The U.K. Office of Communications (Ofcom) plans a wide- ranging review of public service TV broadcasting (PSB), it said Tuesday. Ofcom began its second PSB study early, in response to rapid changes in the broadcasting market and significant issues affecting funding, news and children’s programs. Since the first review, 2003 to 2005, trends have emerged that affect PSBs, Ofcom said. Digital TV uptake has accelerated, with analog PSB channels continuing to decline in share and reach. Broadcasters increasingly deliver TV over a range of services and platforms. Growing penetration by digital terrestrial TV platforms has let PSBs build successful families of free-to-air channels, with high definition TV in nearly 450,000 homes. In addition, Ofcom said, TV advertising has fallen as a proportion of total advertising, and the ad-funded model for TV broadcasting is facing pressure amid growing interest in Internet ads and from multichannel TV subscription services. More forces are working against PSBs, Ofcom said. These include significant changes to children’s shows driven by the increasing range of media and a need for more programming reflecting national and regional identities. The first review argued that PSBs were entering a transition in which old funding mechanisms would have to yield to a new model, Ofcom said. The shift is characterized by changes in audience behavior and content markets, as well as in the regulatory environment, blurring distinctions between TV and non-TV services. The new review will focus on public service TV from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five and S4C, broadening to other audiovisual series up and running or in development plus electronic communications services, such as user-generated content and interactive services, that could also affect PSBs. The review will ask five key questions: (1) What impact regulatory intervention aims to achieve. (2) Whether the goals are being met. (3) The future, given an unchanged regulatory framework. (4) What PSBs need to deliver in the digital age. (5) How the government and Ofcom can best achieve public purposes in the digital age. The study will run from 2008 to 2016, with a statement on anticipated issues expected in early 2009. Comments on Ofcom’s proposals for the review are due Sept. 30 -- PSBReview@ofcom.org.uk.
Broadband services sent over existing power lines emit radio frequencies that could “adversely affect” military radio and intelligence communications in NATO countries, a NATO study found. That’s because existing power lines were not designed for broadband, NATO said. Seizing on the report, the American Radio Relay League said this finding “pretty much echoes the ARRL’s pleading during the BPL rulemaking.” ARRL is fighting a 40-dB extrapolation factor recommended by the FCC, said ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare. Previously, lack of scientific models prevented precise gauging of BPL and DSL emissions, but now models, methods and tools are emerging, the report said. Noting the lack of commonly accepted regulatory limits on BPL emissions, the report called it “highly desirable” to align such limits region-wide. NATO, which has no regulatory power, should help harmonize limits by working with national and international regulatory bodies, the report said.
Broadband services sent over existing power lines emit radio frequencies that could “adversely affect” military radio and intelligence communications in NATO countries, a NATO study found. That’s because existing power lines were not designed for broadband, NATO said. Seizing on the report, the American Radio Relay League said this finding “pretty much echoes the ARRL’s pleading during the BPL rulemaking.” ARRL is fighting a 40-dB extrapolation factor recommended by the FCC, said ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare. Previously, lack of scientific models prevented precise gauging of BPL and DSL emissions, but now models, methods and tools are emerging, the report said. Noting the lack of commonly accepted regulatory limits on BPL emissions, the report called it “highly desirable” to align such limits region-wide. NATO, which has no regulatory power, should help harmonize limits by working with national and international regulatory bodies, the report said.
On the eve of an FCC vote on new rules for locating wireless E-911 callers, public safety offered carriers a compromise, which is likely to be adopted in some form by the commission Tuesday. Under the compromise, carriers would have up to five years to meet new standards based on success in locating callers at the level of public safety answering points, but carriers would also have to meet various benchmarks before that deadline.
Telecoms Sans Frontiers deployed communication centers in Nicaragua after Hurricane Felix, the non-governmental body said Friday. A five-member crew set up Inmarsat terminals and other gear for United Nations relief agencies. The group said it might deploy more staff and equipment from Europe. Since 2006 the U.N. Foundation, Vodafone Group Foundation and others have provided funds for 11 TSF missions, including operations in Peru after an Aug. 15 earthquake, said a U.N. Foundation spokesperson. ITU deployed 12 global area network terminals for voice, data and video and 38 regional broadband global network satellite terminals for high-speed data communications for emergency operations following the Peru quake, ITU said.
The Universal Postal Union, which in 2004 won approval for new sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) .post, last week took the unusual step of seeking public input on potentially ground-breaking changes to ICANN’s standard sponsorship agreement before finalizing its contract. The agreement emerging from ICANN and the UPU, a U.N. specialized agency, could be a model for other intergovernmental bodies’ sTLD proposals, said Paul Donohoe, director of e-services, in a Sept. 5 letter to ICANN. Early dialogue could head off some problems plaguing other sponsored domains, he told us.
GENEVA -- Global telephony subscription keeps rising, but developing countries need regulatory reform to give IP-based networks solid footing, the ITU said Tuesday. The U.S. has the most broadband subscribers, but China is gaining fast, the report said.
GENEVA -- U.S. and Asian manufacturers and others are pressing to update the 1997 World Trade Organization agreement on a range of telephony, Internet, broadcast and data gear. The WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA) has boosted deployment of telecom and information technology products, said Mark MacGann, director general of the European Information & Communications Technology Industry Association. However, it doesn’t cover CE. IT-CE convergence has made it out of date, MacGann said.
GENEVA -- Global telephony subscription keeps rising, but developing countries need regulatory reform to give IP-based networks solid footing, the ITU said Tuesday. The U.S. has the most broadband subscribers, but China is gaining fast, the report said.
GENEVA -- U.S. and Asian manufacturers and others are pressing to update the 1997 World Trade Organization agreement on a range of telephony, Internet, broadcast and data gear. The WTO Information Technology Agreement (ITA) has boosted deployment of telecom and information technology products, said Mark MacGann, director general of the European Information & Communications Technology Industry Association. However, it doesn’t cover consumer electronics. Convergence of information technology with consumer electronics has made it out of date, MacGann said.