I was just reading the Sunday Telegraph and came across a full-page advert that Ofcom also hosts on its own website: It’s Your Call. I checked — the only other full-page advert in the Telegraph was a Hyundai ‘make waves’ advert. Ofcom really splashed out some cash on this! I suppose [...]
Some of you may have noticed Ofcom’s recent press release in which it announced the availability of the TopComm website. Ofcom say the website is ‘designed to provide consumers with a comparison of quality of service levels among fixed-line telecoms providers in the UK.’
So, after a sweaty round of beach volleyball, I suited-up and checked [...]
I spent six years (2000-2005) as the first, part-time, independent Chair of the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), so I continue to follow its good work with great interest.
When the IWF was first created in 1996, 18% of the child abuse images that were identified were found to be hosted in the UK. Last year, [...]
Ofcom CEO Stephen Carter’s announcement that he will leave the regulator at the end of this month was accompanied by some interesting press. Today’s FT, for example, states:
As head of the converged regulator that oversees television, radio, telecoms and wireless communications, Mr Carter looks to be one of the most employable people in media [...]
The Ofcom Consumer Panel – on which I sit as the member for England – has a vacancy which it is currently advertising. Applications are invited by 18 August 2006. You can find full details here.
Beneath the media hype about free broadband in the UK lies a sordid underbelly of broken promises and frustrated customers. In the latest example, one of my colleagues has suffered from a complete lack of connectivity on TalkTalk broadband for the past 36 hours (the line is working fine for voice), and can’t make contact [...]
All readers of OfcomWatch will be familiar with the UK programme for digital switchover, starting in 2008 and finishing in 2012 (except for the Channel Islands which will be in 2013). Now this is a massive and immensely complicated project involving every household in the country – but does it have to take four years?
Originally [...]
Miklos Haraszti, OSCE Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, delivered a public lecture today in Oxford concerning Freedom of Expression on the Internet.
Haraszti spoke at length about how most forms of government control over the internet suffer from problems of under or over-inclusiveness, and how they generally fail European principles related to Freedom of Expression.
So, I [...]
Two events at Ofcom recently have helped update us on the Digital Dividend Review — that is, the question of how to award the valuable UHF frequencies that become available through switching off analogue TV broadcasts. The consultancy Analysys, which is carrying out the review, briefed stakeholders; and Ofcom held a round table event with [...]
In this year’s MediaGuardian100, the only Ofcom entry is Ed Richards at number 77.
On the one hand, the paper states: “If it seems strange that Ofcom is not represented higher in the list, it is only because the identity of the regulator’s next leader is not known. Carter will only be around until October and [...]
Wow, I come back from holiday and read about these inflation-busting salaries at the BBC (article here).
I’m not saying Mark Thompson is not worth 609,000 GBP per year (who knows?). I just don’t want to pay for it! These people want to compare themselves to the commercial services when it comes to pay, [...]
This week, AOL UK held its summer reception in the House of Commons and the theme was online social networking and the risks to children.
It is estimated that 61% of those aged between 13-17 in the UK have profiles on social networking sites. Worldwide bebo now has a staggering 25M members. Several people to [...]
Ofcom yesterday issued this consultation document, intended to steer the future of Business Radio in a more deregulatory (and administratively efficient) direction. Responses are due by Sept 15th.
What is Business Radio? Basically the term covers most private uses of radio spectrum in the ordinary course of business for taxis and similar entities such [...]
As the consultation on the TV advertising of food and drink products to children closes, Ofcom finds itself in an odd position, its email inbox stuffed with campaign-generated messages from ‘concerned parent, Cambridgeshire’, and hundreds like her, together with submissions from national charities, professional bodies and medical professionals supporting tough restrictions on such advertising. How [...]
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