"Making it happen - Consumer policy in Wales" - Broadband and ICT

Paul N Squires | Oportunity Wales Weblog | 11 July 2005

As part of last Thurday's event "Making it Happen - Consumer Policy in Wales" in Cardiff, the afternoon's agenda was devoted to broadband. Communications and policy expert John Wilson, and head of the Broadband Stakeholder Group in Wales, Charlie Bass, are the afternoon's hosts. We were on-line in City Hall and I was blogging the sessions as they are presented. The following text comprises a series of notes on what was discussed...

John Wilson:
- Post-devolution Wales is shifting from an industrial to a knowledge economy
(...)

Michael Eaton, Welsh Assembly Government, Broadband Wales:
- ME has a policy, strategy, and operational unit. Wales must have the best affordable, available roadband infrastructure, to support what people and businesses want, and to support better government = enabling technology. It's an interesting position to sit - to improve stakeholder opportunities - in the value chain.
(...)

Rhodri Williams, Ofcom:
- Ofcom has a wide spectrum of responsibility. It is trying to rethink regulatory strategy, and to concentrate firepower on those which most need it, and get out of "microregulation". Ofcom's duties concern how things are managed; provision of services; and protection. Ofcom has representation on the concent board and consumer panel for Wales, and an Advisory Panel for Wales
(...)

Charlie Bass, The ITC and Broadband Stakeholders Group
- What is a consumer? There are two ends of this - people act and react to technologies in different ways.
(...)

Nich Pearson, Welsh Consumer Council:
- There is a gap between where improvements are happening, and where they are not. There are poor service deliveries to remote areas - not just broadband, but TV.
(...)

Read full posting here