EURIM
Communications Policy & Regulation Working Group
The aim is
universally available, socially inclusive access to world class
communications networks, with regulatory frameworks which encourage
competition, innovation and quality of service in line with customer
(both citizen and business) priorities.
Introduction, Objectives & Strategy
Key
to the Group's success is the way it puts the experience and
expertise of business users of communications alongside that of
service operators and equipment suppliers and avoids taking sides on
issues that divide them.
The
current objectives are to promote and assist the establishment of:
-
world-class, secure,
resilient Communications networks throughout the EU based on;
-
universally
available, affordable, fixed and mobile broadband access networks connecting
businesses, citizens and consumers and;
-
technology
neutral, light-touch, regulatory frameworks which encourage;
-
competition, innovation and quality of service and content.
The strategies
are:
Parliamentary and Political to:
-
inform the
generation and implementation of harmonized local, national (UK)
and regional (EU) policies, in the area of converged
communications;
-
foster the
creation of a single, pan-European market in telecoms networks
and services in furtherance of the Lisbon agenda;
-
inform UK
inputs to the formation and scrutiny of European Policy,
including via the Commission and Parliament in co-operation with
the European Internet Foundation, E-Business Regulatory
Alliance, INTUG and others, with meetings in both London and
Brussels;
-
contribute
to and assist in the formation of government policy and its
implementation to ensure that the UK communications
infrastructure is fit for the demands that will be placed on it
in 2012 and thereafter.
Industrial and Professional to:
-
identify and
assess possible means of encouraging public and private
investment in next generation networks;
-
collate
views on the establishment of political and regulatory regimes
that foster the creation of carrier-neutral, open access
broadband networks in a world where distinctions between fixed
and mobile, cable and wireless are blurring and roaming across
boarders is increasingly commonplace;
-
work with
others, such as the Broadband Stakeholders Group, E-Business
Regulatory Alliance, INTUG and European Internet Foundation, as
well as relevant professional bodies and trade associations to
achieve common objectives.
Work Programme for 2010 and Forthcoming Meetings
-
Provide
material for those who are recently elected to support their roles in policy
formation and scrutiny.
-
Secure the
provision of authoritative guidance and case studies covering the funding
and procurement of networks, (including inter alia state aid and business
rates) across authority, department, agency and public-private boundaries.
That guidance should include the need for resilience, security and quality
of service/support as an integral part of planning/procurement and
performance monitoring.
-
Identify and
where appropriate, create frameworks for identifying, stimulating and
aggregating local demand, building on what has been learned from previous
initiatives, to help reduce risk and improve return on investment.
-
Review the
unintended side effects of the Digital Economy Act, particularly the
sections concerned with the balance between the protection of intellectual
property and open, fair, low cost and socially inclusive access.
-
Assist the
provision of authoritative guidance regarding the security of shared network
services (in co-operation with the E-Crime Group and the Information
Governance sub-group on Security by Design.
-
Co-operation
with the E-Business Regulatory Alliance on consultation and guidance on
proposals for content regulation, in both UK and EU.
-
Monitor and
where appropriate contribute to consultations from the Commission and from
relevant regulatory authorities in UK.
Recent
Meetings
Group
Outputs (Papers & Briefings)
Other Relevant Documents and Links
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