Ofcom's mind 'not made up' on DDR

[BGonaSTICK]

Ofcom CEO Ed Richards has insisted the regulator did not go into its consultation on the future of spectrum due to be liberated from digital switchover with its mind made up. The consultation on the Digital Dividend Review (DDR) closed last month amid calls from an alliance of public service broadcasters, consumer electronics manufacturers and retailers that a third of the spectrum be set aside so that five high-definition TV channels could be launched on Freeview.

Ofcom announced in December that it favoured an auction of the entire spectrum on the grounds that the regulator was not best placed "to decide which services should get access to spectrum". In a wide-ranging interview with Ofcomwatch, the blog that comments on the regulator's activities, Richards told founder Luke Gibbs: "People keep saying to me - 'you've made your mind up on DDR'. But we haven't! We absolutely have not.

"We have made some proposals for a way forward, and there are complicated issues - around the HD position, around PMSE [programme making and special events], around local TV. We have put a lot into the first consultation but I am not going to sit here and say everything we always say or talk about in the initial consultation is right. Part of the process is to flush out what is or isn't right or develop a different way of thinking about it."

Last month broadcasting minister Shaun Woodward said ministers were keeping an "open mind" on calls for spectrum use after digital switchover. Asked by Lovelace Consulting if spectrum would be set aside, Woodward said it was "very important" that Ofcom's "work is allowed to play out". "We are very mindful of the public service arguments," said Woodward, but ministers could not predict what the spectrum might best be used for in future. The danger here is that we try to see around corners."