The Convergence Think Tank (CTT) has been set up to examine the impact of convergence on the UK Communications market and the implications for future policy, regulatory and legislative frameworks.

It intends to produce a report to Government in early 2009, which will highlight the key opportunities and issues; it could recommend new legislation.

We hope that a wide range of stakeholders will have an interest in the work of the CTT, from consumer groups, to companies in industries including television, radio, telecoms, gaming, and online services.

We set out here issues identified by the CTT so far. We encourage stakeholders to give their views on some or all of the issues and to highlight others that they believe are relevant to our work. You can do so by contributing to our series of seminars, by making written submissions or by meeting with us. For more information on how to get involved, please contact the team at convergence@culture.gsi.gov.uk. All submissions will be made publicly available, unless otherwise requested.

A list of those who have contributed will be published on our website (http://www.culture.gov.uk/Convergence).

Open and fair markets

We believe that open and fair markets are most likely to provide the best climate for innovation and growth in the media and communications sector and in the UK economy as a whole.

We also believe that ensuring there is a flexible statutory and regulatory framework for businesses is the best way to deal with any uncertainty that may affect the communications market, particularly as a consequence of the increasing pace of change in the sector.

1. What regulation, if any, is required to ensure there is a competitive climate at every stage of the value chain?
   
   
   1. The current regulatory and licensing regime differentiates between platforms and/or services. Should there be one harmonised regulatory regime across all areas or are there areas where a different regime might be necessary?
      
      
   2. To what extent, and in which areas, will ex ante competition regulation continue to be required as markets converge? Are new bottlenecks or issues emerging that might warrant attention, e.g. around spectrum use?
      
      
   3. Are the current media ownership rules appropriate for converged markets?
      
      
2. How can we ensure competitive access to networks for content and service providers and other users?
   
   
   1. What are the issues for business models between content providers and network providers? What role, if any, is there for government in resolving these issues or facilitating innovation?
      
      
   2. Is interoperability important? Will the market deliver it?
      

The Convergence Think Tank will liaise with the following relevant initiatives, to ensure a coordinated approach, sharing information received where relevant and appropriate.

• The Caio review, which is looking at the barriers to private sector investment in Next Generation Access to broadband in the UK
  
  
• DCMS's Digital Radio Working Group , which is discussing the future of digital radio
  
  
• The UK team implementing the EC Audiovisual Media Services Directive
  
  
• The review of the EC Regulatory Framework for Electronic Communications Networks and Services.

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Empower citizens and consumers

Convergence provides consumers and citizens with a greater choice of content and services and gives them increased flexibility in where, when and how content and services are consumed.

This gives rise to the following considerations:

3. Is there a role for government in ensuring the widest possible availability and take up of the new converged services? Should this extend to universal service obligations for converged services? If so, which services and why?
   
   
4. How best can government act to mitigate the potential risks to consumers and citizens that come with the opportunities presented by convergence? Are there particular areas in which it is important to ensure citizens are sufficiently media literate? If so, how should this be achieved?
   
   
5. How can we enable consumers to make informed choices?
   
   
   1. What is the best way to limit the risk to consumers of unfair or invasive practices related to converged services e.g. concerning privacy, product descriptions, use of consumer data? Is there a need for regulation?
      
      
   2. Is there a need for specific regulation to enable better enforcement of regulation against illegal communications activities, e.g. phishing?
      
      
   3. What is the right way to deal with issues of illegal and/or potentially harmful internet content, in a fast-moving and global environment?  The Byron review looked at many of these issues, and new ways of handling them will be developed with the setting up of the UK Council for Child Internet Safety.  But it would be useful to consider what tools (e.g. filtering, labelling, media literacy) are available to Government, industry and consumers to protect people in the online environment, the effectiveness of these tools, and the appropriate legal or self-regulatory framework for their deployment.
      
      
   4. How far shall we legislate and how far shall we encourage business to self regulate?

The Convergence Think Tank will liaise with relevant government initiatives in this area, including the implementation of the Byron Review , and the work of Paul Murphy, where necessary to ensure a coordinated approach.

Ensure high quality, public service content is provided

We believe that universal access to high quality content remains important. We continue to support the aims of PSB and will prepare options for government on the future of PSB, building on the Ofcom PSB review.

6. Is what constitutes "public service" different in a converged world?
   
   
7. What institutions are required to deliver such content? Is plurality important?
   
   
8. What funding and institutional schemes should support these institutions? What would be the impact on upstream markets, e.g. content producers?
   
   
9. What combination of platforms is necessary to secure universal access?
   
   
10. Should Government stimulate take-up of public service content? How do we address the "discoverability" issue?

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Other relevant issues

We welcome stakeholder views on any other important issues with potential public policy or regulatory implications that are raised by convergence and not outlined above.

We also welcome views on lessons that can be learnt from other countries.