Report co-authored with Dr Gordon Ramsay, Dr Sami Stouli and Stephen Adshead Plum undertook a study for the UK Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) that examined the current status of the local newspaper market and its relationship to democratic participation (measure by local election turnout). The study also included an extensive overview[…]
The project provides an assessment of the broadcasting, electronic communication and spectrum regulation in the UK (including the UK Electronic Communications Code) and the risks that may arise from the current legislation/regulation and possible future changes. It considers all parts of business that fall under the legislation of these sectors.
In the developed world there is now strong convergence between the retail pay TV markets and the retail broadband markets in which suppliers in both markets increasingly compete for the spend of the same consumers. This trend is likely to continue as the capability of fixed and mobile broadband networks continues to improve rapidly over[…]
Free TV is an industry body in Australia which represents terrestrial television broadcasters. Against the possibility of the regulator introducing AIP fees to broadcasting spectrum in Australia, Plum was commissioned to compile a report into the use of AIP for broadcasting in the UK, examining the arguments that had been presented for and against AIP[…]
In 2016, Vodafone New Zealand and Sky Network Television Limited proposed to merge their businesses, and applied to the New Zealand Commerce Commission (NZCC) for clearance. Under the New Zealand Commerce Act 1986, the NZCC can grant clearance if it is satisfied that the Proposed Transaction will not have the effect or likely effect of[…]
We undertook a number of modelling studies for Ofcom in 2014-2015, to inform their policy on technical conditions relating to the release of 700 MHz broadcast spectrum for mobile use. The most likely band-plan involved the user equipment (UE) handsets transmitting at frequencies immediately above the remaining broadcast allocation, with base stations assigned spectrum higher[…]
We have provided specialist technical advice to ‘Digital Mobile Spectrum Limited’, the UK body charged with managing issues of LTE to DTT interference at 800 MHz LTE. This work has involved a number of strands including; the development of algorithms and computer models for the site-specific prediction of interference from mobile base stations to domestic DTT receivers;[…]
In order to identify where spectrum in the UHF bands could be made available for mobile broadband, Plum surveyed the television broadcasting markets across the Middle East and calculated how a move to digital television could free up significant amounts of spectrum in the sub-800MHz bands. Starting with the assumption that the number of channels[…]
Plum carried out a major study for the board of the IFT – the telecommunications and broadcasting regulator – in Mexico. In March 2014 the newly formed IFT declared AMX a preponderant economic agent in the telecommunications sector and Televisa a preponderant economic agent in the broadcasting sector, with a review of market conditions after[…]
Plum estimated the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) for broadcast transmission services on a ten year forward looking basis for the Office of the Adjudicator Broadcast Transmission Services. The assessment took into account differences between broadcast transmission and other regulated industries including the existence of long-term contracts and future risks to broadcast transmission due[…]