Ofcom today probably enjoyed hearing Viviane Reding’s endorsement of the regulator’s functional separation of British Telecom. Most of the news in the UK about broadband also seems good. LLU numbers are up, etc. Indeed, most of the press and TV coverage of Ofcom’s recent Communications Market Report was a PR dream: [...]
For your diaries and to-do lists:
– Take part in this RAND survey on internet self-regulation. You do not need to complete all the questions, but RAND would appreciate your specific responses to Question 5.
– 28-30 November 2007 – ECTA – The European Competitive Telecoms Assn will hold its 8th Annual Regulatory Conference in Brussels [...]
Following my recent reaction to some Ofcom data on television viewers, I decided to explore the issue of broadcast complaints a little further. If you have any ideas or thoughts on this — get in touch.
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By the way, Page 68 of the Ofcom Annual Report 2006/07 details broadcast complaints in a statistical manner.
Pop quiz: Which has more pages: (A) the Communications Market Report or (B) Somerset Maugham, Of Human Bondage?
If you answered (B) — treat yourself to a Frappuccino at some point this bank holiday weekend!
Ofcom’s tome is a mere 337 pages. Of Human Bondage is 611 — at least the version on my [...]
OfcomWatch friend Michael Starks has just completed a book on the digital switchover process.Â
Switching to Digital Television is an authoritative study of the policy of digital switchover. It is based primarily on UK experience but includes comparative studies spanning the United States, Japan and the leading countries of western Europe.
‘Michael Starks brilliantly describes the complex [...]
Oddly, there are several recent videos of people destroying their BT Home Hubs on YouTube:
Who says the lower classes don’t enjoy using ICTs?
Here’s another, where the whole family gets involved…
People filming themselves whilst they destroy a telecoms product they are unhappy with is a very cool form of convergence…
Luke and I are big fans of ViB events, particularly this annual event in Brussels. I went to the 2005 event (and learned quite a bit) and will probably attend this one as well. So click below, register for the event and we’ll see you there:
Speakers include:
Viviane Reding;
Clive Gordon of Ofcom; and
… representatives [...]
Howdy folks, I just returned from my August holiday. So what’s up?
– When I was in the U.S. — where it was so hot you could fry an egg on the sidewalk — I finally got to try out a Verizon FIOS (fibre) connection. McLovin! It was great. My friend has [...]
OfcomWatch received this comment from Stuart Minchin on the Plymouth radio issue we’ve blogged about:
“Yes, from a parochially British point of view this could be a tad disturbing. From a parochially British point of view.
Introductions – I’ve spent nearly 23 years closely working in and researching the Australian radio industry, I’m a third generation Australian [...]
The Register reports today, in part:
A wide-ranging policy review set to be published this Friday will make the recommendations, which were backed today by shadow chancellor George Osborne in an interview with the Financial Times.
The Tories reckon they can slash £14bn in red tape. Also for the chop would be the UK’s adherence to the [...]
Nick Wingfield reports in today’s Wall Street Journal that Microsoft will launch its new video game Halo 3 on September 25th. While much of Wingfield’s article explores the advertising and marketing related issues with the game’s launch, I thought there were also some interesting nuggets for media policy types:
– Gamers have pre-ordered over one [...]
The Telegraph reports in part:
Michael Grade’s showbiz-style January arrival injected the feel-good factor back into ITV Plc, but the chairman’s half-term report today will screen a decidedly mixed picture.
Investors will reflect on how far Britain’s biggest commercial broadcaster has progressed, or otherwise, since he was poached from the BBC.
After an initial rally on hopes of [...]
I’m in the USA on holiday and I thought it would be interesting to see if US broadband providers also advertise inflated download speed claims. So, I purchased the Sunday paper and scanned it for broadband adverts. But things did not go as planned …
OfcomWatch web designer Scott Lunt (he also wrote some great pieces for OW on user-generated content and public service broadcasting) recently visited me while I was on holiday in Burgundy. It was his iphone I raved about when I returned.
Well, Scott took it a step further and created this video when he was in [...]
They write:
Yet when we asked Ofcom to explain why so few people received top speeds for this month’s Great Broadband Con feature (in the magazine on sale now) it effectively shrugged its shoulders.
“Is there an issue as to the kind of speeds you typically have access to? That’s a good question, that’s one for [...]
Back in June 2007, OfcomWatch reported:
‘So what should Ofcom do about this [inflated broadband speed claims]? Is this a rip-off comparable to the phone-quiz scandal — something Ofcom need to get out in front of before they are eventually savaged by the press for failing to protect consumers? I personally think so.’
Well, today [...]
A while back OfcomWatch covered Ofcom action with respect to 070 callback scams. You know, where someone rings your mobile number and hangs up before you answer. When you call the number back, you get a nasty surprise — a high charge for the call.
Our earlier post surprisingly still draws comments from scammed [...]
Folks, we are back in action after a few weeks of rest and relaxation. So what’s up?
* I tried an iphone. Amazing. It is so dreamy cool. What a product! Ofcom should really take a hard look at this device because it truly represents convergence — some obvious, some [...]
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