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TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA FORUM
WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH 2009
MORNING
SESSION ONE
Communications and the crisis – funding, competitive and regulatory implications
- Repercussions for financing telecoms and media infrastructure and service development – is the sector resilient enough? What will be the effect on demand? Where will investment come from, and on what terms? Are digital plans sufficient or required?
- How far will ICT be regarded by governments as part of the solution to the crisis? What are the implications for the sector and for government intervention? Will subsidies be the way forward, and if so, how will they be allocated? Where will this leave state aid and competition rules?
- Is telecoms and media consolidation likely? If so, what are the policy implications and the consequences for competition in both the short and long term?
- What kinds of demands will the regulatory framework and institutions face? Will the new telecoms regulatory framework be appropriate?
AFTERNOON
SESSION TWO
What kind of universality in the broadband age?
- What form of Universal Service Obligation, if any, is appropriate to broadband? What is the real objective given that availability is not the same as take up? Are other initiatives more important than extending the network-centric approach?
- How could a broadband USO be organised and funded? Should USO be technology neutral? How should service levels be specified given differences between wired and wireless, and device functionality? Is funding best left to the market?
- What is the relationship between broadband development and public service broadcasting? How should public service content production and distribution be funded, particularly given the pressures on advertising and licence fee funded approaches?
THURSDAY 26 MARCH 2008
MORNING
SESSION THREE
Next generation access networks – how to develop their full potential?
- How to stimulate growth and competition among telephone providers, cable companies and other technologies, including wireless services? Is the potential diversity of these networks sufficiently acknowledged, and is the Commission giving them sufficient consideration?
- Is the assumption there is no room for infrastructure competition grounded? Is it time for geographic-based regulation? Will the new telecoms regulatory framework be viewed in hindsight as a missed opportunity?
- What potential is there for new entrants in the provision of access networks? To deploy their own infrastructure? Are active or passive solutions more likely to stimulate competition and/or investment in fibre access, and what role can duct access play? How might such players affect competition and regulatory models?
AFTERNOON
SESSION FOUR
The “Internet of Things” – its future and implications
- How will the market for networked and interconnected devices develop and how significant will it be? What kinds of players, applications and services will be involved, and who will ultimately benefit?
- What issues does the ‘Internet of Things’ raise in terms of security and privacy? How can these be resolved? Are data protection and consumer protection rights sufficiently taken care of in the design of machine-to-machine applications?
- What are the regulatory repercussions? How should industry and policy makers respond?
© International Institute of Communications 2009
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