Traditionally, an incumbent telecoms operator is vertically integrated and delivers all functions – network build and operations; product design and development; and retail sales and service. This integration carries a tension between the incumbent’s role as provider of wholesale services to its competitors, and its activities as a retail competitor. Around the world regulators and[…]
Report co-authored with Stephen Adshead The Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) commissioned Plum Consulting to provide an independent analysis of the structure of the online advertising sector; the movement of data, content and money through the online advertising value chain; and potential harms that can arise from online advertising. This work feeds[…]
The UK’s Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) currently provides voice services to millions of households in the UK, and the underlying analogue technology also supports a range of data services for both domestic and non-domestic applications. However, the analogue/electrical based network technology that currently enables the PSTN is coming to the end of its life[…]
On June 19th Ofcom published a document seeking expressions of interest from telecommunications operators to become providers of the UK’s broadband universal service. This Insight paper provides a commentary on the document, discussing the specification of the USO, how it is to be funded and the questions yet to be answered. Plum’s understanding of the[…]
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) enacted its Electronic Communications Law in 2011. The law, which came into effect in 2012, created the Information Technologies and Communication Authority, or Bilgi Teknolojileri ve Haberleşme Kurumu (BTHK). This law is largely based upon the European Union regulatory framework for electronic communications. Amongst the other powers and[…]
This study reviews universal service policy in a set of case study countries. It considers the services provided to consumers and the mechanisms for the provision and funding of those services. We find that the scope and definition of universal service varies considerably from one case study country to another. For example, in some EU[…]
The telecommunications sector is characterised by substantial fixed costs and significant economies of scale. In a macrostate this usually does not matter because the main operators function at a point well above minimum efficient scale. But in a typical island state in the Caribbean the main operators usually operate at a point well below minimum[…]
The total cost, number of premises connected and overall net-benefit to the country of a broadband USO for the UK are all sensitive to design choices such as download speed, cost threshold, assumed take-up rates and funding mechanism – so were the findings of Plum’s study for the Broadband Stakeholder Group (BSG). The BSG is[…]
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[…]
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[…]