Every man, woman, child and their dog has been talking about the Digital Britain report released by Lord Carter (Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting in the UK) this week. The aim of which is to act a guide for the future development of the digital media space in Britain.
Now, when I think about digital, I see videos, blogs, interactive media and mobile applications galore. Yet, this report is delivered on a downloadable PDF, with no real website, just a forum with an embedded video from the first Digital Britain event. An event, which I have to add, was attended and organised by the more traditional media bods alone, rather than a mixture of people representing a mixture of mediums.
This aside, the report appears to have been received well by the online industry as it acknowledges the role of self-regulation, and bodes particularly well for gamers. In fact, the government aims to give developers, publishers and parents a helping hand by switching out BBFC games ratings in favour of the Pan European Game Information system (PEGI).
However, I’ve often spoken of the difference between those that have simply reacted to the explosion of digital media versus the ‘digital natives’ (such a ridiculous term, but relevant in this case) that have grown up with all things online as an integral part of their lives. Digital policy in my mind should be formed in consultation with the most common consumers of it; the grassroots bloggers, developers of new products and those using it on a day to day basis. Even Jeremy Hunt, the shadow culture secretary, said that the report was ‘digital dithering from a dated government’.
It comes as no surprise then, that the report favours large telecommunications firms, almost at the expense of smaller, innovative players. Case in point; delivering next-generation high-speed mobile and wireless broadband is to be achieved by switching the existing fixed 3G licences held by mobile operators to an indefinite term, without competition.
On a positive note, one new initiative I’m keen to see implemented is the proposal to provide universal access to a minimum 2Mb broadband connection, or the ‘Universal Service Commitment’. Landline users will pay £6 a year towards the rollout of super fast broadband, with the surplus from the BBC's digital switchover help scheme (£130m) helping to meet the £200m annual cost of providing universal access. I’m not sure 50p a month will hurt even those suffering at the hands of the credit crunch, so it seems a fair gamble to implement such a tax.
On the flip side, though the analogue to digital radio switchover also seems promising, the Office of Fair Trading has concluded that a reform of rules governing mergers in local media is unnecessary. Regional news companies have been lobbying intensively for change, forming the Local Media Alliance to submit their case. The government said it would ask the National Audit Office to assess the impact of council-run publications on regional newspapers.
All things considered, I wonder whether the digital space really requires government intervention to make it work better and more effectively at all. So many parts of this space have done very well up till now with a bare minimum of government interference, thanks to the likes of a healthy start-up marketplace, some forward-thinking entrepreneurs and more importantly, a nation that has embraced new technology with gusto.