The European Commission has cleared CK Hutchison’s takeover of Italian telecoms group, Wind Tre, subject to CK Huthcison agreeing to take full responsibility for the conditions imposed on Wind Tre when it was created. These conditions relate to the completion of spectrum transfer and site divestment, and to the implementation of the national roaming agreement…
DetailsThe 27th season of the Premier League kicked off earlier this month with the revelation that global investment and trading platform eToro had signed first-of-their-kind sponsorship deals with seven high-profile English Premier League clubs. Significantly, the press release confirmed that eToro will not pay for the sponsorship rights in regular ‘fiat’ currency, but in Bitcoin…
DetailsOn 7 August the judgment in Case C-161/17 Land Nordrhein-Westfalen v Dirk Renckhoff was published. The judgment is in response to a preliminary reference which asked the following question: ‘Does the inclusion of a work — which is freely accessible to all internet users on a third-party website with the consent of the copyright holder — on…
DetailsIt is reported that a policy paper from Senator Mark Warner’s office has posited a number of suggestions to tackle issues posed by Big Tech. One of the key themes in the paper is the promotion of competition in the tech space. Some of these reflect the ideas put forward in a paper co-authored by…
DetailsOn 23 July 2018, the Government published its Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review. The Review and the Government’s policy position is born of frustration. The UK has just 4% fibre to the premises (FTTP/FTTH). This is a national disgrace; the UK is lagging far behind other EU countries. Obvious and simple measures to support investment are…
DetailsCommentary on Capitalism in the age of Robots: Adair Turner’s Speech on Artificial Intelligence. Introduction AI will automate a large number of jobs, and potentially put a lot of people out of work; this was reportedly Matt Hancock’s nightmare when in his recent role at DCMS. It has made for dramatic headlines about our rapidly…
DetailsIt has been reported today that the UK Government sees free-to-use digital services as raising antitrust issues. In a response to a House of Lords Select Committee on Communications inquiry, UK advertising in a digital age, the Government indicates that “digital services – particularly those that are free-to-use and funded by advertising – pose challenges…
DetailsDiane Coyle has published a fascinating paper on potential reform to competition policy to address issues caused by digital platforms. The paper is available here an interesting read. Issues addressed in the paper include: Difficulties defining a multi-sided platform. Undue focus upon short-term pricing elements in competition assessments. The impact of dominance in the digital…
DetailsAs automation increasingly takes over our economy, what will be the impact on economics? Adair Turner has given a fascinating lecture on the topic, called Capitalism in the Age of Robots. His lecture is available here. Focusing on the impact of robotics on work, income and wealth in the 21st century, he goes as far…
DetailsPreiskel & Co Partner, Tim Cowen, has co-authored a report with Phillip Blond, published with the support of the Big Innovation Centre, and ResPublica, entitled “Technopoly” and what to do about it: Reform, Redress and Regulation. A fascinating read, the paper takes an overview of the current competition framework, and makes important suggestions for reform.…
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