Jeremy Hunt’s Open Letter invites public input into the review of the UK communications sector.  Yet it’s harder than you think to participate – just moments ago I attempted to add my response to the Open Letter (copied below) but was informed that the deadline had already passed.

Granted, it was the last minute – but shouldn’t public consulations be open until the last minute?  If the consultation really wants to hear from the public, and stakeholders, it should make it easier for us to participate.

My remarks below are made entirely in a personal capacity, and are not those of the Media Policy Project. – Alison Powell.

UPDATE – I received a very nice personal invitation from a DCMS staffer inviting me to submit my response late.

Responses to Jeremy Hunt’s Open Letter on the Communication Review

Is the current mix of regulation, competition and Government intervention right to stimulate investment in communications networks?

The government needs to properly define lightweight rules that ensure that next generation networks as well as internet services are accessible to a wide range of potential innovators, including the digital media sectors mentioned in Question 12.

What barriers are there to innovation in new digital media sectors, including video games, tele-medicine, local television and education?

Videogames and tele-medicine innovations depend on being able to access robust, open, NGA networks and high speed broadband networks. If the UK is perceived as favouring incumbent operators or not protecting net neutrality, it will become less attractive to these industries. The video game and visual effects industries, in particular, depend on access to open networks.

Secondarily, visual effects and video game industries are, like many creative industries, dependent on highly skilled, mobile labour. It is essential that the UK maintain sensible immigration rules for highly skilled migrants in order not to fall behind in its ability to attract and maintain core talent.

Where has self- and co-regulation worked successfully and what can be learnt from specific approaches? Where specific approaches haven’t worked, how can the framework of content regulation be made sufficiently coherent and not create barriers to growth, but at the same time protect citizens and enable consumer confidence?

While growth is important to securing the UK’s financial future, the Communications Act must also ensure that it secures the rights of citizens. In the current regulatory environment, the interest of citizens is largely described in terms of their interests as consumers. This description stresses the passivity of consumers For example, the initial response to calls for open and neutral networks in the UK has, in contrast to the Net Neutrality laws passed elsewhere in the UK, has focused primarily on informing consumers of the limits to their communication services. This creates a paradox in which operators transparently inform consumers of the limits of their broadband services. The Ofcom board has on more than one occasion affirmed the importance of ensuring that consumers are informed about the speed limitations of their broadband connections. Ultimately though the interests of consumers and citizens are not well served as it is not possible in the UK, in contrast to other markets, to access a truly open broadband service (Powell and Cooper, forthcoming)

One of the foundations of contemporary innovation has been the rise of the ‘pro-sumer’ – or producer-consumer who is empowered to participate in creation of services. This idea, at the heart of the ideals of the Big Society, extends into the new media realm as well. Bruns (2009) identifies that in new media environments, participants become ‘prod-users’ who can contribute to the media environment.. These citizen practices can form the backdrop to an innovative economy based on new internet-based applications, according to Bruns. Yet the fact that all operators in the UK manage or throttle the internet in some way limits this potential. Potential web entrepreneurs must contend with a range of internet services where their access to their future customers is hidden by a set of ISP terms and conditions. The only way to address this potential barrier to innovation is to establish real baselines for net neutrality in which it is possible to access broadband internet access that is free from control over applications used, source, and destination of internet traffic.

In order to create an environment more conducive to growth, citizens need to see that their actions are supported by the government, and that they can take advantage of open next generation access without fear of unfounded disconnection. In other words, they need to be treated as citizens, and facilitated in enjoying their rights to communicate in ways that will also contribute to an open, dynamic new media economy.