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About Arqiva

Arqiva is at the heart of the broadcast, media and utilities sectors in the UK and beyond, providing critical communications infrastructure and media services.

Arqiva provides much of the infrastructure behind television, radio, mobile and other wireless communications in the UK and we are at the forefront of network solutions and services in an increasingly digital world.

Arqiva is the only national provider of terrestrial television and radio broadcasting and provides a machine-to-machine connectivity network for smart metering within the utilities sector.

Arqiva’s history can be traced back to 1922 when it broadcast the world’s first national radio service. In 1936 it carried the BBC’s first television broadcast. In 1978 it enabled Europe’s first satellite TV test. By the 1990s Arqiva was working with the UK’s mobile operators to bring mobile telecommunications to UK businesses and consumers. In the 2000s, it launched the UK’s national DAB radio and Digital Terrestrial Television networks. Most recently, Arqiva has played a pioneering role in the roll-out of the national smart energy and water metering networks.

Our teams are, behind the scenes, delivering millions of vital connections every day for our customers, the major UK and international broadcasters, independent radio groups as well as major utility companies and networks.

Arqiva is owned by a consortium of infrastructure investors and has its headquarters in Hampshire, with major UK offices in London, Buckinghamshire and Yorkshire and operational centres in the West Midlands and Scotland.

The BBC's mission has remained the same for almost 100 years; to enrich people’s lives with great programmes and services that inform, educate and entertain.

The BBC is the most-used brand in the UK for media. We are used by almost 100% of adults on average every month, making us one of the most-used UK public services. BBC services are used by 90% of UK adults and 80% of young adults on average per week and BBC News remains the source people are most likely to turn to for news they trust.

The Corporation is funded through a television licence fee and 95% of our controllable spend is focussed on content and delivery with just 5% spent on running the organisation. The BBC delivers £2.63 of direct economic impact for every £1 spent, with 50% of that economic impact outside London.

The current Royal Charter, which started on 1st January 2017 sets out five purposes for the BBC. They are:

• To provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them.
• To support learning for people of all ages.
• To show the most creative, highest quality and distinctive output and services.
• To reflect, represent and serve the diverse communities of all the United Kingdom’s nations and regions and, in doing so, support the creative economy across the United Kingdom.
• To reflect the United Kingdom, it's culture and values to the world.

An introduction to BT:

BT Group is one of the world’s leading communications services companies. We’re based in the UK but we serve customers in around 180 countries.

We develop and sell communications propositions and services, and build and operate the networks that are essential to modern lives, businesses and communities.

We operate as a single business, made up of organisational units. There are customer-facing units that sell propositions and services and corporate units that support the whole group.

Consumer

Our three brands – BT, EE and Plusnet – connect UK consumers to information, entertainment, friends and family, at home and on the move. Between them, they provide the whole of the UK with connectivity.

Global

Provides managed network services to large businesses and multi-site organisations in 180 countries.

We buy access to fixed-line and broadband infrastructure from Openreach, and we use EE’s mobile network to provide mobile phone services.

Enterprise

We connect more than 1m business customers and public sector organisations with our extensive portfolio of communications and IT solutions. We also provide network products and services to communications providers operating in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Openreach

Openreach builds, and sells access to, the network that connects the UK’s homes and businesses. Openreach also provides wholesale ‘last mile’ fixed access from homes and businesses to exchanges, and installs and maintains the fibre and copper communications networks.

Global

We are a leading business connectivity, communications and IT services provider to major multinational corporations in around 180 countries. We own an extensive global voice and data network providing managed services, security and network and IT infrastructure services, enabling customers’ digital transformations.

We partner in countries worldwide for access to voice and data infrastructure and we buy enterprise technologies and equipment for our customers from the world’s leading technology providers.

CityFibre is the UK’s third national digital infrastructure platform. With existing networks in more than 60 towns and cities, CityFibre provides wholesale connectivity to multiple business and consumer service providers, local authorities and mobile operators.

CityFibre has network rollouts underway with plans to pass up to 8 million homes and businesses with open-access full fibre infrastructure. A growing number of Gigabit City projects have been announced for full-city rollouts and CityFibre continues to prime its existing network assets for expansion.

CityFibre is based in London and is jointly controlled by Antin Infrastructure Partners and West Street Infrastructure Partners.

KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, operates from 22 offices across the UK with approximately 15,300 partners and staff. The UK firm recorded a revenue of £2.43 billion in the year ended 30 September 2021.

KPMG is a global organization of independent professional services firms providing Audit, Legal, Tax and Advisory services. It operates in 145 countries and territories with more than 236,000 partners and employees working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. KPMG International Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Limited and its related entities do not provide services to clients

Within KPMG’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications practice we focus on the most pressing issues faced by our sector clients in this period of unprecedented disruption. The shift towards online content consumption has altered the business model for many companies. Even purely digital companies must keep up with rapidly evolving customer expectations. Technological disruption and increased competition are also forcing TMT to regularly finetune their strategies. COVID-19 has added pressure with significant supply chain and operational disruptions. This is in addition to a renewed focus on compliance with data protection policies. Keeping up with the change is a challenge for many. At the same time, firms have new growth opportunities.

The launch of 5G networks and accompanying gigabit wireless speeds and ultra-low latency will enable further redefinition of the boundaries between linear, online and live entertainment. Cloud gaming and e-sports, IOT-enabled devices, AR/VR applications, HD mobile video are just some of the emerging services and use cases that compete for consumers’ attention and share of wallet. Media executives are striving to develop sustainable business models balancing short term financial goals with long term ambitions.

KPMG has a 360-degree understanding of these hot issues and the specific threats faced by each of the media segments – television and radio broadcasting, advertising, music, film and news publishing. Our collaborative approach across key international hubs such as London, Silicon Valley, New York, Shanghai and Tel Aviv brings to our clients a powerful lens and repository of insights to help tackle the strategic and operational challenges ahead.