Dossier

Media Industry Facing Convergence

Martin CAVE
Spectrum Management and Broadcasting: Current Issues
Key words: : spectrum management; broadcasting policy; digital switchover

Broadcasting policy has traditionally been supported by a 'command-and-control' system of assigning frequencies for terrestrial transmission, but this link is being eroded by the emergence of other technologies – cable, satellite, IPTV, mobile broadcasting - and by the emergence of multi-channel television, which is facilitated by digital terrestrial television.  The switch off of analogue terrestrial transmission is being achieved through significant government intervention, but with diverse intentions relating to the use of the freed spectrum.  It is argued, however, that the trend to liberalise spectrum policy is strong, and that this will promote the liberalisation of broadcasting.

Olivier BOMSEL & Anne-Gaëlle GEFFROY
DRMs, Innovation and Creation
Key words: copyright, distribution, DRMs, network effects

DRMs are intellectual property institutions. They transpose the empirical principle of copyright, which implicitly recognizes that specific ownership rules should be attached to non scientific creation, into the digital era. The legal protection of DRMs, a private means of enforcing content excludability, participates in the "privatization" of copyright protection. This, in turn, means that a proprietary software — governed by intellectual property rights, reinforced by public law — becomes the key to the vertical relations shaped by exclusive copyright. DRMs consequently represent a major stake in the competition to capture network effects in the content distribution vertical chain.

Emili PRADO & David FERNÁNDEZ
The Role of Public Service Broadcasters in the Era of Convergence
A Case Study of Televisió de Catalunya
Key words: convergence, public service broadcasting, interactive TV, bandwidth, 3G services, multimedia and digital divide.

The development of the convergence process has several implications in the reconfiguration of the media landscape. Public services broadcasters have new opportunities to fulfil their public service duties in a new competitive environment, which involves developing new applications on new platforms. Televisió de Catalunya, the public service broadcaster (PSB) of Catalonia, has developed a clear strategy in this new convergent environment, applying its traditional know-how to new interactive and digital media according to its public mission and getting positive feedback.

Alexander SCHEUER
Traditional paradigms for new services?
The Commission Proposal for a 'Audiovisual Media Services Directive
Key words: Convergence, digital television, new audiovisual media services, EU media regulatory policy, revision of TWF Directive, electronic communications, broadcasting.

For over 10 years the European Community has strived to develop suitable and proportionate answers to the phenomenon of convergence in its audiovisual regulatory policy. This article outlines the regulatory process at an EU level since the early 1980s as far as media, telecommunications and Information Society services are concerned, and analyses some of the most relevant policy papers specifically related to the adoption of the EC legal framework for the media in the digital age, before focusing on the preparatory phase leading up to the adoption of the Commission proposal for a Directive on "Audiovisual Media Services", issued in December 2005. In addition, the core of this proposal for a revised "Television without Frontiers" Directive, i.e. the extension of its scope to cover new media services provided in a non-linear manner and the introduction of a graduated regime of regulation with a lighter-touch approach in view of such services, is presented along with the main lines of debate among stakeholders.

Laurence MEYER
Three scenarios for TV in 2015
Key words: television, forecast, media usages.

By offering three visions of the future of television through 2015, this article aims to highlight some of the socio-economic changes that the television sector may experience in the long term. It highlights the structuring impact that PVR could have on the sector, as well as the upheavals that may arise from a new paradigm of internet TV. It also highlights the options now open to TV channel operators wishing to set up a mobile TV service and the threats facing mobile telecommunications operators in the development of this market as a result.

Alternative Wireless Technologies
Status, Trends and Policy Implications for Europe
Sven LINDMARK, Pieter BALLON, Colin BLACKMAN, Erik BOHLIN, Simon FORGE & Uta WEHN de MONTALVO
Key words: mobile communications, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, Ultra Wide Band, mesh and ad-hoc networks, UMTS-TDD, Flash OFDM, Europe, policy.

