Archive for October, 2007

Ofcom’s Ed Richards: EU telecoms maximum harmonisation = Max Harm

A little drama unfolding in the Europe-Ofcom relationship, courtesy of the FT:
‘Viviane Reding, the European commissioner respons­ible for telecoms, is due to publish her plan to reform the EU telecoms framework next month, but a draft proposal circulating in Brussels has already sparked divisions inside the Commission.
As well as the proposal for veto powers, the [...]

Complaint to Ofcom: Gordon Brown’s use of hypnosis on EU Reform Treaty

As many of our regular readers know, I’m a huge critic of Ofcom’s Broadcast Code and the resulting complaints. Let’s face it, most of the complaints just waste everyone’s time and foster a climate of nanny-state regulatory intervention.
But I never realised the Broadcast Code (rule 2.9) protects viewers from hypnosis. Regardez:
At least self-regulation [...]

U.K. telecoms: consumer sovereignty

Graham Smith: Convergence is no reason for Ofcom to regulate the internet

Bird & Bird partner Graham Smith has an interesting piece in the Times (here) on the AVMS Directive. He writes in part:
‘Broadcast content regulation is an anomalous relic of the old days of spectrum scarcity. If convergence is thought to demand platform neutrality in content regulation, it does not automatically follow that it should [...]

OfcomWatch Film Festival: Orange Friday

I know we’ve been fascinated with the BT Home Hub videos on YouTube… so in the interests of fairness here are some people sharing their experiences with Orange Broadband. Take your pick –
Action:
Comedy:
Drama:

BT: Gone with the Wind…

BT has just announced that it is investing in a wind farm, presumably misinterpreting calls for it to invest in infrastructure similar to what we have seen in the Netherlands. So instead of FTTH, we are getting greener. Oh well, at least BT did not do something really stupid like purchase the Lonely [...]

Ed Richards: The Ofcom Annual Lecture

‘Citizens and Consumer in a Converged World’ –
The full speech is here. These were my favourite nuggets:
DDR: ‘Let me be clear that Ofcom believes that HD offers an exciting improved experience for viewers.
We are far from indifferent to HD, but we remain firmly platform neutral and pro-competition in our approach.
We also remain open [...]

Bypassing Ofcom: better regulation through litigation?

The media and communications industries have this year seen their share of practices that have injured millions of consumers. Whether it’s the call-in TV quiz problems or the misleading ‘up to’ broadband speed claims, it’s safe to say that almost everyone has been touched by some sort of malfeasance in these sectors regulated by [...]

Up to 8 mb/s (marsupial bounces per second) internet speed…

Folks, here is a video of a kangaroo hopping around a racetrack demonstrating the superiority of FTTH to ADSL:

Ofcom and the Internet Policy World

This post marks my return to Ofcomwatch after 2 years in the ‘wilderness’ of consultancy (at RAND Europe). Its a lot prettier than I remembered….
An event that regularly passes many in industry by, but which is nonetheless of great international research importance, is the 35th Research Conference on Communication, Information and Internet Policy
Its better known [...]