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RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHLO #4082/01 3031303
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301303Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY LONDON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6076
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEAFCC/FCC WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 LONDON 004082 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12598:  N/A 
TAGS: ECPS ECON UK
 
SUBJECT: FCC COMMISSIONER COPPS EXPLORES UK'S DIGITAL TV TRANSITION 
PLAN, DISCUSSES UK REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT, AND VISITS EMERGENCY 
RESPONSE COMMAND CENTER. 
 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The UK's transition to digital TV is progressing 
smoothly thanks in large part to an impressive BPS 200 Million ($400 
Million) public awareness campaign and a BPS 600 Million ($1.2 
Billion) Help Scheme, according to HMG officials. The analog BBC TWO 
signal in the small town of Whitehaven turned off on October 17 and 
was replaced with digital channels. In four weeks, the other analog 
terrestrial channels will also be switched off and replaced with 
digital signals. This process will be repeated throughout the UK 
until 2012 when the roll out of Digital TV completes. The Office of 
Communications (Ofcom), the UK equivalent of the FCC, also briefed 
Commissioner Copps on UK views on regulatory issues such as food 
advertising to children, indecency, and the new EU "TV without 
Frontiers" directive. Commissioner Copps also visited the London 
Metropolitan Police's new state of the art Command and Control 
Center (CCC), which is the communications nerve center for London's 
emergency services. The Metropolitan Police say their CCC is the 
largest of its kind in the world and is designed to deal with the 
special or emergency events that constantly take place in the London 
area. The CCC assists police to monitor events as diverse as 
Carnival and terrorist attacks. END SUMMARY 
 
Who is Digit "Al" and what is he doing to my TV? 
------------------ ----------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) FCC Commissioner Michael Copps met in London on October 17 
and 18, 2007, with Secretary of State for Culture, Media, and Sport, 
James Purnell, Deputy Chairman Phillip Graaf and senior staff of 
Ofcom, and Ford Ennals, the CEO of Digital UK, which is a public - 
private joint venture responsible for the transition to digital TV 
in the UK. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and 
Ofcom both have leading governmental roles in the transition. DCMS 
sets policy for the transition. Ofcom suggested creating Digital UK 
in 2003 and since then has focused on ensuring that the required 
spectrum and other infrastructure will be available. A partnership 
between government and telecoms firms, Digital UK's role is the 
public face of the transition, which educates and interacts with the 
public. 
 
¶3. (U) On the morning after the start of the UK's five year 
transition to Digital TV, Purnell told Copps that it was going well. 
Purnell says that HMG's strategy has been to "over-prepare and 
under-promise" on the transition. He says that Members of Parliament 
(MP) have been taking this transition extremely seriously, because 
of the potential public relations nightmare that could occur if it 
goes wrong. He says the nightmare scenario would be if the media 
began running stories on "Grannies with no Telly." MP's worry that 
British media could turn this story into a political disaster in the 
event that things go wrong. One precaution against this potential 
scenario is the Digital TV transition Help Scheme. The BPS 600 
Million ($1.2 Billion) Help Scheme is designed to ensure that the 
elderly and disabled never miss a single episode of a program. The 
scheme has two parts. The first part is financial. The Help Scheme 
will fully pay or partially subsidize the Digital TV converter boxes 
for the disabled or elderly. For those who meet the poverty 
requirements, the converter boxes will be free. The more affluent 
will have to pay a BPS 40 ($80) fee. The second part of the "Help 
Scheme" is that a technician will actually travel to the homes of 
the elderly and disabled to install the converter boxes for them. 
Purnell says the Help Scheme should provide MP's with an explanation 
for shortfalls in the event of complaints. In addition, the plan to 
roll-out digital TV slowly across the country until 2012 means that 
problems can be isolated and solved before they become widespread 
according to Purnell. Digital UK CEO Ennals characterized the US 
plan for transitioning on a single date in February 2009 as "bold." 
 
¶4. (U) HMG officials estimate that virtually 100% of households in 
Whitehaven are aware of the digital TV transition now. They also 
estimate that nationally 85% of households are aware of the 
impending change. This compares favorably with the estimates of less 
than 50% in the US. HMG has allocated BPS 200 million ($400 Million) 
for a Digital TV transition public awareness campaign. This was 
funded by the TV tax which all TV owners in the UK must pay. Digital 
UK has even created a cartoon mascot named "Digit Al" for the 
transition. Digital UK runs ads on national TV to promote awareness 
and uses TV captions, headings, and other on-screen devices to 
create awareness preceding the transition in an area. Digital UK 
also mails pamphlets to homes one year and again three months prior 
the transition. The effect has been that nearly 100% of residents in 
the tiny town were aware of the transition. However, approximately 
2,500 of the 25,000 residents were still not prepared in time. 
Digital UK says that one of the most common reasons given for not 
preparing was the apparent disbelief on the part of residents that 
the government would actually go through with the change. 
 
