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27|09|05

Note of the Fifth meeting of the Ofcom Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland, 23 February 2005

Present:

Sinead Boyle
Carol Burrows
Brian Collins
Mags Connolly
Wallace Ewart
Michael McKernan
Jane Morrice
Una Murphy
Leslie Orr
Gerard Parr
Glyn Roberts
Denis Wolinski (Chairman)

In attendance:

Robin Foster, Strategy and Marketing Developments, Ofcom
Jonathan Hanna, External Relations Executive, Ofcom NI
Joanne McMullan, Head of Broadcasting and Telecoms, Ofcom NI
Lila Truesdale, Customer Support Officer, Ofcom NI (Minutes)

1. Welcome and Apologies

1.1 Denis Wolinski welcomed all present to the fifth meeting of the Advisory Committee meeting for Northern Ireland and registered apologies for the following people:

David Elliott, Member Advisory Committee for Northern Ireland
Kevin McLaughlin, Consumer Panel Member for Northern Ireland
Rosemary Kelly, Content Board Member for Northern Ireland

2. Minutes of the last meeting, approvals and absences

2.1 Minutes of the last meeting were agreed and signed.

3 Matters Arising

3.1 Wallace Ewart asked if it would be possible for the minutes to be circulated as early as possible after the meeting.

4 Public Service Broadcasting Review: Phase 3

4.1 Robin Foster gave a presentation on Phase III of the Public Service Broadcasting Review. He welcomed any feedback from Committee members– both from their own perspectives and from people they met, either socially or in a working capacity. He also asked whether there were any particular areas specific to Northern Ireland that needed to be addressed.

4.2 The Committee asked how accountability related to performance. Robin said that it linked very closely to performance and that Ofcom was currently looking at how best to conduct research into audience views.

4.3 The Committee expressed its concern over indigenous language provision insofar as all references to it in the Review were linked to the provisions outlined in the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement - in contrast to provision for Welsh and Scots Gaelic, which was enshrined in the Communications Act. There was a concern that there might be changes to the Agreement whereas statute provided a better guarantee.

4.4 The Committee questioned the fact that there were no remarks referring to the possibility of ring-fencing funding from the Public Service Publisher (PSP) for Nations and Regions and asked if consideration had been given to this.

Robin replied that Ofcom had not yet looked at the details regarding funding for the PSP, and in the final analysis funding would be an issue for the Government. He added that there seemed to be two trains of thought on the PSP – one viewing it as a high production/high value content provider; the other as a local/community service. Ofcom had indicated that there was a strong argument for thinking that at least part of the PSP should have some very key local/regional objectives. Ofcom had also said that the PSP should be based out of London.

4.5 The Committee asked if Ofcom would consider an advertising campaign aimed at soliciting views on the PSB Review from the general public.

Robin replied that all Ofcom consultations were already open to the public but that market research was often considered a more effective way to gauge public opinion as opposed to only getting the views of those who attended public meetings or wrote in.

4.6 Robin was asked if the PSB Review extended to RTÉ, currently available to some viewers in Northern Ireland. It was pointed out that Ofcom did not regulate RTÉ.

4.7 The Director informed the Committee that Alison Preston, Senior Research Associate, Ofcom had offered to come to Belfast on Wednesday 23 March to present the results of audience research carried out for PSB Phase III.

Action: Send out details of research meeting to Committee

Action: Copies of Presentation (electronic/hard copy) to be forwarded to any members of the Committee who request it

5 DSO Regional Rollout Plan

5.1 Robin Foster gave a presentation on DSO.

5.2 The Committee asked if there had been any feedback from the pilot in Wales, where consumers were provided with a sum of money to help pay for the switchover process.

Robin informed the Committee that the pilot in Wales was going very well, but that this could be due to the fact that none of the participants had had to pay for it. It had, however, demonstrated that the switchover process was quite manageable and that people got used to digital very quickly and liked it better than the old analogue service once they had got used to it.

5.3 The Committee asked if Ofcom had had any indication from the Republic of Ireland as to its switchover date. They also asked if switchover in Northern Ireland would occur regardless of the RoI date and if Ofcom was making provision for a specific NI public awareness campaign, different to that in the rest of the UK.

The Committee expressed concerns at the late switchover date for Northern Ireland.

In response, Robin explained that the proposed digital switchover timetable was a matter for Government but that it was based on technical advice from Ofcom engineers. The date order reflected a phased, planned and managed rollout. The Chairman informed the Committee that a major international planning conference on the use of radio spectrum was to take place in 2006 and that those areas closest to other EU countries were later in the proposed timetable in order that cross-border co-ordination issues could be discussed.

5.4 It was suggested that an engineer be invited to a future meeting of the ACNI in order to explain the timetable.

5.5 The Committee was anxious that if NI were to be one of the last regions to be switched over that it should take advantage of its position as the UK’s first 100% broadband region (by the end of 2005) to pioneer the development and rollout of broadband broadcast content.

Action: Greg Bensburg or colleague to be invited to address Committee at a future meeting.

6 Director’s Report

6.1 This document was tabled.

7 Advisory Committee of Northern Ireland Annual Report

7.1 This document was tabled.

8 Summary of Complaints Received Dec 2004 – Feb 2005

8.1 This document was tabled.

9 Any other Business

9.1 There was no other business

10 ComReg/Ofcom Joint Working Group.

10.1 Joanne McMullan gave a short briefing on the work of the ComReg/Ofcom Joint Working Group.

The Committee welcomed the formation of the Group and felt that it was very useful in raising the profile of Ofcom.

11 Overview of the Northern Ireland Telecoms Market

11.1 Mrs Anne Conaty and Dr Trevor Forsythe, Telecoms Policy Unit at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment joined the meeting and Mrs Conaty gave a presentation on the Northern Ireland Telecoms Market entitled ‘A Fully Connected Northern Ireland’

The Committee thanked Mrs Conaty and Dr Forsythe for the presentation. A discussion ensued on a range of issues including future funding for disruptive technologies such as WiFi; how Government might assist small, creative companies and organisations locally to develop video and other content for broadband and other new media; levels of awareness in Northern Ireland and education needs in respect of broadband; take-up of broadband, particularly in the business community; opportunities for Northern Ireland to be the pilot region for broadcast broadband distribution; data transfer costs on leased lines.