OFCOM

What is OFCOM?

The Office of Communications (OFCOM) is the independent regulatory body overseeing the 'communications industry', including the distinct areas of telecommunications and broadcasting.

OFCOM was established by the Office of Communications Act 2002 and empowered under the Communications Act 2003 to take over the functions of the Broadcasting Standards Commission, the Independent Television Commission, the Office for Telecommunications, the Radio Authority and the Radiocommunications Agency, along with a range of new functions.

OFCOM is legally a 'statutory corporation', like the other independent regulators. It does not report directly to Parliament but has links to the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.


Background

The Labour Government set out its plans for telecoms and broadcasting regulation in the Communications White Paper of December 2000, in response to the dramatic acceleration of telecommunications and broadcasting technology, increased competition and diversity in those industries, and their increasing convergence in new media.

The Communications Act gave OFCOM powers to regulate telecoms licensing (under a completely new system), radio spectrum allocation, the development of new broadcasting technologies and the switch from analogue to digital broadcasting, the content of broadcast media programmes, the economic conduct of both industries, and mergers and acquisitions in the media, including newspapers.

The Communications Act has completely restructured the nature of the telecoms industry in the UK, replacing the old licensing system with one where companies operate under 'general conditions of entitlement' detailed in the provisions of the Act.

The move towards deregulation was spurred by the supranational guidance of the EU, which adopted four new directives in 2002 on framework, authorisation, access and interconnection, and universal services.

OFCOM has two general duties set out in the Communications Act: to further the interests of citizens, and to further consumer interests in relevant markets, by promoting competition where appropriate.


Controversies

OFCOM has been labelled a 'super regulator' because it carries out the work previously done by five separate bodies, as well as exercising some functions previously reserved to the Secretary of State.

During pre-legislative scrutiny and the passage of the Communications Bill, the size of the Office was a major source of debate: concerns were voiced that the range and diversity of duties invested in OFCOM would lead to a decline in the quality of regulation. What supporters of the Bill saw as duplications of functions between the old regulators, opponents saw as critical reservoirs of sector-specific expertise.

Today, OFCOM is responsible for regulating widely different subject areas: ranging from the economic regulation of telecoms, based partly on competition law and partly on sector-specific rules, through to taste and decency in TV broadcasting.

It was repeatedly promised during the Bill's passage that OFCOM's regulation in all areas would be 'light touch', and that OFCOM would act far more rapidly than its predecessors - something critical in industries as rapidly moving as telecoms and broadcasting.

Another source of controversy is the virtual exclusion of the BBC from the regulatory control of OFCOM. The independent broadcast media were outraged at this perceived special treatment, which would continue to be regulated by the Board of Governors for its non-commercial operations.

Nonetheless, in late 2003, OFCOM launched a review of public service broadcasting - just as the process of Charter Review at the BBC began.


Statistics

The Communications Bill took 300 hours of Parliamentary debate, 500 amendments and over three years from the first stages of its planning to implementation

Members of the OFCOM Board are appointed by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport for a period of between three and five years

Statistic 1: (Source: OFCOM chief executive Stephen Carter, January 2004); Statistic 2: (Source: OFCOM, 2004)


Quotes

"The UK is leading the world in establishing an integrated, world-class regulator that will set the conditions for the UK communications industry to flourish."

Lord Currie of St Marylebone, OFCOM Chairman, on his appointment, June 2002