Working Group Meeting Notes

1
Working Group Meeting Notes

• Innovation in Telecommunications -
• Regulation Innovation

Wednesday 6th September 2006 1430 BST
2
Participants

• Apologies
• Joe Butler Ofcom
• Martin Cave Warwick Business School
• Richard Budd BT
• Andy Long Easynet
• Mike Walker Vodafone
• Bruno Basalisco Imperial College London
• Simon Persoff Orange Home

• Attended
• Brian Corbett CRN (Interim Chair)
• Chris Marsden Rand Europe
• Elspeth MacFadyen BT
• Lorraine Fawn BT
• Alan Cullen BAE Systems
• Nick Filer University of Manchester
• Linda Doyle Trinity College, Dublin
• Nigel Wall CRN
• Abdus Owadally Ofcom
• Reza Karimi Ofcom
• Ken Ducatel Office of the Cabinet of Vivian
  Reding
• Delegate for Mr Shyue-Ching Lu Chungwha Telecom

3
Agenda

• Introduction and summary of Working Group scope
  and procedures (BC)
• Review of key points from Kick-off meeting (BC)
• Outline of possible work areas for initial
  consideration (BC)
• Net neutrality in a global context
• End-to-end regulation definitions, options and
  impacts
• The future of spectrum to 2015 - how much
  unlicensed spectrum should be released?
• Video regulation on the Internet - quality of
  service, walled gardens, peer to peer and pricing
• Open discussion on interest areas and hot topics
  (All)
• Summary of open discussion and agreement on areas
  for further investigation (BC/All)
• Agree actions, responsibilities, and future
  meeting dates

4
Working Group Scope and procedures

• Consensus that a major benefit of the WG will be
  the ability to test ideas
• WG as Think Tank Sand Box
• Ability to test views in a non attributable
  environment
• The WG should focus on fundamental/strategic
  issues, not workday specifics
• Aim to avoid entrenched positions, or lobbying
• Chatham House Rules will apply
• Comments will be non-attributable
• Participants are not signing up in advance for WG
  outputs they will have veto rights ref. their
  support of WG documents prior to publication
• Participants do not object to their attendance at
  WG meetings being publicised
• NB the Working Group will have a global focus,
  exploring best practice and knowledge
  internationally and encouraging an international
  participation

5
Emerging Topics for WG Activity

• The following 2 broad themes of interest were
  identified
• What is the goal and remit for regulation?
• What is the interplay between technological
  regulation and market/economic regulation?
• Areas that were felt to be outside of the WG
  scope were
• Privacy this cuts across many Working Group
  activities and should perhaps be a cross Group
  initiative
• Universal Service Obligation a big topic in its
  own right but less relevant to innovation
  regulation

6
What is the goal and remit for regulation?

• Can we identify a minimum/optimal degree of
  regulation?
• What are the trade-offs between differing
  regulatory frameworks?
• What are the least-cost, least obtrusive methods
  of regulation?
• What are the risks of under-regulation for
  optimal use of resources (e.g. spectrum)
• Where is the threshold in the innovation curve,
  and what are the risks of driving value out of
  the market?
• Is it correct to assume that regulation should
  follow not lead?
• If so how does the regulatory framework evolve
  and adapt to the changing nature of the market?
• How can regulatory frameworks best provide an
  atmosphere of confidence that encourages
  innovation and investment?
• Is it realistic for regulation to encourage
  investment in disruptive technologies?

7
What is the interplay between technological
regulation and market/economic regulation?

• Is technological neutrality still viable in the
  telecommunications context?
• Is the disruptive nature of change that is
  imminent in the networks conducive to continued
  tech neutrality?
• Is mesh wireless a deliberate choice to permit
  unlicensed spectrum or non-licensed use?
• Is Fibre To The Premises/cabinet a disruptive
  change to existing regulation for infrastructure
  sharing such as LLU?
• Regulation currently regulates markets not
  technologies but these technologies cannot
  emerge under the current paradigm of
  competition regulation of actors with
  Significant Market Power
• Should the focus be on standards/interoperability
  rather than traditional command and control
  regulation?
• Does the presence of competition and innovation
  necessarily mean that the market is working
  optimally?

8
Proposed Deliverables
It was felt that the Think Tank aspect of the
Working Group was very valuable in itself, but
that the following outputs would be desirable

• Build a common understanding of current thinking
  (short term 3-6 months?)
• Develop a review of available material leading to
  a synopsis document/s (i.e. not just a list of
  material)
• Produce case studies of best practice
• How has regulation evolved and what were the
  impacts?
• Examples of over/under regulation (e.g. spectrum
  licencing)
• Build a Roadmap of likely future scenarios
  (medium/long-term 6-12 months?)

9
Moving Forward

• Aim to elect 2 Co-Chairs (1 Industry, 1 Academia)
  by end 2006
• Brian Corbett will act as Interim Chair until
  then
• Working Group participation will require CRN
  membership by January 2007 latest
• Next meeting to be face-to-face BC to poll
  members re. exact timing and location, but target
  date of 2nd half October
• Next meeting will focus on agreeing specific
  actions and allocating tasks/responsibilities
• CRN Regulation 2.0 scheduled in London for 11th
  December 2006, details to be circulated shortly
• Working Group meeting will be scheduled to
  coincide (likely Tuesday 12th December)
• BC to organise and publicise day-to-day
  communications tools (forum/mailing list/shared
  document access etc)