Convergence is the new buzzword of new media’s rapid evolution. But what does it really mean, and how will it be regulated, if at all? Gary Quinn investigates.
Since the internet was created a few short years ago, people have speculated and many have feared its future, its impact and whether it would replace or supercede more traditional new media technologies such as print and television. Many commentators still speak in the future tense, foretelling of when the Internet happens, when it impacts, when digital takes over. The missing link though, is that convergence has already begun.
Digital technologies and traditional practices have long merged to create new ways of working and communicating. This article is written using traditional rules of journalism but simply presented in a digital format. The e-mail that you received today reflects the convergence of mail communication and the Internet. Your mobile phone conversation and tonight’s Sky TV programme, each of these have been digitised, compressed and transmitted in binary form. Quite seamless so far. What is set to happen next then is simply more of the same.
Banks already provide on-line services to their customers and digital broadcast is already established in most large economies including the UK. Sky and Ondigital, the two key UK digital broadcast operators, already provide free set-top boxes to enable television to receive their digital signalling. We will continue to watch the brand leaders but the real power lies in who is providing the transmission network.
EU member states are currently drafting legislation to take advantage of the convergence of new digital technologies. The broadcasting bill, discussed in last week’s IFTN news, has at its heart the establishment of Digico, the agency armed with the job of bringing Irish indigenous broadcasting into the digital age. At the EU level a similar process is taking place.
In 1997 the European Commission released a Green paper on the convergence of telecommunication, media and information technology sectors. It aimed to respond to the recognition that the EU market is seeking new cross-platform and cross product development and for this to happen at the highest level it must be managed. At it’s baseline the green paper reflects the fact that convergence is not just about technology. Yes, groundbreaking new technology is being utilised, but it is the benefit gained from this use which best illustrates the impact of and identity of convergence. Home-banking and home shopping over the internet, voice over the internet, web-casting of news, sports, concerts and other events all illustrate how the internet has already become a part of many peoples lives. The difficulty is the potential barriers to the growth of the sector presented by existing regulations and frameworks.
During a public consultation process the European audio-visual industry responded to the green paper and placed much of its emphasis on this section. Greatest attention focused on uncertainty about regulations. As each member state develops its own response to the growth in the sector there is confusion as to how to create a pan-European economic platform within the Internet. The sheer size and number of the proposed services caused many commentators to question the source of the content of new broadcasting channels. Public service broadcasters stressed the importance of European content and the role they played in its production. Other key issues where those of consumer protection, access issues such as the availability of set top boxes, pricing and the manner in which public interest objectives could be achieved.
Overall, electronic commerce was seen as a positive factor for economic growth and many commentators highlighted the importance of equipping young people with the skills to become part of the industry. “Comments on the impact of convergence on growth and employment tended to reflect optimism about the benefits to the broad economy of many aspects of convergence, despite misgivings about the short-term effects of rationalisation and new-technologies.”
Using the response of the audio-visual sector and others the European Commission must now build on their results. Their next step is to develop proposals for action.
These are:
- “reform in the regulation of infrastructure and associated services will be proposed as part of the 1999 communications Regulatory Review, a process already foreseen in current telecommunications legislation;
- Those in the regulation of content services will be covered either by adjustments to existing legislation, or by the introduction of new measures.”
Specific actions will include the application by the member states of the second directive on Television without Frontiers and a proposal on measures for the promotion, production and distribution of European works in the audio-visual sectors.
It is clear that the EU must create balance within member states to enhance and refine the growth and impact of new media convergence. It must be far reaching and must be capable of reflecting the ongoing evolution of the sector. At a time when the European Commission is being accused of lumbering bureaucracy and half-hearted directives, it will be severely tested to respond in time.
