Dear We have just returned from our first event of 2019: our annual Telecoms, Media & Regulatory Forum, which took place in Kuala Lumpur last week. Regulators from around the world came together for the Regional Regulators’ Forum (RRF), and were then joined by industry and other stakeholders for the Telecommunications & Media Forum (TMF).
Click the links to see photos from both events and what was discussed during IIC Asia 2019. Our next event is our annual Telecommunications & Media Forum, which takes place in Brussels, Belgium, from 26-27 March. Sessions will cover topical areas including the impact of the implementation of the revised AVMSD on content producers and distributors; content regulation into the future; the possible reopening of the eCommerce
Directive, and the future of competition and sectoral regulation with a look to the EC Code as to what the priorities of the next Commission could be. To ensure that you do not miss any event news, update your mailing preferences. We recommend you take a look at this month’s open access article from the latest edition of InterMedia about how blockchain may impact telecoms policy. Dave Michels provides an excellent overview of this much-hyped technology and explains some of the potential real-world applications within the telecoms sphere. Read on for the link to the article. Members can browse all the latest InterMedia articles
here, as well those from previous issues. We look forward to welcoming you to one of our events soon. Best Wishes Andrea Millwood Hargrave
Director General
Brussels, Belgium
26-27 March 2019
Riga, Latvia
25-26 June 2019
Marking the 10th anniversary of the formation of BEREC and the ongoing celebrations of the IIC’s 50th anniversary, the two organisations are delighted to be arranging this joint event in the wonderful Splendid Palace in the cultural city of Riga. Key themes can be found here, and further details will be provided in due course.
InterMedia Volume 46, Issue 4
In February’s open access article from the latest edition of InterMedia, Dave Michels provides a guide to blockchain technology in the telecoms sphere. Potential uses range from supporting mobile payment systems, such as Safaricom’s M-Pesa service in Africa, to automated M2M micropayments, and much more. Dave also looks at regulating blockchain-based applications, as well as GDPR implications.
While the proposal to update the ePrivacy Directive in the form of a regulation is unlikely to be adopted before mid-2019, the current presidency is driving an ambitious calendar that could see the proposal being agreed by the Council within weeks of this event. An expert panel will debate the application and interpretation of this complex and fast-evolving legal framework. Register here.
Sydney, Australia
11 February 2019
Our Australian Chapter has provided a report on their sold-out event to unpack the findings of the ACCC’s preliminary Digital Platforms Inquiry report. The keynote speaker was Rod Sims, Chairman of the ACCC, and his speech was widely reported in national and international media. Other speakers came from industry, government and civil society, including Facebook, the ACMA and the Centre for Media Transition. You can read the full report here, and the full text of Rod Sims’ speech is available here.
Each month we highlight some of the key regulatory news stories from around the world. You can view them all here. The final report in the UK of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee’s 18-month investigation into disinformation and fake news has accused Facebook of purposefully obstructing its inquiry and failing to tackle attempts by Russia to manipulate elections. The report also calls for a compulsory code of ethics for tech companies overseen by an independent regulator. Read more. Francesco Liberatore, Partner at Squire Patton Boggs (UK) LLP and Chair of the IIC’s Brussels Chapter, has written a brief overview of the EU Electronic Communications Code, which you can read here.
The IIC’s Italian Chapter reports on their Annual General Meeting, which took place on 5 February 2019. Save the date: 17 July 2019 – IIC Italian Chapter Event, Rome. Further details will be provided in due course, but the event will include regulation in favour of the wholesale-only model, with particular attention to the possible impact on the Single Network debate in Italy, and on BEREC, and the relationship with the national authorities.
TRPC is a consulting firm run by Dr Peter Lovelock, an IIC Director and Chapter Head of IIC Singapore. Peter was one of the speakers at IIC Asia 2019, which took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, earlier this month. This report contains a digest of legislation, news stories and updates from 14 countries in the Asia Pacific Region.
IIC Director General, Andrea Millwood Hargrave, has written a briefing paper on Artificial Intelligence. Produced for workshops at IIC Asia 2019, the paper provides a summary of the issues facing regulators and governments as they seek to take advantage of the benefits that AI brings to society and economy. You can read the full briefing paper here. Further AI workshops are
planned for future IIC events.
Date for your diary
Telecoms, Media & Regulatory Forum
The annual Regional Regulators’ Forum will take place in Miami on 15 May, and is followed by the Telecommunications & Media Forum on 16-17 May 2019. Save the date! The IIC’s 50th Annual Conference will take place as part of Communications Policy & Regulation Week, from 7-10 October 2019 in London, UK. Check the website for updates or ensure you get event-related emails from us by setting your preferences here.
|