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Issue: 40
IIC Policy World

What's in this month's issue?

• Upcoming events

• Event calendar

• Update from Asia Pacific

• Update from Europe

• InterMedia – Moral Fibre

• Latest updates from Regulatory Watch

• Q&A: Manuel Kohnstamm

• Your feedback

Hello ,

What is the right role for regulators in promoting all-fibre broadband networks?


In the latest issue of InterMedia, Catherine Middleton asks, should policy makers ‘do what is right’ and promote all fibre broadband networks, recognising that, as all network providers must find ways to monetise traffic, encouraging a proliferation of networks may not be an optimal approach.  However, unless incumbent operators are challenged by new entrants they may be slow to invest in network upgrades. 

At our recent meetings in Miami 18-20 May, we were proud to have the support of the Inter-American Development Bank who enabled participation of many of the Latin American regulators.  Their role is to support their 26 member countries by facilitating a business climate for fair competition, innovation and investment. The IADB joined a panel  to discuss demand stimulation, examining what applications and platforms are policy makers and industry collaborating on to effect digital transformation in the Latin American region.

See more about our Miami meetings.           
 

With best wishes, 
 

Andrea

Andrea Millwood Hargrave
Director General

Recent Events
 

Miami 2016

The Regional Regulators' Forum and the Telecommunications and Media Forum 18-20 May

Last week saw our annual IIC event in Miami. Held in conjunction with the Regional Regulators Forum, the Telecommunications and Media Forum attracted delegates from as far afield as Australia (the IIC’s incoming President presided over his first IIC events), South Africa and Europe as well as over 25 Latin American and Caribbean countries.

Discussing matters such as public and private sector initiatives and the ways in which industry and policy makers can and should collaborate on digital schemes, and the effects of national fiscal policy on the TMT sector, delegates were highly engaged with speakers on the panels and in the many opportunities for informal discussion.

Reports, transcripts and content from these events will be available in due course.

“Looking forward to your next invitation. It was really an enriching and diverse forum”. 
Javier Telejado Dondé, Vice President, Grupo Televisa, Mexico

“We recognize the leadership and excellent organization of all IIC staff, which is quickly making the TMF the most important venue for Americas’ regulatory industry. It was impressive to see all Latam operators and several authorities sharing this venue.” 
José Luis Ayala, Head of Government and Industry Relations for Latin America, Ericsson

Communications Policy and Regulation Week, Bangkok

This year the International Regulators Forum (IRF) and the 47th Annual Conference will be in Bangkok

International Regulators Forum, 10-11 October 2016, Bangkok 

Part of Communications Policy and Regulation Week 

Kindly hosted by NBTC – the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission of Thailand

IRF themes for 2016:

  • Regulatory and policy transformation
  • Digital economy
  • Digital content and services

The IIC’s 47th Annual Conference, 12-13 October 2016, Bangkok

Part of Communications Policy and Regulation Week

Conference themes for 2016:

  • The demands of convergence
  • Levelling the playing field
  • Cross sectoral regulation

Event Calendar

2 June 2016 Internet of Things: A Challenge for Regulators Singapore IIC Chapter event
21 June 2016 Tune-up on 5G Sydney IIC Chapter event
28 June 2016 A morning with Sharon White, CEO OFCOM Washington IIC Chapter event
10-11October 2016 International Regulators Forum Bangkok Global event - IIC

12-13 October 2016

47th Annual Conference Bangkok Global event - IIC
16-17 November 2016 Canadian Chapter Conference Ottawa IIC Chapter event
December 2016  Telecommunications and Media Forum  Washington DC 

Global event - IIC

 

News
 

Regulatory Watch

The IIC’s eye on the news. This bulletin is regularly updated with thumbnails of industry news. Follow the links for a round-up of latest industry stories.

TTIP's telecoms chapter could 'threaten public interest in telecoms'

Proposed joint EU-US rules for the telecoms industry pose a threat to net neutrality and to citizens’ rights in general, writes Monica Horten, an internet policy expert.

