Turnbull has left SJ Berwin to become legal director in the competition and markets group at Ofcom.
Turnbull, who worked in the competition team at the top 20 City firm and starts in her new role in July, will report to Ofcom head of legal Polly Weitzman.
Following-up my post of a few days ago, it was announced yesterday that Helen Coonan, Australia’s communications minisiter, will be visiting the UK with an eye to learning about Ofcom’s experiences with BT. She will be accompanied by Telstra chairman Donald McGauchie.
Coonan said:
“In the UK there have been some constructive developments in terms of [...]
Ofcom has awarded the first of the five-year community radio licenses advertised last year.
There has been much talk about pirate stations getting a look in, allowing excited editors to claim that Ofcom is giving a legitimate front to criminals and drug dealers. However, the licenses awarded yesterday don’t reflect these concerns.
Ofcom awarded community radio licences [...]
The papers from the conference 13-14 April are now available online – very heavyweight as this is the biennial telco regulator get-together.
Given the previous post, it’s notable that – though the majority of regulators kept to the ‘business as usual’ agenda – a good proportion, if a minority, were very animated about new business models, [...]
It’s always painful to see the dismay and utter disbelief which greets the passing of an institution or an industry, especially in the reactions of those caught up in it. We are witnessing this in the case of Rover now in the UK, and the very idea that an institution like GM (or Ford, for [...]
Our friend, Christian Ahlert, just alerted us to the fact that Creative Commons-UK now has its own website and that CC-UK licenses are now available in usable form (I recall the earlier version was a draft).
Check it all out here.
Media and communications policy watchers in Oz must be buzzing with excitement: As we’ve reported before, similar to Ofcom, Australia is creating a new media and communications regulator that will commence operations on July 1, 2005. The new regulator will be called ACMA – the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
But Adele Ferguson of [...]
First an uncontroversial PSB review – now they’re charging broadcasters less for regulation. I snatched this from Broadcast:
“Ofcom has slashed its annual fees to broadcasters by up to 29% after coming in under budget last year. The regulator said its 2005/6 budget would be around �133m – 5% lower than the �140m it was allocated [...]
Tony Stoller, Ofcom’s Director of External Relations, is set to take up the role of Consultation Champion at Ofcom.
He takes over the role from Philip Rutnam, Partner, Competition and Strategic Resources.
Lord Currie is giving the keynote at the IIC Conference – Thousands to Millions � The New Diversity in Broadcasting and Telecommunications – Monday 10th October 2005 � Tuesday 11th October 2005.
A very interesting line up – both of speakers and topics. Good to see Professor James Curran on the bill. I used to [...]
The EU Commission announced yesterday that it has launched legal proceedings against ten EU member states (Germany, Italy, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Finland) for infringement of the EU rules for electronic communications. The Commission claims there are defects in the national laws of these member states and incorrect implementation of [...]
A good response to our question about whether the European Commission’s plans to promote broadband over power lines was bonkers.
PLT/PLC/BPL/DPL – it doesn’t matter what you call it said one of our readers it has significant technical problems. He suggested the following link as a good place to get an understanding of the likely issues [...]
James Enck, on his fantastic EuroTelcoBlog notes this morning:
“Skype should pass 100m downloads today.”
An important milestone indeed.
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