Regulation and Policy Challenges

-Mobile and Digital (Broadcasting) Convergence

Prof. Gerhard Eitz, Circom

Xiaofeng Ma, CeTIM

Presentation Outline

• Why Regulation and Policy Challenges?

• Current Situation

• Critical R&D Challenges

Converging media landscape is fundamentally disruptive

• New market: from supply to demand

• New content: ‘Long tail’ allows viable niche, as well as mass products

• New business models: low production cost

• New producers: anyone, from anywhere, any time

• New delivery: over different channels and through different technologies

• New services (VOD, IPTV) and sectors (gaming) emerging

• New pace: High speed of technological and market changes

Challenges: Impossible for governments to monitor

Presentation Outline

• Why Regulation and Policy Challenges?

• Current Situation

• Critical R&D Challenges

Parties concerned

• Parties concerned

– EU Commission for information society and media

– Federal Network Agencies• for the allocation of frequencies

– Media regulation authorities• supervising competition law aspects

European Commission strategy for Mobile TV -1

• „Three pillar strategy“ (presented in July 2007 by the European Commission and endorsed by EU Member States)

– Joint approach to the licensing for Mobile TV• to accelerate the roll out of services• to encourage innovative business models

– Making available spectrum for these services• possibly in the UHF frequency band

– Promoting the use of DVB-H as the open mobile standard for Europe• to avoid market fragmentation and allow affordable services and

devices

European Commission strategy for Mobile TV -2

• Next steps– Preparation of guidelines for authorisation procedures

– Addition of DVB-H to the official list of standards

• whose use all 27 EU Member States have to support and encourage

Reference: IP/07/1815 Date: 29/11/2007

Germany: Allocation of frequencies for DVB-H mobile broadcast services

• The German Federal Network Agency has issued a decision: „The frequencies required for technical broadcasting operations based on DVB-H standard will be given to T-Systems Media&Broadcast GmbH“

• Plans to establish the transmitter network for nationwide mobile broadcast services based on DVB-H– First commercial broadcast at the CeBIT 2008 in Hannover– The capitals of the other areas will follow by the end of 2008– By 2015 the network should cover 90 per cent of the German population– This presupposes that DVB-H services will reach the usual market

penetration rate by 2013

Source: Federal Network Agency, Bonn, 15 October 2007

Germany: DVB-H Cooperation by three mobile phone network operators - 1

• In accordance with German media regulation authorities T-Mobile, Vodafone and O2 – set up a joint venture – to create and operate a mobile television broadcasting platform

based on the DVB-H standard

• Planned nationwide DVB-H platform– to provide the technical services to produce and transmit DVB-H

signals– to purchase programme content for mobile TV

Offered commitments to eliminate the existing competition concerns (extract)

1. Customers are free to choose programmes and programme packages

2. The ESG (Electronic Service Guide) will be operated jointly for basic data

3. DVB-H reception is also possible on other devices• No compulsory combination with mobile phone contracts

4. DVB-H enabled devices must also be able to contain receivers for other mobile TV standards (e.g. DMB)

5. No compulsory combination of DVB-H and TV/video offered via mobile networks (e.g. 3G)

Source: Bundeskartellamt, 14. September, 2007

Germany: DVB-H Cooperation by three mobile phone network operators - 2

China is evaluating the candidates of the national standard

• CMMB?

• T-MMB

• DMB-T/H

• CDMB

• IMMB

Presentation Outline

• Why Regulation and Policy Challenges?

• Current Situation

• Critical R&D Challenges

Standard does not work alone!

Crtical R&D Challenge 1:

Harmonization by self regulation or by law

• What is the criticalness of role of the regulation (self-regulation and harmonization by law) for a high tech innovation (mobile digital broadcasting)?

• In different political and cultural systems (EU and China), is there different effective solutions

Crtical R&D Challenge 2:

Regulation to support local industry

• Can using European standard (by Europe) and Chinese standard (by China) sufficiently to protect its own local industry?

• What is the impact of the standard to the protection of local industry?

Crtical R&D Challenge 3:

Policy on cultural heritage

• How can societies keep our cultural heritage?

• What role should policy play to keep our cultural heritage? E.g. to keep content industry?

Crtical R&D Challenge 4:

Taxes

• How should the government react if taxes on content/services will disappear?

Crtical R&D Challenge 5:

Government policy on licensing

• There are many different licensing policies in different countries. What is the impact on this for business development? Which policies are most fruitful?

• What should be the role of the government in preventing a situation that more companies invest in networks that have over capacity? This is a waste of time and money

谢谢 !

Thank you!