Julian Knight, the Conservative MP for Solihull in the UK Midlands, has been elected Chair of the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, which monitors the policy, administration and expenditure of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and its associated bodies, including the BBC, on behalf of the House of Commons and the […]
Freeview platform operator Digital UK says it will be able to call on a management team with significant added firepower in 2020, a year that it says is likely to determine the future of public service broadcasting in Britain. With viewing behaviour increasingly fragmenting and the rise in global competition only growing more invasive, the […]
UK comms regulator Ofcom has made changes to its regulations that will help broadband companies upgrade customers to faster broadband more efficiently, and support digital infrastructure provider Openreach’s trials in Salisbury and Mildenhall. Openreach’s trials in Salisbury and Mildenhall will test the processes for moving customers off older broadband and telephone services, as part of […]
Last week, Eutelsat, in a submission to the FCC, argued that any auction proceeds from the upcoming sale of C-band satellite spectrum should be limited to a total of $7 billion (€6.36bn). Now, with two independent valuations, the C-Band Alliance (of Intelsat, SES and Telesat) has told the FCC that while the actual valuation cannot […]
The EU has followed the UK’s example, allowing members to decide what part Huawei can play in their 5G networks, resisting pressure from Washington for an outright ban. EU members can either restrict or exclude high-risk 5G vendors like Huawei from core parts of their telecoms networks, according to the new guidelines, which seek to […]
Huawei’s 5G networks will be allowed to remain in the UK but with restrictions, despite pressure from the US to block the firm. The Chinese firm will be banned from supplying kit to “sensitive parts” of the network core. In addition, it will only be allowed to account for 35 per cent of the kit […]
There has been a week-long drum roll here in the UK leading up to today’s announcement about vendor inclusion in 5G roll out. When the ‘ta da’ moment came it was, of course, a completely predictable political fudge: Huawei (whose name wasn’t mentioned in the statement) will be allowed in, just not in the really […]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has confirmed that the agency has certified four Spectrum Access System (SAS) Administrators, paving the way for full commercial operations in the 3.5 GHz band n the US. The FCC approved these SAS Administrators for initial commercial deployments in 2019. The initiative allows for full commercial use of this […]
BBC TV presenter and former footballer Gary Lineker says the BBC licence fee should become a voluntary charge. Lineker, the highest-paid BBC presenter with earnings of £1.75 million (€2m) in 2018-19, told The Guardian that the licence fee was the broadcaster’s “fundamental problem” and in need of reform. “You’re forced to pay it if you […]
The European Commission has published a major report in which it singles out Saudi Arabia for “causing considerable harm to EU businesses” following the two-year theft of European sport programmes by Saudi-based beoutQ and Arabsat. The report sets out priority countries – only 13 worldwide – on which “the EU will focus its action” regarding […]