Highlights and Activities for Weeks 39 & 40
International News
Telecommunications
a) Brussels, 11/09/2013 (Agence Europe). On 11 September, the College of European Commissioners formally and unanimously adopted, with no amendments, the ambitious proposals of the commissioner for the digital strategy, Neelie Kroes, aiming to create a genuine single telecommunications market. (Subscription is required)
b) BBC News. Samsung has unveiled a smartwatch with a colour screen that can show alerts, be used for voice calls and run apps. Read more…
c) The Guardian. The growing apps economy has created nearly 800,000 jobs across Europe in the last five years, and will generate €11.2bn in revenues across the region in 2013, according to a report published by industry trade body ACT. Read more…
d) Telecoms.com. The majority of consumers (74 per cent) in France, Germany, Sweden and the UK are willing to switch service providers in order to gain access to seamless wifi discovery and authentication features, according to recent published research. Read more…
e) SkyNews. Troubled smartphone maker BlackBerry has agreed in principle to a buyout by its largest shareholder for $4.7bn (£2.93bn). Read more…
f) Telecoms.com. European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, outlined her intentions to transform education across the EU using information and communications technology (ICT). Read more…
g) Cullen International. The European Commission has maintained the essence of its initial draft proposal for a Telecoms Single Market (TSM) of July 2013, which was redrafted over the summer after internal consultations, albeit with several significant changes. (Subscription is required)
h) Cullen international. In a remarkably bold statement, BEREC has criticised the European Commission’s draft Telecoms Single Market regulation, published last week. (Subscription is required)
i) Telecoms.com. Over the top (OTT) communications service Skype is estimated to be costing the telecoms industry $100m per day, or $36.5bn per year, due to the amount of data traffic the application generates. Read more…
j) Cullen International. Two weeks after Neelie Kroes, commissioner for the Digital Agenda, presented her proposals for a Telecoms Single Market, the European Parliament and the Council dampen hopes of any swift adoption. (Subscription is required)
Spectrum Management
a) Cullen International. In order to enable WiFi to operate on a non-exclusive basis in a contiguous band from 5150 MHz to 5925 MHz, the EU should seek to make licence-exempt spectrum available through as much of the 5 GHz band as feasible. (Subscription is required).
b) Telecoms.com. Engineers are beginning to adopt SDN (software defined networking) to tackle network complexity, which has been identified by some at least, as a bigger barrier to network growth than bandwidth constraints. Read more…
c) Policy Tracker. Technology consultancy RTT has published a study that suggests DVB-T2 could provide a solution to the forthcoming spectrum crunch because it could allow one device to use broadcasting and mobile spectrum simultaneously. (Subscription is required).
d) Analysys Mason. Despite early adoption of LTE in northern Europe and North America, Asia–Pacific (APAC) and Latin America (LATAM) account for the majority of the networks that are planned for launch by 2018. Read more…
TV & Radio Broadcasting
a) Advanced Television. Despite the fact that this summer did not feature a FIFA World Cup, a UEFA European Championships or an Olympic Games, and despite the unusually warm summer weather in much of Europe, viewers remained gripped by TV. Read more…
b) Advanced Television. The European TV market grew by a modest 0.9 per cent in 2012, reaching a value of €95.1 billion, while advertising revenues were down almost four per cent to €31 billion, according to the “Turning Digital” report from Italian consultancy ItMedia Consulting. Read more…
c) Advanced Television. A survey by MarketCast on the consumer view of the future of television highlights conflicts on cord-cutting: a number of viewers both support the idea of a la carte offerings to reduce costs but complain about the problems for would-be cord cutters, including the maintaining multiple subscriptions. Read more…
NGA / Broadband
a) Cullen International. BEREC disagrees with the European Commission’s serious doubt on the price control measures proposed by the Austrian regulator, TKK, for local loop unbundling (LLU) and wholesale broadband access (WBA). (Subscription is required).
