Ball Warns Ofcom Power Could Damage Industry
BSkyB chief executive, Tony Ball, has warned that the growth of the UK media industry could be severely hampered if new super-regulator Ofcom (see Communications Bill Lays Down OFCOM Framework) is given too much power.
Speaking at the Institute of Economic Affairs conference on the future of broadcasting, Ball stressed that the industry needs a “policeman not a dictator” and appealed to the Government not to provide Ofcom with a “charter to interfere”.
He said: “Ofcom should use its competition powers to tackle any unfair trading rather than use industrial policy to shape the market as it sees fit.”
He added: “There is a real danger that the regulation previously set sown by governments will be replaced not by the application of compassion law but by the unelected board of Ofcom with a charter to interfere.”
Ball said that he hoped Ofcom would implement a “speedier and more equitable process” for applying regulation in the media sector and criticised the Government’s draft Communications Bill for making many of the existing ownership restrictions “all the more arbitrary and inconsistent”.
Ball also accused the office of fair trading (OFT) of “thwarting” BSkyB’s attempts to renegotiate the wholesale prices of its content. The OFT is about to rule on claims of anti-competitive practice from BSkyB in the way in which it sells its programmes to competitors (see OFT Proposes Ruling Against BSkyB).
BSkyB: 020 7705 3000 www.sky.com
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