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January 2015 Issue: 26
IIC Policy World

What's in this month's issue?

Upcoming events

Event calendar

Latest news from Regulatory Watch

Discussions from IIC Chapters around the world

InterMedia: Richard Feasey explores the options for Europe

Q&A with Rebecca Arbogast

A word from a supporter

Your feedback

Hello 

Has Europe, a region which once regarded itself as a global leader, been overtaken by the rest of the world, particularly in wireless and internet services?  Jean-Claude Juncker, appointed President of the European Commission in November 2014, has made the creation of a strong digital economy in Europe a priority and has appointed two heavyweight Commissioners to oversee the task. 

Writing in the latest issue of InterMedia, Richard Feasey, a consultant and commentator, examines Europe’s position in the world of wireless and internet and anticipates further disruption for operators, unwelcome consequences for employment in the industry, and a fundamental rethink of universal service policies which have remained largely unchallenged since the 1980s.   The full article is available to read on our website.

The future of Europe’s digital agenda will form the backbone for discussion at the IIC’s next Telecommunications and Media Forum in Brussels in March where we will look at the issues in a global context.  We hope to see many members and non-members there for a rich debate.

Andrea

Andrea Millwood Hargrave
Director General

Upcoming Events
 

Telecommunications and Media Forum, Brussels, 17-18 March 2015

Priorities, harmonization and vision for the digital agenda for Europe

The first TMF of the year will open with an update from senior leadership of the European Commission and European Parliament on priorities, harmonisation and their vision for the digital agenda in Europe.

Key topics for discussion

• How will Europe reach its broadband targets?
• Is OTT regulation over the top?  
• Cloud, M2M and the data economy, what implications for policy and regulation?

Programme details and confirmed speakers are constantly being updated so see the TMF Brussels website for latest additions.

Event Calendar

29 January The rapid rise of external unregulated content services in Asia Hong Kong Chapter Event
10 February Internet Governance: what the year ahead holds Singapore Chapter Event
17-18 March Telecommunications & Media Forum Brussels Global event - IIC
26 May Regional International Regulators Forum Miami Global event - IIC
27-28 May Telecommunications & Media Forum Miami Global event – IIC
5-6 October International Regulators Forum (FCC) Washington DC Global event – IIC
7-8 October Annual Conference Washington DC IGlobal event – IIC

 

In the current issue of InterMedia…

ADAPT OR DIE

As the new European Commission starts its work, Richard Feasey charts what’s at stake and outlines approaches to improving Europe’s digital future. Richard is an independent consultant and an associate at Frontier Economics. He has worked for a variety of global telecoms operators for 25 years.  Read the full article.

 

Full index of 2014 Articles

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

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.

Building up to FCC net neutrality decision

Tensions are building in the run up to the FCC’s decision on net neutrality, which it will decide on 26 February, and for which it has received four million comments. 

Günther Oettinger calls for increased investment in Europe’s digital infrastructure

Europe’s Digital Commissioner, Günther Oettinger, has called for increased investment in Europe’s digital infrastructure, explaining that the economy alone will not be able to close the significant investment gap, as EurActiv Germany reports. 

5G views sought by Ofcom

Ofcom, the UK regulator, is calling on industry to help lay the foundations for 5G communications. “This spectrum, which is above 6 GHz, could support a variety of uses, ranging from financial trading and entertainment to gaming and holographic projections…” Ofcom is seeking views on the use of spectrum above 6 GHz. 

Threats to internet infrastructure detailed

ENISA, the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security, has published a report, ‘Threat landscape and good practice guide for internet infrastructure’. The report details the assets composing internet infrastructure and classifies the threats applicable, highlighting “important specific threats” that disrupt connectivity. 

Caribbean regulation paper: defining market boundaries

The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) has issued a draft paper, ‘Advancing telecommunications policy and regulation in the OECS’. It says: “Telecoms regulation in the Caribbean is at a crossroads. The advent of larger, more dominant players with converged services, alongside evolving priorities of regulators and governments, forces a reassessment of market boundaries. 

Germany’s spectrum auction plans

German telecoms regulator, the Federal Network Agency (FNA, also known as Bundesnetzagentur or BNetzA) intends to auction off spectrum in the 700 MHz, 900 MHz, 1500 MHz and 180 MHz bands for mobile broadband in the second quarter of 2015, TeleGeography reports. 

UK fast broadband competition

Ofcom, the UK regulator, is taking new measures to promote competition and investment in the growing market for superfast broadband. Under a draft decision notified to the European Commission, a new pricing rule would mean that BT, which runs much of the UK’s infrastructure, must maintain a sufficient margin between its wholesale and retail superfast broadband charges to allow other providers profitably to match its prices. 

FTC chair, Edith Ramirez warns on internet of things

In a speech at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Edith Ramirez, chair of the US Federal Trade Commission, warned of the challenges of protecting privacy in the emerging era of the internet of things. She said: “I believe there are three key steps that companies should take to enhance consumer privacy and security… 

These and many other stories can be found at Regulatory Watch

Q&A

Rebecca Arbogast serves as Senior Vice President for Global Public Policy for Comcast Corporation. In this role, she is responsible for the development and coordination of the company’s public policy efforts across the corporation.

Rebecca was part of the discussion panel at December’s Telecommunications and Media Forum in Washington DC discussing the implication of the US Communications Act re-write

Questions for Rebecca

1. Please briefly describe how you came to be in your present post at NBC Universal Comcast. You moved from Wall Street in a much-publicised move, what made this transition so interesting to you?

2. You spoke in the keynote policy and regulation session at the IIC meeting in DC in US December, discussing implications for a Communications Act re-write in the US. As someone in a primarily content-based industry, what are the greatest challenges for you, especially in terms of policy making?

