CTN 20th Anniversary Conference 20 May 2009 Chris Cheah Acting Chairman Australian Communications and Media Authority

The times are changing … Thank you CTN ! Welcome ACCAN ! Working together for the long term interest of end users

POTS Copper Terrestrial wireless TV, radio Terrestrial wireless TV, radio Payment Investment Stage 1 : circa 1990 ‘Legacy’ REGULATORY ‘GOODIES’

Radio Voice TV CopperWireless Cable Internet Access Mobiles Stage 2 : circa now Web Messaging DSL Satellite Pay TV E-commerce services Offline content 3G Mobile content Voice over IP Digital TV and radio IP TV ‘Smart devices’ Wireless broadband Spam, crime/terrorism, gambling, porn, privacy, scams, competition ‘Podcasting’ Social networking Internet of things Cognitive radio The Telecomputer

Internet – Next Generation Network(s) Internet – Next Generation Network(s) ‘Middleware’ Billing and Subscriber Management Identity management Content rights management Optic fibre Mobile Wireless Copper Fixed Wireless (Lots) Satellite Cable Stage 3 (v1) : The next phase? Video Voice Web Banking New App 1 TV Radio Education Messaging

Education Banking Government services Entertainment Others Health ‘Internet’ Voice TV Radio Web Wireless Billing Access systems Copper Lots of new apps Satellite Fibre 1990 Legacy system Stage 3 (v2) : The next phase?

Takeout 1 – Who is the ‘consumer’? The three mindsets Customers vs citizens vs voters Rate of change Literacy? Demographic shifts - value of evidence

Source: ACMA-commissioned consumer survey, May–June 2008, internet users aged 18+, (n = 1263). Australia in the Digital Economy- online participation

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, July 2007–June 2008, 14+ years old, N =5,484 homes without internet access. Note: excludes ‘can’t say’ and ‘no answer’. Australia in the Digital Economy- online participation

Takeout 2 – What is ‘communications’? (Dis)-integration Shift to applications, internationalisation Business models and the market (value, investment, efficiency, takeup) Who and what will really drive important issues? Communications or sectoral response ? A rich and diverse ecosystem

ACMA’s MPS package Makes it harder for problems to occur Makes it easier to resolve problems when they occur Monitor closely A deeper story : Some themes : rapid change, complex services, multiple suppliers, jurisdiction issues, content angle Evolution of a device … Brick Phone – voice services and scams 2G data – some data products 3G data – lots of data products, social networking Tele-computers – everything? How to think about evolving devices and services with overlapping waves of change? Takeout 3 – Example : Mobile Premium Services

ACMA’s consumer role Most of what we do E.g. privacy, disability, equity Objectives Some specific functions - Codes Work with other regulators Facilitate – e.g. Consumer Consultative Forum

How to influence a regulator … IDEAS! And a consistent, well-articulated framework. Overall : What strategies should we be pursuing to help customers bridge to the emerging world? What principles should be guiding us? Issues : What really is the problem? Why is it important, and how important is it relative to other issues? What is the evidence? What is the most efficient way of addressing the problem? Are there other consequences, e.g. for the market? Balance : empowering consumers within the market; protecting consumers from market downsides; equity and efficiency (who is the consumer)

Some knowns……… NBN Digital switchover Regulatory reform agenda Social networking Consumer generated content

……..and the unknowns ?

It’s looking like a jungle out there……….. ………..how can we all we keep our ecosystem healthy……. ? Thank you