Besides 3G, a number of alternative wireless technologies (AWTs) have emerged. Such AWTs create new growth opportunities, but may also constitute a disruptive threat to existing networks and their supporting communities. The objectives of this paper are firstly to map AWTs' deployment and current trends, drivers and bottlenecks in Europe; and secondly to identify policy implications for Europe. Specifically, we consider: WLAN / Wi-Fi, UWB, WiMAX, Flash OFDM, UMTS-TDD and mesh / ad-hoc networking technologies. Policy recommendations relating to R&D encouragement, stimulating competition and encouraging market entry, spectrum allocation and standard-setting are brought forward.

Alexandre de STREEL ACKNOLO
The Scope of Economic Sector Regulation in Electronic Communications
Key words: Regulation, electronic communications, market failures, balance between antitrust and sector regulation and emerging markets.

This paper proposes a market-based approach relying on a combination of selection criteria and antitrust methodology to determine the scope of economic regulation and its balance with competition law. It suggests a clarified three criteria test related to the presence of high non-transitory and non-strategic entry barriers that are mainly of an economic nature, the absence of dynamic competition behind those barriers and a cross-checking criterion related to the insufficiency of antitrust remedies to solve the identified problems. The paper recalls the importance of using use antitrust methodology adapted to the characteristics of the sector and also suggests some clarification of the regulation of emerging markets. This article draws a distinction between retail services and the underlying wholesale infrastructures, and proposes that all wholesale access products used for the provision of similar retail services should be dealt with in the same way, independently of the infrastructures in question (the old copper pair or an upgraded VSDL network). The paper concludes that only wholesale access products used to provide new retail services should possibly escape regulation.

James ALLEMAN is a professor in the College of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Colorado, Boulder. In the fall of 2005 Dr. Alleman was a visiting scholar at IDATE in Montpellier, France; previously, he was a visiting professor at the Graduate School of Business, Columbia University, and director of research at Columbia Institute of Tele-Information (CITI). Professor Alleman continues his involvement at CITI in research projects as a senior fellow. He has also served as the director of the International Center for Telecommunications Management at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, director of policy research for GTE, and an economist for the International Telecommunication Union. Dr. Alleman was also the founder of Paragon Service International, Inc., a telecommunications call-back firm and has been granted patents (numbers 5,883,964 & 6,035,027) on the call-back process widely used by the industry.

Jacques BAJON is Senior consultant in Television and medias at lDATE. His missions are focused on the television and internet sphere in which he conducts strategic and sector-based studies. He is also active in the new TV services domains and follows up the roll out of new TV delivery networks. He previously worked as a freelance writer for the Eurostaf group, carrying out market research and analysis on groups in the media and telecommunications sectors. He has also gained market analyst experience from working with Ericsson. Jacques Bajon holds a post-graduate research degree (DEA) in international economics (University Paris X Nanterre)
j.bajon@idate.org

Pieter BALLON is senior consultant at TNO-ICT, the ICT institute of the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research. He is also programme manager at the centre for Studies on Media, Information and Telecommunication (SMIT), Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He specialises in innovations in fixed and wireless broadband services and the political economy of telecommunications, on which topics he has published extensively. Pieter Ballon holds degrees in modern history (Catholic University of Leuven) and in library and information science (University of Antwerp). Currently he is coordinator of the cross issue "business modelling" for the various integrated projects of the Wireless World Initiative within the 6th European Framework Programme.

Colin BLACKMAN is an independent consultant, editor and writer specialising in foresight and analysis of information age issues. He is the founding editor of info and foresight, chief editor of Shaping Tomorrow and was formerly editor of Telecommunications Policy. He works with a wide variety of clients including the European Commission's Institute for Prospective and Technological Studies, DG Information Society and Media, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, the OECD, the International Telecommunication Union and the World Bank. His recent private sector clients include European and global players in the telecommunications and energy sectors.

