As widely trailed, UK regulator Ofcom has recommended to government that Channel 4 should be underwritten as a PSB broadcaster via a merger or partnership with either BBC World Wide, the commercial exploitation part of the BBC, or Five. It says Channel 4 should receive £130 million (E140m) a year from the BBC Licence Fee […]
In further leaks of Ofcom's forthcoming 'Digital Britain' report, The Sunday Times says the auction of further UHF spectrum freed by switchover could be ditched – instead companies will be given spectrum in return for commitments to invest in broadband access. Dropping the long-planned auction might sacrifice £5bn (E6.3bn) of public income in favour of […]
France's antitrust body is set to investigate exclusive content deals made by ISPs for their IPTV services – a move that could force Orange to open up its IPTV channel offering. The body will review whether deals between ISPs and content producers are anti-competitive, according to France's Ministry of Economy, Industry and Employment France has […]
Babelgum has called for the scrapping of the BBC/C4/ITV JV Kangaroo declaring any other option would breach Competition Commission rules. In its written response to the Commission's suggested remedies to keep the JV legal, Babelgum says only one of the proposed options – banning the project – is realistic. Last month Kangaroo made its compromise […]
The European Commission says one year after the entry into force of a new EU Directive meant to liberalise TV rules and remove outdated and bureaucratic restrictions on the provision of digital TV over the Internet, video on demand and mobile TV in Europe, EU Member States have made little progress in adapting national rules. […]
The first global standard offering an in-home, high-speed network capable of delivering room-to-room HDTV has been agreed by ITU. The standard, published under the G.hn banner, promises high quality multimedia over power, coaxial, phone and other home network wiring. It will give up to 20 times the throughput of existing wireless technologies and three times […]
The European Commission has taken a decisive step towards the promotion of competitive Mobile TV services in the EU. It has published a set of guidelines for the authorisation of Mobile TV to accelerate roll-out of the service across Europe. Mobile TV revenues worldwide are expected to reach more than E7.8 billion in 2013. “Successful […]
Deception and Distrust: The Federal Communications Commission Under Chairman Kevin Martin" is the unsubtle title of a new report from the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. The report concluded, among other things, that the outcome of an la carte cable report–reversing findings of a previous report–was predetermined and dictated by the […]
Ofcom has released details of its 2009-10 annual plan, with emphasis on delivering spectrum through the digital dividend and promoting competition in pay-TV. Ofcom expects to make a decision on proposals to force Sky to offer some of its premium channels wholesale in spring 2009. The current consultation as a result of Ofcom's pay-TV review, […]
From Colin Mann in London Stephen Carter, the UK's first Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting, considers that the digital sector, while vitally important to the economy, punches below its weight. Lord Carter is spearheading a report – Digital Britain – intended to be a comprehensive analysis of the digital economy, at its core an […]