UK first European country to permit use of white space spectrum
On 1 September 2011, Ofcom published a statement outlining its intention to permit the use of white space spectrum in some of the the bands …
Rob Bratby
UK consults on changes to telecoms appeals framework
On 19 August, the UK government (through the Department of Culture, Media and Sport or DCMS) started a consultation on proposed changes to the legislative …
Patent power (part 2) – Google buys Motorola Mobility
Today’s big news is Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility. What is fascinating is the logic for the deal. This is not a deal driven by …
CAT considers dispute resolution whilst Ofcom publishes annual communications market review
Regular readers will have noticed that this blog has been rather quiet of late. Normal service will be resumed in September – for now my …
Ofcom publishes statutory backing for new PhonepayPlus rules
The watcher has been a bit quiet recently – caused by a combination of a business trip to Singapore and a holiday. Despite the holiday period there …
Commission attacks roaming charges with structural market intervention as well as price caps
The European Commission yesterday announced measures which directly intervene in the roaming market. These measures are in addition to the expected continuation of price caps on voice …
Ofcom introduce spectrum leasing
Last week Ofcom published its conclusions from its earlier consultation on simplifying spectrum trading by introducing spectrum leasing. The concept is best explained through a couple …
‘White-spaces’ wi-fi trial in TV spectrum
A consortium including Microsoft, BBC, BT and BSkyB today announced a trial of the use of white-space spectrum for wireless broadband. The trial, mirroring a US …
UK 2G and 3G licences to become tradable from 4 July
Ofcom yesterday finalised proposals to enable trading of 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2.1 GHz spectrum licences (currently held by mobile network operators and used …
UK mobile operators create m-commerce joint venture
Last week, three of the UK’s four mobile network operators announced a mobile marketing and payments joint venture. The venture is subject to regulatory approval, …