BBC response to Ofcom on digital dividend review (DDR)

The BBC responded to Ofcom on the DDR earlier this week. Click here (go to the bottom of the page) for a copy from the BBC's website -- as of today, Ofcom had not posted a copy on its website. Not including the associated Indepen report, the beeb's ...

Ofcom’s Broadband Migration Rules Put to the Test

Last month Ofcom implemented new broadband migration rules which require companies to provide customers with Macs within five days and free of charge. This system replaced one of self-regulation and was meant to provide customers with choice and protect them from firms going bust. Price wars have put consumers into the ...

Public Service Broadcasting Report

Ofcom has published its Public Service Broadcasting Report [pdf] which aims to provide an evidence base for monitoring the delivery of PSB. The designated PSB broadcasters are the BBC, ITV1, GMTV, Channel 4, Five, S4C and Teletext. The report's purpose is to enable both Ofcom and its stakeholders to gain a ...

Ofcom Launches Investigation into Premium Phone Rate Scandal after Mounting Pressure

The Telegraph this morning wrote that “Ofcom was under mounting pressure yesterday to take a tougher stance against broadcasters involved in the premium rate phoneline scandal.” Sure enough, Ofcom later today announced an inquiry into the use of premium rate telecoms services (PRS) in television programmes. The news release stated: Viewers and a ...

Spectrum and UK Budget 2007

I don’t know if anyone else’s ears pricked up when Gordo mentioned Spectrum in his budget statement. The context was related to the government raising money from asset sales. £36bn of asset sales less £18bn already announced gives £18bn of new asset sales in the next three years from 2008/9 onwards. ...

Ofcom’s PayTV Market Investigation - an analysis

The UK PayTV market has never been so competitive: we have the relaunched Virgin Media, the newly refinanced TopUpTV and Tiscali (aka Homechoice), the financial might of BT, Vodafone, Orange (France Telecom) and O2 (Telefonica) which have just launched or are about to launch IPTV services and of course 800lb ...

E-petition on HDTV and the Government’s Response

Ofcom’s consultation on the DDR closed yesterday and a final decision is expected by June of this year. We found another petition on the issue on the No. 10 website which has now closed and received a response from the government. The petition’s title: We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister ...

Net Neutrality Debate Hits the UK: So what?

We’ve been hearing about it in the U.S. press on a regular basis for about a year now and it definitely picked up pace before the elections there last November. Now the trend of debating the issue of Net Neutrality has hit the UK. But like most American imports, the ...

Mobile Wireless IP Skirmishes

Tired of reading about the BSkyB and Virgin Media skirmishes? Another battle is being played out in Europe over mobile wireless intellectual property. Nokia went to German and Dutch courts yesterday seeking to invalidate some Qualcomm patents. Qualcomm in response launched a counterattack against Nokia today and tomorrow the firm will ...

Oh What a Tangled Web: Ofcom, Sky and Virgin Media

I've just been reading with bemusement about the Sky, Virgin, Ofcom malarkey that was playing out earlier today - the likes of which I have never seen before and was reflecting on how Ofcom is basically playing the role of referee on the playground. I can’t think of another industry ...

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Mission - OfcomWatch is an informal group blog commenting on the processes and practices of the Office of Communications (Ofcom) and related media and communications regulation issues both in the United Kingdom and around the world...

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July 4th 2008
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Professor Steven Barnett: Ofcom needs renewal, cultural injection

Surprising comment today from Steven Barnett in the MediaGuardian. He says Ofcom needs a cultural renewal: 'Who should be the new chairman? Not an economist. We need someone with vision, respected by business, but also an effective cultural champion - someone who is capable of standing up for the public ...
July 3rd 2008
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Ofcom - Feed me better

I was in a conversation this afternoon about rss feeds and the Competition Commission (CC), and how they could be used, when I discovered that the CC have now added an ability to follow particular enquiries via rss, such as the Groceries market investigation. The feed is useful because it ...
July 2nd 2008
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BBC Dispute Ofcom research on Willingness to Pay

In its PSB Review Ofcom divides people into 3 categories when it comes to whether we are willing to pay more for television: '[A] majority who were willing to pay more for the same amount of public service broadcasting; a minority who were not willing to pay more but believed they ...
July 2nd 2008
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Church supports Ofcom’s PSB Review: Willingness to Pray for PSB

I thought it was interesting that the Church of England submitted a response to the Ofcom PSB Review. It makes sense if you think about it: (i) the Church has been in the interactive media business for thousands of years and (ii) the oldest licence fee in the ...
July 1st 2008
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Ofcom Public Service Broadcasting Review …

I finally got a hardbound copy of Ofcom's recent publication, The Price of Plurality. Reading through it -- and also having a chance to see BSkyB's consultation response -- made me think a bit about where Ofcom stands in all of this. Here are some random thoughts: * ...

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