3. Your organisation works globally as well as nationally, do you see more coherent or greater fragmentation of policy decisions globally? 

4. What do you see as your main challenges in the near term - 2015-2017?  Staying ahead of the velocity and range!

5. If you had to pick a trend or a technology that would most disrupt the media, entertainment and technology industries in the medium term, what would it be?

6. Your panel at the IIC included technologists, lobby groups, and telecoms companies and was very 'lively'- did you see value in that diversity of participants, what was it?, and how would you describe your experience at the Telecommunications and Media Forum in DC?

See Rebecca’s answers

Chapter Update
 

The IIC has ten chapters and each is made up of dedicated professionals who work in a not for profit capacity to share knowledge, facilitate relationships and create long-term bonds between regulatory authorities and the businesses they regulate.

Australia Chapter

Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill 2014

On 3 December 2014 the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Communications, Paul Fletcher, introduced the Enhancing Online Safety Bill 2014 For Children into the Australian Parliament.  The bill contains a number of elements including the creation of a new statutory office, the appointment of a Children’s e-Safety Commissioner, and it also provides for the Commissioner to administer a complaints scheme in relation to harmful cyber-bullying material targeted at an Australian child.

Children’s digital rights is a theme explored in the latest issue of InterMedia in an article by Sonia Livingstone of the London School of Economics and the article is available to read here

More about the bill can be accessed here

Hong Kong Chapter

To level up or level down that is the question…

29 January, Mayer Brown, 4.30pm

A recent survey shows that over two hundred thousand homes in Singapore consume content from external sources such as Netflix that are free from the content controls, annual licensing fees, tax and other regulations that attach to in-country content players. Meanwhile, resellers of the government-built fibre broadband network in Singapore aggressively market access to these external regulation-free content services, while mainstream media note how more and more Singaporeans access them.

The question the Singapore government is considering is what to do about the behaviour of the resellers of the government-built fibre and also whether to ‘level up’ and seek to regulate these increasingly popular services or ‘level down’ and ease regulations on in-country players?

The Hong Kong Chapter is hosting a roundtable to address these issues. This event is free to attend but space is limited.

If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to Connie Lam

Singapore Chapter

IIC Singapore – TRPC and FCBA Forum

Internet Governance – What the Year Ahead Holds
10 February 2015, Singapore

On 10 February the Singapore Chapter, consultants TRPC and the Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will co-host a roundtable looking at what the year ahead holds for Internet Governance. The discussion is one of the many events that comprise ICANN 52 and will be hosted by Olswang Asia.  Registration is free, but due to expected high demand please register early. The forum will a discursive roundtable seeking to answer questions about the year ahead.  The Chatham House Rule applies. Register here

Asian IT Briefing Jan 2015

TRPC who run the Singapore Chapter have put together a report highlighting key regional developments for the sector. 

APAC Trust and Security Briefing Jan 2015

TRPC have put together a detailed country by country round up summarising the implications of Security, Privacy, Certification and Transparency issues. 

Thailand & Singapore Chapters

Privacy in an Internet of Things World

15 December 2014, Bangkok

In December the Thai and Singaporean Chapters of the IIC along with consultants TRPC and the Internet Society (ISOC), co-hosted an afternoon of extended and lively interaction around privacy in an ‘Internet of Things (IOT)’ world.  It was attended by 60 local and international participants including senior government officials and policymakers, academics, industry, private and civil society representatives.

The meeting took place against a backdrop of growing public concern credited with kick starting Thailand’s discussion around a Personal Data Protection Act – which looks like it may finally be pushed through, after more than 10 years. 

In the meeting’s two afternoon sessions panellists and participants examined the challenges and opportunities IOT and Big Data present and then compared the Thai experience with that of Europe and other countries in the region. 

UK Chapter

The UK chapter concluded 2014 with a thought-provoking ‘tour d’horizon’ of the major topics that the telecoms, media and technology sector may be facing at EU level over the coming 12 months.

This gave us plenty of food for thought, and we are building on these key ideas with a series of events where IIC members and friends will have the opportunity to debate and foster innovative policy thinking on the following:

• The review of the EU’s Audio-Visual Media services framework – Spring 2015
• New Competition challenges in the convergence era: is the EU competition paradigm still fit for purpose? – Spring 2015
• Data protection, privacy and security – dilemmas of the early 21st century – Summer 2015

Watch the website and this newsletter for further details.

Feedback

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

A word from an IIC Member

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ICANN is one of the IIC’s newest members but has been an active participant in events and meetings for a number of years. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a non-profit organization responsible for the coordination of maintenance and methodology of several databases of unique identifiers related to the namespaces of the Internet, and ensuring the network's stable and secure operation.

"ICANN is delighted to be a member and also a friend of the IIC.  A relationship with such a vibrant and influential organisation is important for ICANN in pursuing our mission to maintaining an open, secure and interoperable Internet. 

In these challenging times it is important that we are able to share and discuss ideas, especially amongst the wide and diverse IIC family. 

Having such an excellent platform in which to discuss Internet governance issues also helps us in our policy formation and in deliberations on the global dimension of the Domain Name System (DNS). 

We look forward to our continued involvement and contribution.”

Nigel Hickson Vice President, UN and IGO Engagement

Membership Options

We recently 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. Contribute to the debate and have a voice on the public policy agenda
2. Build lasting relationships around the world through regular attendance at IIC events
3. Spot new trends and pick up current ideas which helps us add value to our clients
4. See a wider viewpoint and understand different regulatory models
5. Explore new or controversial ideas in a collegiate independent environment
6. Meet our counterparts and stakeholders and find out what they are thinking about”

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.

 

Membership Benefits

Visit our website now at: http://www.iicom.org

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