South Africa plans to expand broadband coverage

Reuters reports that South Africa aims to double its mobile broadband coverage to 80% of the population by 2019

OECD reports lower costs of international roaming

The OECD has published ‘Developments in international mobile roaming’, a report that describes progress on an OECD recommendation from 2012 on the subject.

Ex-EU Commissioner Kroes to advise Uber

Uber, the disruptive taxi-booking operator, has recruited a host of senior advisers including former European commissioner Neelie Kroes to help it navigate the myriad political and regulatory roadblocks it faces around the world, reports the Financial Times.

China’s fourth telecoms player

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information (MIIT) has granted a telecoms licence to China Broadcasting Network (CBN), creating a fourth player, but the move is unlikely to speed up broadcasting-telecoms network convergence in the country, reports Mobile World Live.

YouTube criticised for poor contribution to musicians

The British Phonographic Industry has published its Music Market 2016 yearbook, in which it contrasts the contribution from YouTube with that of streaming services such as Spotify and Deezer.

Q&A

Q&A with Manuel Kohnstamm, Senior Vice President and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Liberty Global

1. Liberty Global has just announced its acquisition of Cable and Wireless Communications Plc, creating what has been described as 'the leading TV, broadband and telecoms firm in Latin America and the Caribbean'.   The press release talks of the growth potential in the region. Which areas are seen to offer the most growth: consumer subscribers, business to business, or an amalgam of the two?
2. What are the immediate challenges facing this new venture in terms of policy-making in the region?
3. LGI operates in a number of European countries so is well used to differing national concerns, but is it LGI's experience that  there are great disparities between countries or are there more similarities than differences? How does LGI work across the different structures?
4. The importance of connectivity is, of course, so important. The Group has submarine networks as well as connecting and giving access to networks above water. Are there plans to increase the submarine capability?
5. Liberty Global has been a long-time member of the IIC and you were at the IIC TMF in Miami. What particular value did your experience at the IIC Telecommunications and Media Forum bring to your work and that of your colleagues?
6. Can you tell us a bit about your latest public policy report – on the Value of Content?

See Mr Kohnstamm's answers

 

Regional Update
 

The IIC has a number of directors in various regions of the world. These are dedicated TMT professionals who work with the IIC on a voluntary basis to share knowledge, facilitate relationships and create long-term bonds between regulatory authorities and the businesses they regulate.  Here we bring you news from these regions.

Sharon White, CEO OFCOM

Upcoming event in USA

Conversation with Sharon White, CEO OFCOM

28 June 2016, Hosted by Wilkinson Barker Knauer, Washington DC
In June the USA Chapter of the IIC in conjunction with Wilkinson Barker Knauer, will host a morning's conversation with Sharon White, CEO of OFCOM.  This will serve as the second time in the Chapter’s short history that it has been able to hear from the current OFCOM CEO. If you would like an invitation contact Keranne Omanga

 

Recent and upcoming events in Canada

Discoverability Summit, Toronto, 10-11 May 2016

Creating the spark to ignite new thinking, new ideas, and new approaches to audio-visual content discovery.


Hosted by the CRTC and the NFB
The Discoverability Summit was a unique and international event that enabled participants to discuss strategies, tools and approaches to improve the discoverability of content in this age of abundance. The event sparked new thinking, ideas and solutions for experts to ensure that viewers are able to find the content they want and that content can connect with audiences. The CRTC will be posting highlights and the full recorded live stream in the coming weeks

Canadian Chapter Conference, Ottawa, 16-17 November

More information available soon.

Asia Pacific

News from Singapore

Internet of Things: A Challenge for Regulators

2 June 2016, 3pm – 5pm, ICANN offices
Hosted by IIC Singapore, in cooperation with ICANN and TRPC.  To register please contact Michael Khoo

Reports from the Region

Visit the Asia Pacific region pages of the website to see up to date industry reports including the Asia IT Briefing and Cumulus the round-up of cloud updates in Asia Pacific.

