Competition and innovation: content and services March 18, 2008

The second in a series of seminars organised by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), considering the issues of the merging of the IT, broadcasting and telecommunications industries into a single converged market.

This seminar will focus on how far we can rely on convergence to create open markets and break down barriers, and to what extent intervention might be needed to address competition challenges and/or enable a thriving creative economy.

Questions will include:

- What are the future opportunities and challenges for UK providers and producers?
- Is there a case for action to ensure effective access to key networks and/or access to content for a) consumers, b) service providers?
- What are the potential barriers to, and opportunities for, competition, growth, and innovation in content supply?
- What are the implications for future public policy?

The series will, in particular, examine the regulatory and legislative regimes that are currently in place and how they will be applied in future, exploring in detail how to:

- secure open markets, competition and plurality;
- empower and protect both users and consumers, ensuring that they can take full advantage of the opportunities convergence may bring;
- secure universal access to high quality, public service content.

Official Website: http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/Broadcasting/ctt.htm