Ofcom draws a blank in bid to find Scottish guardian

OFCOM, the media super regulator, is struggling to find a director for Scotland after two candidates shortlisted for the post were rejected by the watchdog’s executive board in London.

It is understood that Ofcom - which gained regulatory powers over Britain’s £40bn communications industry this month - had hoped to have a director for Scotland in place by now after interviewing candidates in December.

But the board, led by chief executive Stephen Carter - the former boss of cable group NTL - is understood to have vetoed both names put forward.

With the positions of director in Wales and Northern Ireland already filled, it is feared Scottish interests in forthcoming reviews of the UK’s media and telecoms industries risk being overlooked unless the appointment is made soon.

It is understood that finding a candidate with a strong track record in both telecommunications and in the media has been the problem. One senior Scottish industry insider said: "They have interviewed a lot of people, but they are struggling to get somebody in Scotland."

At the same time, it is thought that calls for the director for Scotland to sit on the main Ofcom board were rejected last year because it was felt the Scottish issues concern content or programming, and not strategy.

Consequently, the director for Scotland will be installed on the content board, working alongside former SMG director Adam Singer and Ed Richards, the former Downing Street adviser.

Whoever takes the top job in Scotland faces major challenges as the five regulatory bodies Ofcom replaces - Oftel, the Independent Television Commission, Radio Authority, the Radio Communications Agency and the Broadcasting Standards Committee - are squeezed into one.

Covering these bases makes Ofcom’s remit exceedingly wide. Policing the Communications Act, which liberalises policies on media ownership in the UK, is likely to be a key concern, as media giants from outside the European Union will be allowed to bid for interests in British television and radio stations. This is expected to lead to a wave of consolidation and could have major implications for Scottish broadcasters.

Richard Findlay, chief executive of Scottish Radio Holdings, said ensuring Scottish interests were expressed at Ofcom’s board level in London was one of the key tasks for the director for Scotland.

He said: "The fact is that until this appointment, [Scottish] radio hasn’t had an executive responsible - [the appointment is] going to make quite a difference. Whoever gets the job will need to get on quite a steep learning curve.

"I have always believed that there should be stronger regulation in terms of media programming and there should be fewer restrictions on ownership, which is less important to the consumer.

"The power lies in the people appointed to the board of Ofcom. I think one of the key responsibilities for the Scottish job will be to keep this committee properly briefed on Scottish issues."

Another issue is the regulation of terrestrial television stations and the explosion of digital TV channels. The BBC’s licence is also up for review in 2006, and in the wake of the Hutton Inquiry, the BBC will be expected to prove itself whiter than white. The changing landscape in the wake of the controversial Carlton-Granada merger and the renewal of ITV licences in 2005 will also offer work for Ofcom.

Stuart Cosgrove, Channel 4’s director of nations and regions, said Ofcom’s assessment of the BBC’s activities, regulating ITV and ensuring regional programming diversity were the main priorities for the new director.

He said: "Ofcom is the first media regulator with partial responsibility for the BBC and it should involve the BBC in all its deliberations. None of Ofcom’s major strategic plans for television can be enacted without the BBC being part of the solution. Also, as ITV moves inexorably to a single commercial company, Ofcom has to ensure that the Scottish viewer is not short-changed."

Meanwhile, as media and telecoms converge through mobile telephony and the internet, issues concerning content, carriage and competition will also be examined. Broadband is a key plank of the government’s strategy for economic competitiveness, but there are fears that the UK is already lagging behind other parts of the world.

The subject has been highly controversial, with companies including BT, Glasgow telecoms group Thus and Cable & Wireless accusing each other of over-pricing and anti-competitive behaviour in the past.

Bob Downes, director of BT Scotland, said ensuring the "correct regulatory environment" was in place for broadband take-up was vital. But he said Ofcom should be wary of rivals who may make complaints to "delay or create opportunity for themselves". "It’s very important that Ofcom will have a Scottish office so that Scottish interests are more likely to be expressed," he said. "There is a tendency to knee jerk responses to complaints. It’s far more important to pay attention to the issues - there’s a lot of competition already."

Richard Sweet, head of regulation at Thus, said BT needed greater regulation and ill-thought-out strategies - such as Scottish Enterprise’s Project Atlas - need to be investigated thoroughly before being placed in the market. "Oftel was rather London-centric," he said. "The fact Ofcom will have an office in Scotland should redress that. The other benefit is that projects like Project Atlas, which flew in the face of regulatory common sense, would be more likely to be stopped in their tracks."

Sweet was not overly concerned by the delay of the appointment of a director for Scotland, but said: "It’s not good because Scotland needs a voice in Ofcom to put forward the position of Scottish economy."