Erik BOHLIN is currently Head and Associate Professor ("Docent") at the Division of Technology & Society, Department of Technology Management & Economics at Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg. He has published in a number of areas relating to the information society including policy, strategy, and management. He is Chair of the International Telecommunications Society, as well as a member of the Scientific Advisory Boards of COMMUNICATIONS & STRATEGIES, Info and Telecommunications Policy. Erik Bohlin graduated in Business Administration and Economics from the Stockholm School of Economics (1987) and holds a Ph.D. from the Chalmers University of Technology (1995).
erbo@mot.chalmers.se

Olivier BOMSEL is Professor of Industrial Economics at the Ecole des Mines and a senior researcher at Cerna, the school's Centre of Industrial Economics. His background is in computer science engineering (Ecole des Mines de Saint Etienne) and he also holds a PhD in industrial economics. Since 1997 his research has dealt with digital innovation dynamics through networks and media economics. On top of his activities at the Ecole des Mines, Olivier Bomsel is co-founder of TaboTabo Films, a media company producing films and TV series.

Martin CAVE is Professor at Warwick Business School at the University of Warwick in the UK. He specialises in regulatory economics and is the author of numerous articles. Martin Cave is also co-editor of the Handbook of Telecommunications Economics (Elsevier, 2002 and 2005) and of Digital Television (Edward Elgar, 2006). He advises a number of regulators and is President of Thinktel, an international think tank in the field of communications based in Milan.

Peter CURWEN is Visiting Professor of Telecommunications Strategy attached to the Department of Management Science at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and an independent author and consultant. He was previously Professor of Business Economics at Sheffield Hallam University. He has published several books on telecommunications, including The Future of Mobile Telecommunications: Awaiting the third generation (London: Macmillan, 2002) and with Jason Whalley Telecommunications Strategy: Cases, theory and applications (London: Routledge, 2004). His specialist area is mobile telecommunications, and he has published extensively on this subject (often with Dr. Whalley) including articles in COMMUNICATIONS & STRATEGIES, Telecommunications Policy and Info.

Jean-Pierre DARDAYROL joined the CGTI (Conseil général des technologies de l'information) in 2003 as a senior advisor in the field of ICT, specialising in software industries and usage innovations. He is also a research fellow at Grenoble MSH-Alpes (CNRS), President of Standarmedia and at CARSI (Carcassonne ICT summer University and Grenoble winter University). Jean-Pierre Dardyrol graduated from the Ecole polytechnique in 1972 and ENST-Paris in 1977.

Ariane DELVOIE is Attorney at law in Paris, Senior associate in the Alain Bensoussan Law Firm. Specialized both in consulting and litigation in computer agreements issues and intellectual property law in France as in the common law countries. She is author of numerous articles related to IT news, notably in: la Gazette du Palais des technologies avancées, l'Informatique Professionnel, ExpertIT News, I-Date, Information & Systèmes. She regularly participates in seminars and conferences and also provides in-house training.
Ariane-delvoie@alain-bensoussan.com

Anne DUCHÊNE is currently a post-doctoral fellow at the University of British Columbia and is due to take up a position as assistant professor at Drexel University in autumn 2006. She earned her PhD from CERAS-Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, after graduate studies at University of Paris I - La Sorbonne. Her current research focuses on intellectual property rights, and more specifically on internet piracy, agency relationships in the patent industry and the (dis)functionning of patent offices.

David FERNÁNDEZ graduated in audiovisual communication from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He is currently working on his PhD at the GRISS in the Department of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising at the University of Barcelona. In this context David Fernández is investigating several research projects related to cultural industries, online media, peer-to-peer communication and interactive television services, as well as other projects on traditional media. He has also developed a career as a journalist and a producer in the press, radio, television and the multimedia sector.

Simon FORGE has some 30 years of experience working in the information industries on projects in telecommunications and computing, specifically exploring new wireless and computing technologies and potential futures, outcomes and strategies for markets, products, companies, countries and regions. He recently led a European Commission study on future spectrum usage for EU input to the ITU WRC-07 deliberations (downloadable, http://fms.jrc.es) for EC/JRC/IPTS and DG Info Soc and has studied policy, legal and economic issues of open source software on behalf of the EC as input to EU policy formulation on OSS. He is currently leading a study of the legal and commercial aspects of Grid computing industrialisation. Previously, Simon Forge managed delivery of IT and telecommunications systems as Director of IT Development for Consumer and Business Products for Hutchison 3G UK, developing mobile multimedia products. He holds a Ph.D, in digital signal processing, a MSc and a BSc in Control Engineering, all from University of Sussex, UK, is Chartered Engineer and M. IEE, and sits on the editorial board of the Journal Info.

