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A short update from me this time as I return from speaking to the World Economic Forum on how we deliver on digital infrastructure, after a September punctuated by party conference season and the publication of the Public Accounts Committee report following the enquiry into rural broadband.

There’s been lots of activity over at Ofcom, with Chief Executive Ed Richards challenging the industry to deliver on switching. Ofcom published their Spectrum Management Strategy which will review Ofcom’s approach to and priorities for spectrum management over the next ten years. This comes soon after the launch of the Intellect-led Spectrum Forum supported by Minister Ed Vaizey (check out the #SpectrumFuture hashtag from updates and discussion from the day). (more…)

This week we have seen the adoption of regulatory proposals by the European Commission which will have a knock on effect right across the industry for the open internet, spectrum release, the extension of transparency requirements on bundles for Pay TV, switching practices, and an end to charges for roaming in the EU. Commissioner Kroes has stated a longer term intention, as is well-known across the industry: “Until the single telecoms market is in place, the Commission will not propose a single regulator. This is not the optimal solution for the market right now.???

The past month has seen a new tranche of 4G services launched by o2 and Vodafone, with Three announcing their plans for launch in 47 cities. Ofcom published their research highlighting consumer understanding of traffic management, an area where the BSG has played a key role in facilitating the voluntary code of practice on traffic management transparency. We were also pleased to welcome Ofcom Chief Executive Ed Richards to a dinner with the BSG’s Advisory Council, and got an update from the team at the Government Digital Service on all things Gov.uk and the lowdown on their newly established Digital Inclusion team. (more…)

July saw the long-awaited Communications Strategy paper from government, downgraded from its original billing as a White Paper. Connectivity, Content and Consumers: Britain’s digital platform for growth tackled four main areas: world-class connectivity and digital inclusion, world-beating innovative content, consumer confidence and safety and the cost of living. We were pleased to be named as the key conduit to assess what the commercial requirements will be as part of the development of an overall UK digital communications infrastructure strategy for 2015 to 2025. We look forward to working with government and industry on this going forward, and you can read our short briefing on the paper here.

We were pleased to welcome shadow communications and media minister Helen Goodman MP to the BSG, where she spoke on Labour’s notion of ‘One Digital Nation’ and how broadband and digital communications can be harnessed to the benefit of citizens. You can watch the video of this speech here. (more…)