Broadband stakeholder group
Encyclopedia
The Broadband Stakeholder Group is the UK government's advisory body on broadband. Created in 2001 by then Minister for E-Commerce and Competitiveness Stephen Timms
, it provides a neutral forum for organisations across the converging broadband value-chain to discuss and resolve key policy, regulatory and commercial issues, with the ultimate aim of helping to create a strong and competitive UK knowledge economy
.
Its initial focus was on increasing broadband penetration in the UK, before leading a collaborative UK response to the European Commission
's Audio-Visual Media Services Directive. Since late 2006, its primary focus has been the next generation broadband
debate in the UK. Their current work programme was formally launched by Minister for Competitiveness Stephen Timms
in September 2007.
, who was chairman from 2002-2005. Upon stepping down he was replaced by Philip Graf, former Trinity Media CEO. Graf was appointed Deputy Chairman of Ofcom at the end of 2005, and the BSG operated without a chairman until Kip Meek
, a former Ofcom Board Member and Chief Policy Partner, was appointed in February 2007, before leaving in July 2010.
Alongside the next generation broadband debate, the BSG has continued to be active on online content regulation. In early 2008 it facilitated the creation of the 'Audiovisual Content Services Good Practice Principles', a self-regulatory code designed to encourage industry to provide appropriate information regarding audiovisual content, regardless of the platform of delivery. These principles are due to be reviewed in 2009 to examine their effectiveness. The BSG has also continued to work on the implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive in the UK.
Stephen Timms
Stephen Creswell Timms is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for East Ham since 1994. He is a former Cabinet Minister having served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2006 to 2007...
, it provides a neutral forum for organisations across the converging broadband value-chain to discuss and resolve key policy, regulatory and commercial issues, with the ultimate aim of helping to create a strong and competitive UK knowledge economy
Knowledge economy
The knowledge economy is a term that refers either to an economy of knowledge focused on the production and management of knowledge in the frame of economic constraints, or to a knowledge-based economy. In the second meaning, more frequently used, it refers to the use of knowledge technologies to...
.
Its initial focus was on increasing broadband penetration in the UK, before leading a collaborative UK response to the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
's Audio-Visual Media Services Directive. Since late 2006, its primary focus has been the next generation broadband
Next generation access
Next-generation access is term used by British Telecommunications describing a significant upgrade to the telecommunication access network replacing some or all of the copper cable with optical fibre...
debate in the UK. Their current work programme was formally launched by Minister for Competitiveness Stephen Timms
Stephen Timms
Stephen Creswell Timms is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for East Ham since 1994. He is a former Cabinet Minister having served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2006 to 2007...
in September 2007.
Sponsors
The BSG is part funded by industry and government. The current sponsors are:| 3UK |
| Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel-Lucent is a global telecommunications corporation, headquartered in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France. It provides telecommunications solutions to service providers, enterprises, and governments around the world, enabling these customers to deliver voice, data, and video services... |
| Arqiva |
| Avanti Communications |
| BBC BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff... |
| BSkyB |
| BT Group BT Group BT Group plc is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries. Through its BT Global Services division it is a major supplier of... |
| Cisco Cisco Cisco may refer to:Companies:*Cisco Systems, a computer networking company* Certis CISCO, corporatised entity of the former Commercial and Industrial Security Corporation in Singapore... |
| Department for Culture, Media and Sport Department for Culture, Media and Sport The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is a department of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for culture and sport in England, and some aspects of the media throughout the whole UK, such as broadcasting and internet.... |
| Ericsson Ericsson Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks... |
| Geo Networks |
| INCA |
| Intellect |
| ITV ITV ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK... |
| Orange UK Orange UK Orange is a mobile network operator and internet service provider in the United Kingdom, which launched in 1994. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was purchased by France Télécom in 2000, which then adopted the Orange brand for all its other mobile communications activities... |
| O2 O2 (United Kingdom) Telefónica UK Limited is a telecommunications, internet and financial services provider in the United Kingdom owned by Telefónica, forming part of its Telefónica Europe division... |
| TalkTalk Group |
| Thales |
| Virgin Media Virgin Media Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom... |
| Vodafone Vodafone Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of... |
| UK Broadband |
Executive
BSG activity is led by an Executive Committee, which meets every six weeks. The board comprises a representative from each sponsor organisation, along with other repsentatives from the national regulator, other public sector bodies, SMEs, rights holders, consumers, and community broadband groups. The current membership of the Executive committee is:| 3UK |
| Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel-Lucent is a global telecommunications corporation, headquartered in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, France. It provides telecommunications solutions to service providers, enterprises, and governments around the world, enabling these customers to deliver voice, data, and video services... |
| Arqiva |
| Avanti Communications |
| BBC BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff... |
| BSkyB |
| BT Group BT Group BT Group plc is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries. Through its BT Global Services division it is a major supplier of... |
| Communications Consumer Panel |
| Confederation of British Industry Confederation of British Industry The Confederation of British Industry is a British not for profit organisation incorporated by Royal charter which promotes the interests of its members, some 200,000 British businesses, a figure which includes some 80% of FTSE 100 companies and around 50% of FTSE 350 companies.-Role:The CBI works... |
| Cisco Cisco Cisco may refer to:Companies:*Cisco Systems, a computer networking company* Certis CISCO, corporatised entity of the former Commercial and Industrial Security Corporation in Singapore... |
| Department for Culture, Media and Sport Department for Culture, Media and Sport The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is a department of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for culture and sport in England, and some aspects of the media throughout the whole UK, such as broadcasting and internet.... |
| Ericsson Ericsson Ericsson , one of Sweden's largest companies, is a provider of telecommunication and data communication systems, and related services, covering a range of technologies, including especially mobile networks... |
| Everything Everywhere Everything Everywhere Everything Everywhere Limited is a mobile network operator and internet service provider company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest mobile network operator in the UK, with around 28 million customers... |
| Geo Networks |
| INCA |
| Intellect |
| ITV ITV ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK... |
| Ofcom Ofcom Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003... |
| O2 O2 O2, o2, O2, or O2 may refer to:- Companies :* O2 Global Network, an international network for sustainable design* O2TV, a Russian independent socially-political TV channel... |
| Phonographic Performance Limited Phonographic Performance Limited PPL is the London-based United Kingdom music licensing company which undertakes collective rights management of recorded music and music videos for public performance, broadcast and new media use... |
| TalkTalk Group |
| Thales |
| Virgin Media Virgin Media Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom... |
| Vodafone Vodafone Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of... |
| UK Broadband |
Advisory Council
In addition to the Executive Committee, an advisory council meets 2-3 times per year to discuss industry developments. The advisory council is made up of senior representatives from the sponsor organisations.BSG Chairs
The BSG has had three independent chairmen since its creation. Its first chairman was Keith Todd, a former ICL CEO, appointed by e-Commerce Minister Douglas AlexanderDouglas Alexander
Douglas Garven Alexander is a British Labour Party politician, who is currently the Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in the shadow cabinet of Ed Miliband. He has held cabinet posts under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, including Secretary of State for Scotland and...
, who was chairman from 2002-2005. Upon stepping down he was replaced by Philip Graf, former Trinity Media CEO. Graf was appointed Deputy Chairman of Ofcom at the end of 2005, and the BSG operated without a chairman until Kip Meek
Kip Meek
Kip Meek , full name Kingsley John Neville Meek, is a British businessperson specialising in media and telecommunication.Kip Meek held board level roles at Ofcom from 2003 until 2007...
, a former Ofcom Board Member and Chief Policy Partner, was appointed in February 2007, before leaving in July 2010.
Recent Work
The BSG has focused on next generation broadband issues since the end of 2006. Its position has been that government and the regulator should leave investment in telecommunications infrastructure to the market, a position that has come under scrutiny for not fully considering the social value of broadband. The BSG has published a number of reports on the issue as part of its advisory role to government. In April 2007 it published 'Pipe Dreams? Prospects for next generation broadband in the UK'. In June 2008, it published two further reports that built on the themes in Pipe Dreams: 'A Framework for Evaluating the Value of Next Generation Broadband' and 'Models for efficient and effective public sector intervention in next generation broadband access infrastructure'. In September 2008 the BSG published 'The costs of deploying fibre-based next generation broadband infrastructure' as an input to the UK government's independent review of next generation broadband in the UK, led by former Cable and Wireless CEO Francesco Caio. During this time the BSG has also responded to two Ofcom consultations on next generation broadband regulation, as well as European Commission consultation on the same subject.Alongside the next generation broadband debate, the BSG has continued to be active on online content regulation. In early 2008 it facilitated the creation of the 'Audiovisual Content Services Good Practice Principles', a self-regulatory code designed to encourage industry to provide appropriate information regarding audiovisual content, regardless of the platform of delivery. These principles are due to be reviewed in 2009 to examine their effectiveness. The BSG has also continued to work on the implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive in the UK.