UK telecoms regulation, Ofcom, General Conditions, numbering, spectrum, switching, enforcement
In a decision dated 21 January, but only released this week, the EU’s General Court in Luxembourg has dismissed Vtesse’s appeal against a decision of the European Commission that rates (a UK land use tax) levied on BT’s UK fibre network did not constitute state aid. Vtesse originally complained to the Commission in 2004, but…
Ofcom today published proposals for consultation to: make 900, 1800 and 2100 MHz public wireless network licences tradable; and vary the terms of existing 2100 MHz Third Generation Mobile Wireless Telegraphy Act Licences. The proposals follow on from the UK Government’s Directions to Ofcom, discussed previously on this blog. Both proposals are subject to consultation, with responses due…
Jeremy Hunt, the UK’s Culture Secretary (who also has responsibility for telecoms) today asked Ofcom to review sections of the Digital Economy Act to assess whether it considers that the reserve powers enabling the courts to block access to copyright infringing web-sites could work in practice. This is apparently in response to comments posted on the new…
Any twitter followers (to follow go to: @rbratby) may have seen my live tweet commentary from the AnalysysMason city briefing last night. I thought the four speakers were well-informed and authoritative, and their presentations thought-provoking. The first presentation summarised the results of some cost modelling they had undertaken relating to mobile networks, by reference to a number…
Ten days ago Ofcom published a lengthy consultation on charge control for Wholesale Broadband Access, accompanied by a report from the Brattle Group on BT’s equity beta. Wholesale broadband access is the ‘current generation’ (i.e. primarily DSL) wholesale broadband access products sold by BT to its retail competitors. Ofcom’s most recent review of this market geographically segmented the…
On 16 February we will be hosting an event for the UK Chapter of the International Institute of Communications. The event’s title is ‘Funding content, funding networks: what matters?’ and will be addressing the perceived disconnect between content creators and the telecoms sector and the consequential impact of network and content investment. The discussion will…
My eye was caught today by a story on TechCrunch (an excellent blog BTW) that Apple may incorporate near field communications technology (NFC) into its next generation of devices, thereby enabling ‘real’ payments on the move. For those confused as to the difference between mobile payment for real and virtual goods the easiest way to think about it is to think…
I am awaiting with interest the response of the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and Ofgem to their consultation on implementing smart metering in the UK. In a joint open letter sent on 9 December they promised a detailed response early in 2011. (I should explain to regular readers my interest in smart meters…
For those who are not familiar with the term, cognitive radio (also sometimes described as white-space radio) describes a way of using radio spectrum in which unlicensed devices do not use particular assigned frequencies but rather constantly assess the available spectrum, determine which parts of it are currently unused and make use of that spectrum to transmit…
In a week of Westminster resignations, with Andy Coulson accused of condoning mobile voicemail hacking and Ed Balls taking over as Chancellor you may be forgiven for having missed a couple of lower-key announcements. With Vince Cable professionally embarrassed from ruling on whether News can take a 100 per cent ownership interest in BSkyB, we…
Regular blog readers will know that I hosted a mobile data event for Cambridge Wireless yesterday. I found the event thought-provoking. For those on twitter, I attempted do a near-live tweet commentary of other speakers which you can find at @rbratby between 2 and 4 pm 20 Jan. For those who want even more, I attach details of…
My eye was caught last night by a story in the Financial Times this morning reporting analyst speculation that in the wake of the approvals of the US Federal Communications Commission and Department of Justice for the purchase of 51% of NBC Universal by Comcast, which in turn enabled Vivendi to complete its exit from NBC Universal, that Vivendi would make an offer…