b) Advanced Television. Consumer research from Leichtman Research Group (LRG) has found that about 78 per cent of US households get a broadband Internet service at home. Read more…
Internet
a) Advanced Television. From November, users will be able to download videos to watch later using the YouTube app on mobile devices. Read more…
Post
a) Post & Parcel. The British government notified the London Stock Exchange of its intent to float Royal Mail today, officially beginning the process of privatising the company. Read more…
b) Post & Parcel. Swiss Post has launched a new mobile phone franking service, allowing customers to pay postage while on the move. Read more…
c) Post & Parcel. DHL has won a 10-year contract to manage inbound deliveries at Britain’s Gatwick Airport, through a new logistics and consolidation facility. Read more…
d) Post & Parcel. Royal Mail is extending the definition of a “Small Parcel” within its portfolio to include parcels up to the size of a large shoebox. Read more…
e) Post & Parcel. Post Danmark is increasing its postage rates from 1 January 2014, with A-mail letters seeing prices rise by 12.5% to DKK 9 (EUR 1.20). Read more…
f) Cullen International. The lead Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO) committee of the European Parliament discussed on September 25, 2013 the draft report on the Green Paper on parcel delivery by Pablo Arias EcheverrÃa (rapporteur, EPP). (Subscription is required).
International Meetings
Our Operations Market Analyst attented a workshop in Bursessls on electronic communications market indicators. Our Manager on Information Society also attended a meeting in Brussels however on the subject of Internet Governance, whilst our Deputy Chairman and the Chief of External Relations attended the BEREC Plenary in Latvia.
Publications
- CONSULTATION – EXTENSION TO DEADLINE: Following a request received from an interested party, the MCA has granted an extension to the deadline for the submission of responses to its current consultation entitled ‘Review of Quality of Service Requirements and Targets to be Achieved by MaltaPost for the Universal Service’ to Thursday 31st October 2013. To view consultation, following this link. http://www.mca.org.mt/consumer/consultations/review-qos-requirements-and-targets-universal-postal-service
Events
- Launch of LiveICT training programme for individuals over 65 years: The MCA, together with the Parliamentary Secretariat for Competitiveness and Economic Growth and the Parliamentary Secretariat for Rights of Persons with Disability and Active Ageing, launched a new ICT training scheme for people aged 65 years and over in order to encourage more individuals in this age bracket to take the first step and start engaging more actively with technology and in related online activities. The initiative was launched at the Birkirkara Local Council, one of the centres that will be offering this training. Access the following link for more information on this scheme. http://www.mca.org.mt/notices-and-announcements/its-never-too-late-start-using-computer-free-training-opportunities-65
- MCA Seminar on ICT Competencies for a smarter society and workforce: This event will be held on the 22nd October at the Le Meridien in St. Julians. The seminar will look into the reasons why ICT competencies remain low amongst older individuals and what strategies can be adopted to move more people closer to the digital world. For more information on this event, click here. http://www.mca.org.mt/event/ict-competencies-smarter-society-and-workforce-mca-seminar . This event is aimed at representatives from the civil society and public officers working in the field of education, employment and social policy and other stakeholders. Deadline for registration is Thursday, 17th October.
- INFORMATION SESSION - WebCheck for Voluntary Organisations: Results and recommendations: Over the past months, ten voluntary organisations were assigned an eBusiness specialist with a view to helping them upgrade their web strategy and eventually their web presence. Lize de Clercq, an expert on the use of social media by voluntary organisations, will be highlighting the main findings and putting forward her recommendations during this Information Session to be held on the 22nd October 2013. Click here for further information. http://www.mca.org.mt/event/webcheck-voluntary-organisations-results-and-recommendations-information-session
Legal Update
- The lawsuit filed by Vodafone (Malta) Ltd and GO plc versus the Government and the MCA, currently pending before the Constitutional Court, has been adjourned for the final submissions of the parties following the issue of the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union last June subsequent to a reference made to that Court by the Maltese Court at the request of Vodafone and of GO [sitting is scheduled for the 18 November 2013]. This lawsuit refers to excise tax on the use of mobile telephony by end-users levied by Government in 2005.
In the Lija Local Council et vs Melita and MCA lawsuit on a contestation by the Local Council and various residents about the alleged harmful effects as a result of a base station installed by Melita in the locality of Lija - the Local Council and residents failed to arrive at an amicable settlement with Melita. The case will therefore continue to be heard and final submissions are to made in the first instance by plaintiffs and then respondents will reply. The case stands adjourned for the 12 December.