Anne-Gaëlle GEFFROY is currently a Ph.D student at CERNA, the Centre of Industrial Economics of the Ecole des Mines de Paris. She also holds a batchelor's degree in economics from the Ecole Normale Supérieure. Anne-Gaëlle Geffroy's research focuses on the economics of DRMs and addresses issues such as compatibility and standardization, vertical relations in the media chain and digital copyright laws.

Klaus W. GREWLICH is Professor of International Law & Communications at the Center of European Integration Studies at Bonn University. He is also a member of the high level ICT-Policy Advisors to the Secretary General of the United Nations in New York. From 1990 to 1995 Prof. Grewlich was Executive Vice President (International Business) and a board member of Deutsche Telekom. From 1996 to 1998 he was Director General and a board member of an Industrial Federation in Brussels. In 2001 Prof. Grewlich was appointed Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany after serving in Baku, New York and Bukarest.
kwgr@gmx.de

Bernard GUILLOU has been active in the field of international media and telecommunications for nearly thirty years, with a particular focus on regulation, industry development and the strategies of multimedia companies. In 2003 he founded Mediawise+, a strategic advice and research firm serving key players in those two industries. Prior to this Guillou spent a number of years with the Canal+ pay-TV group, firstly as Director of International Development and subsequently as Group Director of Corporate Strategy. Prior to joining Canal+, Bernard Guillou was head of the video services division at the Prospective and Economic Studies Unit of France Telecom. He is a member of the Editorial Committee of COMMUNICATIONS & STRATEGIES and the Euro-Conference for Policy and Regulation. He is the author and co-author of three books on the strategies of multimedia companies and broadcasting regulation in Europe and the USA. He holds degrees from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales and the Paris-Dauphine University.

Rémy LE CHAMPION is an associate professor at the University Paris II and a researcher at CARISM. He holds a Ph.D in economics from the University Paris X, as well as a post-doctorate from Keio University in Tokyo, Japan. He was previously a visiting researcher at the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information in New York, USA, and headed the research department of the Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel in France. He currently works as an independent expert for the European Commission. His research interests include media economics and new media (TV, programming, LPTV, press). He is the author of numerous publications, and most recently Télévision de pénurie, télévision d'abondance, with Benoît Danard, La télévision sur Internet, with Michel Agnola.
remylc@noos.fr

Evelyne LENTZEN is currently President of the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel (CSA) in Belgium. Before taking up this post in 1997, Ms. Lentzen was editor-in-chief of the Centre de recherches et d'information socio-politique (CRISP), a Belgian research centre whose activities are devoted to the study of political and economic decision-making in Belgium and in Europe. Ms. Lentzen holds a B.A. in politics from the Université libre de Bruxelles.

Sven LINDMARK is assistant professor and head of the Division of Innovation Engineering and Management at Chalmers University of Technology, where he lectures on the management and economics of innovation in the ICT sector. He holds MSc and Ph. D degrees in Industrial Management. His research interests include a broad range of innovation-related issues, including industrial and technological change, standardization, innovation systems and the diffusion of innovations and forecasting. He has worked extensively in the field of mobile communications, including studies on the history of the sector, mobile internet services in Japan and Europe, 3G and 4G mobile systems, barriers to the diffusion of mobile internet services and the evolution and state of the Swedish telecom innovation system.

Marie MARCHAND has studied the field of new information technologies and their impact on corporate strategy for many years. After managing France Telecom's market forecast department, she was subsequently appointed marketing director at Cap Gemini. She has taught at Stanford University and is now a consultant. In this capacity she works with large corporations to help them adapt their strategies to the generalisation of the internet and to use if as a management tool in their daily business.