What do wardrobe malfunctions, swearing, and obese children have in 
common? 
----------------- ------------------------ 
 
LONDON 00004082  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶5. (U) Ofcom publishes the broadcast codes for UK television and can 
impose sanctions for those who break the codes. The process for 
regulating content in the UK is complaint driven. When a television 
viewer files a complaint, Ofcom first decides if the complaint is 
valid, and then decides whether or not any penalty should be imposed 
on the broadcaster. Graaf suggested that Janet Jackson's infamous 
Superbowl wardrobe malfunction would not have resulted in a fine in 
the UK. He says that most likely an apology from the broadcaster 
would have been sufficient. However, Ofcom does impose fines. 
Recently, Ofcom fined the BBC after on-air guests continued to use 
expletives during day time television despite previous Ofcom 
warnings. Once Ofcom makes a decision, there is no appeals process 
and the decision cannot be overruled by a higher authority. 
 
¶6. (U) Food advertising to children is a topic of great concern to 
both the FCC and Ofcom. Over a year ago, Ofcom ruled that makers of 
unhealthy food cannot advertise during children's programming. Graaf 
said that studies showed a 2-5% correlation between food advertising 
to children and their eating habits. Ofcom says that cigarette 
advertising in the 1960's also showed a 2-5% correlation to consumer 
choices. The UK Department of Health has published a list of 
unhealthy foods and now these foods cannot be advertised during 
children's programming. However, food manufacturers and restaurants 
can still advertise their brands. Television broadcasters blame the 
food advertising ban for an alleged decline in the availability of 
children's programming on UK TV. They say the reduced advertising 
revenue has made children's television an unattractive business 
decision. However, Ofcom disputes this by saying that the number of 
children's programming was on the decline before the introduction of 
the ban and the effect is negligible. 
 
¶7. (U) The EU's new "TV without Frontiers" directive is proving to 
be both a boon and headache to the UK. The new directive dictates 
that the place of origin decides the rules regulating TV content. 
For example, if a broadcaster in Germany creates French language 
programming and then broadcasts it from Germany to France, German 
regulators are responsible for the content. Due to its relatively 
liberal content regulations, many broadcasters are rushing to set up 
shop in the UK. However, this is causing some problems for Ofcom. 
Recently, Ofcom received complaints about programming originating in 
the UK for Russian-speaking Lithuanians. Ofcom officials say they 
find it obviously difficult to judge these sorts of complaints. 
Ofcom says that the real challenge in the future will be to regulate 
emerging technologies like online social media with no clear point 
of origin. 
 
Yes, they are watching you 
------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Commissioner Copps also visited the London Metropolitan 
Police's new Command and Control Center (CCC). The recently opened 
CCC appears to be something out of a James Bond movie with floor to 
ceiling television monitors and retractable walls. The CCC can 
access over 65,000 closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the 
London area. Police officers in the CCC then use joysticks to move 
and zoom the cameras in order to direct the officers in the field 
during an event. The CCC is specially designed to handle the over 
5000 annual large events in London such as protests, sporting 
events, and terrorist attacks. The Metropolitan Police say the CCC 
is the largest special operating room of its kind in the world. The 
London Metropolitan Police also briefed Commissioner Copps on their 
new hand held radios. Police all over the UK use the same digital 
hand-held radio unit. They say the communications equipment is 
naturally a compromise between the varying demands of police forces 
around the country. They say communication in London is adequate, 
but there are some shortcomings. There is no radio coverage in the 
longest underground tunnels and base station capacity limits the 
total number of users despite the available spectrum. The 
Commissioner also toured the emergency call center that receives 
"999" emergency calls. In the UK the standard emergency number is 
999, but calls to 911 and 112 are also routed to the call center. 
Police say this is to ensure foreigners in the UK have access to 
emergency services. The center recently combined 32 separate local 
centers into four centralized centers. They say calls are increasing 
exponentially with the increase in access to mobile phones and they 
expect to receive 23 million calls annually by 2010. 
 
TUTTLE