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Ofcom’s activities and those of the companies it regulates are increasingly influenced by international developments. Ofcom represents the UK on radio spectrum matters in key international groups and participates in international forums on telecoms and broadcasting matters. Ofcom also works closely with the UK Government to develop policy positions on proposals for new EU regulation.

European Framework Review

The current EU Communications Framework has been a major success for Europe, providing a common basis on which to liberalise telecoms markets. Once a broadband laggard, the EU has made real progress in broadband take-up.

The European Commission is now proposing a new Framework. During 2007/8 Ofcom was active in the debate about what the Framework should include. Ofcom argued that it should:

• help the EU to liberalise its approach to allocating radio spectrum. It should be left to the market to identify the best uses for this vital resource;
• include a strong commitment to politically independent regulation;
• give regulators power to introduce ‘functional separation’: splitting the monopoly parts of an incumbent telecom operator’s business from its more competitive elements;
• reinforce regulators’ legal powers to tackle new scams and abuses, rapidly and robustly; and
• strike the right balance between promoting consistency and harmonisation in European regulation, and the need to reflect different national conditions. On this point Ofcom raised some concerns about the Commission’s proposal for a new EU-funded regulatory agency.

European Regulators’ Group

The European Regulators’ Group (ERG) is a forum of national telecommunications regulators that has a role under the EU Regulatory Framework to advise the European Commission on the practical application of the Framework.

Ofcom was a member of the Board of the ERG during 2007, having been its chair during 2006.  During 2007 the ERG continued to engage in close dialogue with the Commission over the future of regulation in Europe, as the Commission developed its thinking on the review of the Framework.  Ofcom contributed significant resource to the ERG's output. This included:

• a detailed opinion on regulatory approaches to next generation access (NGA) networks, which is expected to form the basis of the Commission’s Recommendation on NGA due in spring 2008;
• detailed common positions on the regulation of wholesale broadband access and wholesale local access markets; 
• a common position on the regulation of VoIP, covering numbering, number portability, and emergency 112 access; and
• a pilot programme for monitoring regulators’ compliance with its common positions.    

The financial year 2007/8 also saw the adoption of International Roaming Regulation. To ensure a coordinated monitoring of the development of roaming markets, the ERG issued a set of guidelines for National Regulatory Authorities and a common methodology for Authorities to use in data collection.

World Radiocommunication Conference

Ofcom played a major role in representing the UK at the World Radiocommunication Conference, held in October and November 2007. This was organised by the International Telecommunication Union and updated the global framework for spectrum use.

We worked with the Government and a wide range of stakeholders to identify the UK’s priorities for the Conference, which was attended by some 2,800 delegates from 164 countries.

Our priorities for the 2007 Conference included identifying opportunities for the development of advanced mobile communications systems, and identifying opportunities for further liberalisation of the use of the spectrum, especially in the upper part of the UHF band which is currently allocated for broadcast use.

We secured our objectives from the Conference, allowing us to move forward with release of the digital dividend and further spectrum liberalisation.

Text and data roaming charges

In January 2008 we raised concerns about European roaming charges that were highlighted in a report by the ERG.

We pointed out that the cost of sending a text from abroad is high: an average charge of 21 pence per roaming text sent from Europe compared with an average of 5.6 pence per text sent within the UK, but with very low associated marginal cost.

We said that a more significant longer-term issue was the price for data roaming. The average price charged by UK operators for using data roaming services within Europe last summer was £4.11 per Mb and these prices represent a significant price hurdle to the use of mobile internet while abroad.

We called on industry to take the initiative on this issue and warned that if it failed to act we may need to see further action at the European level.

We also highlighted the issue of call charges abroad. It is common practice to charge a full first minute for any national or roaming call made, regardless of length. If the call lasts longer than a minute, the remainder is charged per second or, sometimes, per thirty-second interval. This means that a twenty- or thirty-second call could be charged as if it took one minute. This practice adds up to 20 per cent, on average, to consumer bills and Ofcom raised this issue at a Plenary meeting of European regulators.

EU content regulation

Ofcom engaged with the Commission and other EU regulators on a number of content-related initiatives this year. The Audio Visual Media Services Directive was adopted in December 2007, and Ofcom worked with the Commission and other European regulators to ensure consistency in its implementation.

In addition, Ofcom contributed to a number of initiatives, including the Creative Content Online Communication, Children's Use of Mobile Phones for Content Services, the Media Literacy Task Force, the Safer User of the Internet Programme and the Commission's consultation on the communication state aid rules for public service broadcasting.

• Ofcom Annual Report 2007/08 - Section B [pdf]
• Adroddiad Blynyddol 2007-08 Ofcom - Adran B [pdf]

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