Laurence MEYER joined IDATE in November 1998 as senior consultant in the Media Economics department. She specialises in structural analysis, sector-based economic forecasts and the evaluation of public policies. As projects director at IDATE, Laurence Meyer's missions are primarily focused on the different domains of the Television world, the mid-term risks and potential in this sector (Digital TV, Interactive TV, IPTV, Personal TV and VOD services, …). In this context, she is frequently involved in Europe-wide strategic missions. Previously, she was a consultant at the French economic study and forecasting company B.I.P.E. where she monitored the different Communication markets. This experience has also endowed her with skills in the Cinema, Internet and Telecommunications for audiovisual services sectors, as well as in the field of  Consumer Electronics.  Laurence Meyer is an economic engineer and holds a post-graduate professional diploma (Magistère) from Aix-Marseille II University of Economics (1991).
l.meyer@idate.org

Jean-Gustave PADIOLEAU is associate professor at University Paris-Dauphine and senior researcher at GEMAS-Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme (Paris). He has written several academic books and articles and regularly contributes to newspapers and reviews such as Les Echos, Libération and Le Débat. He is also a member of COMMUNICATIONS & STRATEGIES Scientific Committee.

Martin PEITZ is Professor of Economics and Quantitative Methods at the International University in Germany. Martin Peitz received his doctorate in economics from the University of Bonn. He is an associate editor of Information Economics & Policy, a research fellow of CESifo and ENCORE, and has published numerous articles in leading economics journals. His current research focuses on the media, entertainment, and telecommunications markets, as well as the understanding of reputation in markets.

Emili PRADO is Professor of Audiovisual Communication at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a research associate at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the director of EUROMONITOR and USAMONITOR (Television International Observatories), which been doing research on TV programming since 1989. He is the Director of the Image, Sound and Synthesis Research Group (GRISS), which is working on various projects ranging from the consumption of screen-mediated communication to the acoustic model of credibility, interactive television and political communication. He has been a visiting professor at the universities of Quebec, Montreal, Sao Paulo, Bordeaux and Pisa.

Alexander SCHEUER completed studies in law at the University of Saarland, Germany, (1987-1993), and the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, (1990/91). In 1994 he was appointed Vice-General Manager of the law section of the Europa-Institut at the University of Saarland.  From 1997 to 2000 Alexander Scheuer was Vice-General Manager of the Institute of European Media Law (EMR), in Saarbrucken/Brussels, where he became General Manager and member of the Executive Board in 2000. The same year, he was admitted to the bar. Scheuer is a member of the Advisory Committee and of the IRIS' Editorial Board, both at the European Audiovisual Observatory, Strasbourg. In 2003 he became a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Voluntary Self-Regulation of Private Televisions in Germany (FSF), Berlin. Alexander Scheuer has also written and contributed to a large number of studies and other publications on European media law.

Alexandre de STREEL ACKNOLO is a lecturer at the economic faculty of the University of Namur (Belgium) and a researcher at the law department of the European University Institute of Florence (Italy). His research interests focus on electronic communications regulation and competition policy. From 2000 to 2003 he was an expert at the European Commission, where he was involved in the negotiation of the new regulatory framework. Alexandre de Streel has published extensively on this topic in both telecommunications and antitrust reviews (World Competition, European Competition Law Review, Journal of Network Industries, Info, Cahiers de droit europeen, Journal des Tribunaux de droit europeen). He holds a degree in law (University of Brussels) and in economics (University of Louvain).

Patrick WAELBROECK is a lecturer at Télécom Paris - Ecole nationale supérieure des télécommunications. He earned his Ph.D from the University of Paris La Sorbonne. He also holds an M.A. from Yale University and is a Fulbright alumnus. His current research proposes both empirical and theoretical perspectives on internet piracy and technological protection in creative industries.

Uta WHEN de MONTALVO is senior researcher and advisor on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy at TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research). Previously, she worked as a research officer in SPRU – Science and Technology Policy Research and as a programmer for IBM UK Ltd. She holds a DPhil in Science and Technology Policy from the University of Sussex (UK). Her research focuses on new ICT services with a special interest in business models for location-based services and spatial data policy.