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A joint announcement has recently been made by the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport and the Trade and Industry Secretary, signaling the publication later this year of another White Paper, proposing a new law to "take account of the convergence of the communications industries." On June 17 1999, an earlier White Paper, "Regulating Communications: The Way Ahead" was published. The aim of the new White Paper will be to take into account the proposals that have emerged from the European Union, namely "Towards a New Framework for Electronic Communications Infrastructure and Associated...

The Office of Fair Trading, the main UK competition authority, is to undertake a competition review of BSkyB's position in pay television. This has been prompted by consolidation in the cable industry and the launch of digital TV. BSkyB both supplies satellite television programmes directly to viewers in the UK and grants to the operators of cable television the right to receive its Channels from satellites for onward transmission to viewers. An earlier review had been carried out by the Office in 1996. As an outcome, BSkyB had given informal undertakings to meet competition concerns. These had...

The UK Telecommunications Regulator, the Office of Telecommunications, has announced new arrangements for pricing local calls to enable Internet service providers to choose the pence per minute call rate to be paid by customers. In the past, the standard local call rate has had to be charged in most cases. This has amounted to a disincentive to Internet use, especially as in the UK there is no unmetered local call availability, unlike for example in the United States. All local calls are paid on a time-metered basis (except in the city of Hull which has its own telecommunications company). The...

The Radio Authority is responsible for regulating non-BBC radio output in the U.K. under the Broadcasting Acts 1990 and 1996. There are several different courses of action open to it to take against an offending station: it may request that an apology, or correction, be broadcast; it may issue a formal warning; or, it may impose a penalty e.g., a fine or the suspension, shortening or revocation of a licence. At the end of 1999, the Authority imposed a fine of 50 000 Pounds Sterling each on two local radio stations: Hallam FM and Xfm. This sum represents the maximum monetary penalty the Authority...

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the UK House of Commons has produced a report which is highly critical of proposals to fund the provision of digital services by the BBC through an additional licence fee to be paid by all who take up digital television (IRIS 1999-8: 11). The Committee considers that the additional fee would slow the take-up of digital television and delay analogue switch-off. It would also hamper the possibility of marginally free digital television being available to consumers and so bear most heavily on the most disadvantaged in society. Thus it would, according to the...