The debate on the transition to all-IP delivery isn’t really happening in the UK, according to Ed Vaizey, MP and former Minister of State for Culture and the Digital Economy.
Speaking in a closing keynote at the DTG Summit in London, he added that this was something that suited the government.
Yet significantly, he also said that George Osborne, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, was very much in favour of the switch to all-IP.
Commenting on the dominance of US tech giants, Vaizey said it was difficult to know what the UK could do as a standalone country. The tech sector always tries to keep politicians at bay, but politicians are there to challenge them and address the issue dominance.
From a content perspective, there is a threat to public service broadcasters and in his view there should be some form of government support.
Looking more generally at the role of the government, Vaizey said it should partner with key stakeholders such as Ofcom and the DTG; act as an enabler; have a role as a funder, including a subsidiser in broadband rollout; and to work with industry.
Vaizey also said he believed the BBC had been hobbled by being forced to put everything out to competition and now finds itself going through an existential crisis.