Upcoming events and news from Australia

Tune-up on 5G: A Discussion

24 June, co-hosted by IIC Australia and ACMA

More details will be available shortly.  To register your interest contact Keranne Omanga

ACMA Spectrum Consultations

The Australian Communications and Media Authority is currently conducting a number of consultations for full details of these visit the ACMA website

Department of Communications releases ACMA Review Draft Report

The Department of Communications is seeking feedback on the draft report of the Review of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). The Review is designed to ensure the ACMA remains fit-for-purpose in the rapidly changing communications environment.

Australian budget: Funding for public broadcasters and licence fees for commercial TV and radio broadcasters

The Australian Government has announced it will maintain the current level of base funding for the ABC and SBS over the next three years and licence fees payable by commercial television and radio broadcasters will be permanently reduced by 25 per cent.

Europe

News update from Italy

Annual General Meeting: IIC Italy

26 April 2016, AGCOM
The AGM marked the major milestones in the twenty years of activity of the Chapter and set up the basis for future accomplishments in the communications sector.

News update from UK

Future connectivity amid shifting economic and consumer demand

24 May 2016, London, hosted by OFCOM

Hosted by Ofcom and chaired by Martin Cave, OBE, this lively and dynamic UK Chapter meeting looked at connectivity, and its importance, and how it might be achieved.
A panel including the IIC's new president, Chris Chapman, Ben Wrenscher of Vodafone and James Cemmell of Inmarsat discussed the importance of connectivity, whether speed is the panacea and considered both the technology required and the overall regulatory and competition framework.

Families and Self-Regulation

10 May 2016, London School of Economics
Earlier this month IIC Director General Andrea Millwood-Hargrave and  InterMedia contributor Professor Sonia Livingstone,  LSE, co-chaired a half day symposium which brought together researchers, policy-makers, industry and parenting organisations to discuss emerging research, including research from the LSE Project, Parenting for a Digital Future, directed by Professor Livingstone and Dr Alicia Blum-Ross. It also examined current policy developments relating to digital media use and technology management in families with children.


Among other key topics the symposium considered the absence of a UK policy-level body taking a stance on ‘screen time’ asking what the UK can learn from parallel policy processes in Europe and from industry

Intermedia

Moral Fibre

Moral Fibre

Should policymakers ‘do what is right’ and promote all-fibre broadband networks? Catherine Middleton weighs up the arguments.

Catherine Middleton is Research Chair in Communication Technologies in the Information Society at the Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, Canada

Full index of 2014-2015 InterMedia articles

InterMedia is a rich resource of articles, reports and interviews and the contents reflect the IIC’s on-going discussion themes.  To make life easier for you, we’ve created an index of all the articles published in 2014 and 2015. 

Feedback

We’d be interested to hear your views on any of these stories so email Keranne Omanga  with any comments and we’ll publish a selection of viewpoints.

Membership Options

We asked members what they find most valuable and useful about their membership of the IIC. This is how they ranked the benefits -

IIC membership allows us to…

1. Keep up to date with trends, issues and what the industry is focusing on
2. Gain unique insights and industry or policy information
3. Meet my counterparts and stakeholders from industry and regulatory bodies
4. Contribute to debates on the public policy agenda and share my organisation's viewpoint
5. Build a network and develop relationships particularly informally with regulators
6. Explore ideas in an independent environment
7. Focus on particular issues or technological developments at workshops
8. Schedule private meetings with contacts at global events
9. Meet lawyers and consultants who could be helpful to our business
10. Build lasting relationships around the world through the regular schedule of events

IIC Sponsorship

IIC Sponsorship is for organisations active in regulation or industry. These members work closely with the IIC, helping to shape the policy agenda, contributing to discussions from which the wider community benefits.

Full Membership

Full membership is for organisations active in the world of telecoms, media and technology and their regulation regardless of size. Members are drawn from regulators, telecoms operators, broadcasters, network providers, OTT players and smaller digital start-ups.

Associate Membership

Associate membership is for firms providing professional services and consultancy to the industry such as lawyers, consultants and analysts. The meetings give specialists in the TMT field the chance to keep up to date with new thinking and new players.

 

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