The UK's draft Communications Bill was published this week. It establishes OFCOM, the newly merged regulator for the communications and media industries and sets out the Government's plans “to overhaul and simplify the legal framework for the media industry.
The draft Bill will be subject to a consultation period of three months as well as pre-legislative scrutiny by a joint committee of both Houses. Among other matters, the draft Bill would:
Establish a single regulator - the Office for Communications (OFCOM) - replacing the existing five regulators (Oftel, the ITC, Radio Authority, Broadcasting Standards Commission, Radiocommunications Agency);
Give OFCOM powers concurrent with the Office of Fair Trading to apply competition rules in the Communications Sector;
Remove the requirement for licensing of telecommunications systems, so removing about 400 licences, and replace it with a new regulatory regime for electronic communications networks, services and associated facilities in line with European Directives; and
Allow spectrum trading to secure more efficient use of the available radio spectrum.
A consultation to strengthen regulations around fiat-referenced tokens in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) is another sign of the free zone’s forward-thinking approach to how it regulates digital currency, an expert has said.
Qatar’s cabinet has approved plans to reduce working hours for mothers employed by government entities to allow them to undertake childcare responsibilities at certain times of the year, setting a clear precedent for broader reforms to workplace flexibility across the Middle East, experts say.
Sports bodies should be able to ‘name and shame’ athletes in their sport responsible for doping offences without worrying about whether doing so will infringe those athletes’ data protection rights.
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