International Institute of Communications (IIC)

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Dear

Last month we travelled to Latvia, for our joint conference with the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC), in Riga’s aptly-named Splendid Palace. We thank BEREC for inviting us to partner with them to bring the event to fruition. You can download some of the presentations and view photo galleries from the event, as well as hearing from our President, Chris Chapman. Chris describes the event as being “a wonderful pre-show” to the IIC’s Communications Policy & Regulation Week which takes place in October.

On that note, we are pleased to remind you that registration is open for the Week, which culminates in our 50th Annual Conference: Trends and tipping points in converged communications at a time of exponential change. This follows the International Regulators’ Forum, Redesigning regulation for the global communications ecosystem, and Small Nations Regulators’ Forum, The cost of regulation in a small nation. Alongside will be numerous networking opportunities for all participants.

We are so excited to be back in London, the birthplace of the IIC some 50 years ago - a fitting tribute to the longevity and continuing relevance of the IIC! We’re not just looking to the past, of course, as we always have one eye to the future - and particularly to rising stars in the policy world. The IIC’s Future Leaders’ Competition 2019 remains open to entries until 26 July, and we encourage you to publicise it within your organisation and to your relevant contacts.

This month’s open access article from Intermedia is Blair Levin’s ‘Bandwidth in Abundance’. He writes that policy makers have reached a stage in broadband development where they should be thinking of deploying bandwidth in abundance as part of next-generation national broadband plans. Infrastructure and spectrum are both key themes of the IIC, and both will be discussed during CPRWeek 2019.

As always, our newsletter contains a roundup of the latest Chapter news, industry updates and highlights from around the regulatory world. If you have a colleague whom you think would benefit from connecting with us, we appreciate you passing this on, and we look forward to welcoming you to one of our events soon.

Best wishes

Andrea Millwood Hargrave
Director General

Communications Policy & Regulation Week 2019

London, UK
7-10 October 2019

Registration is open for Communications Policy & Regulation Week 2019 and Early Bird rates apply to registrations made before 7 September 2019.

The International Regulators’ Forum (kindly hosted by Ofcom) brings together the most senior regulators from across the globe for a closed meeting which takes place on 7-8 October at Skinners’ Hall.

The annual in-person meeting of the Small Nations Regulators’ Forum takes place on 8 October. The SNRF is free to join and is solely for regulators from small nations. This year’s meeting is also kindly hosted by Ofcom at Skinners’ Hall.

The final two days of the Week are devoted to our 50th Annual Conference where stakeholders from across the TMT sector join regulators to continue the discussions around governance, content futures, competition policy, spectrum and privacy, safety and security.

IIC 2019 Competition for Future Leaders

Closing date for submissions
26 July 2019

Open to anyone aged 35 or under, and working in the TMT sector or related academia, the 2019 Future Leaders’ Competition is open for submissions.

Now in its second year, the competition aims to showcase the talents of upcoming professionals, and the winner will receive paid travel and accommodation so they can present their entry at our 50th Annual Conference, in London in October.

This year, entrants are being asked to produce a report on the subject of Global Realities, National Choices: communications policy making in a cross-sectoral, cross-jurisdictional world.

You can learn more here, and download a poster to display in your workplace here.

Please do pass on the details to any colleagues who might be interested in entering, to help us encourage and promote original thought in the areas of communications and policy.

The competition closes on 26 July 2019.

Bandwidth in Abundance

Intermedia Issue 47, Volume 2

Blair Levin, former chief-of-staff at the FCC and former executive director of the 2010 US National Broadband Plan, discusses the challenges and benefits of affordable, abundant broadband provision. He acknowledges that there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution, but provides several policy principles which, he says, fit every situation and would deliver such provision if adopted. You can read the article in full here.

Each month we open up one Intermedia article for open access. IIC members have free access to all current and past online editions.

Competing Continents: the pursuit of excellence in electronic communications

Riga, Latvia
25-26 June 2019

Over 400 people registered for the two days of this successful joint event with BEREC in Riga, Latvia. The packed programme covered a range of topics, including sharing experiences of working on the development and roll out of 5G, the development of Artificial Intelligence, blockchain and emerging technologies, platform regulation and how to encourage investment to allow technological innovation while ensuring societal and economic benefits are felt by all.

You can learn more about what went on here. IIC members will have access to the report in due course.

IIC Italy Chapter

Rome, Italy
19 July 2019

The first of the three IIC Europe Chapter events, which will focus on the review of the European Electronic Communications Code, will take place in Rome on 18 July 2019. The Europe Chapter is an initiative of the three IIC Chapters based in Europe (Brussels, Italy and the UK).

The following day, the IIC Italy Chapter will hold an event on Infrastructure, Access and Information in the Digital Society in association with AGCOM, the Italian Communications Authority. The event is free to attend and you can find more information and details of how to register here. The day will conclude with the Antonio Preto Prize ceremony, where winners will be announced and prizes will be awarded in front of the President of the Preto Prize jury.

IIC Australia Chapter

Sydney, Australia
21 August 2019

On 21 August the IIC Australia Chapter will be holding an event entitled Australia’s Creative Economy: Harnessing telecommunications, media and technology to make our own luck. As governments around the world are recognising the strategic importance of the creative industries, harnessing the creative industries and creative skills is critical to positioning Australia to benefit fully from new technologies and sources of growth as the trend to automation continues.

Shadow Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland MP, will discuss the role of policy, law reform and investment in the Information, Media and Telecommunications industries to promote the Creative Economy in Australia. Learn more and see how to register here.

IIC Canada Chapter

Annual Meeting of Members Report

The Canadian Chapter (IIC Canada) held its Annual Meeting of Members (AMM) on 14 May, 2019. Grant Buchanan, Counsel with McCarthy Tétrault LLP, was elected as President of IIC Canada, replacing Hank Intven, who had served in that position for the past five years. You can read the details of other changes to the Canada Chapter Board and other Chapter positions here.

IIC Canada’s next Annual Conference will be held in Ottawa on 20-21 April, 2020.

Job Vacancy

Regulator, Falkland Islands Government

The Falkland Islands Government is seeking to recruit an individual to lead the regulation of communications services in the Falkland Islands. They are looking for a senior individual with the ability to apply regulatory principles in a monopoly environment, while tailoring their approach for the unique characteristics of this role.

Further details of the role can be found here. The closing date for applications is 31 July, 2019, at 23:00 UK time.

Regulatory Watch

Each month we highlight some of the key regulatory news stories from around the world. You can view them all here.

A 19 month project with over 190 expert missions to Georgia comprising Lithuanian, German and Polish experts has helped define secondary legislation and guidelines on communications in line with EU standards for the country. As the Georgian National Communications Commission notes, this EU-funded “twinning project” has supported the regulator in developing its electronic communications regulatory framework and operational capacities in line with the EU regulatory framework. Read more.

IIC 50 Whats

To mark 50 years at the fulcrum of technological advancement and regulation, we’ve captured the most significant events of these decades in a timeline. Learn more.

If you’re interested in the history of the IIC, you can see our Hall of Fame: the people who have led the IIC from its inception.

If you’d like to find out what satellites have to do with the earliest days of the IIC, read on!