Westminster eForum

About Arqiva
Arqiva operates at the heart of the broadcast and mobile communications industry and is at the forefront of network solutions and services in an increasingly digital world. The company provides much of the infrastructure behind television, radio and wireless communications in the UK and has a growing presence in Ireland, mainland Europe and the USA. There are three business units:

Terrestrial Broadcast provides transmission for all UK terrestrial TV broadcasters, including the new networks being built for the Digital Switch Over. Transmission is also provided for BBC Radio and most commercial radio stations, both analogue and DAB. The company owns and operates two of the six UK digital terrestrial TV multiplexes, enabling major media companies to bring their TV and radio services to Freeview.

Satellite & Media provides global communication platforms to enterprise, government and broadcast customers around the world. It owns and operates teleports at key locations including Los Angeles, Washington, London and Paris, as well as comprehensive satellite capacity, an international terrestrial fibre network and extensive media facilities. These enable Arqiva to provide world leading organisations with a comprehensive range of services to deliver their data, broadcasts and media across the globe.

Wireless Access provides cellular, wireless broadband, voice and data solutions for the mobile communications, public safety, local government, and commercial markets. Arqiva is the largest independent provider of radio sites in the UK and Ireland. With its own spectrum, the company can provide complete mobile communications networks including backhaul links.

Arqiva has its headquarters near Winchester and other major UK offices in London, Warwick, Buckinghamshire and Yorkshire. The company is owned by a consortium of investors led by Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group. Major customers include the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, BSkyB, Classic FM, the five UK mobile operators, the RNLI and the Metropolitan Police.

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. Its vision is to be the most creative, trusted organisation in the world.

The BBC provides a wide range of distinctive programmes and services for everyone, free of commercial interests and political bias. They include television, radio, national, local, childrens’, educational, language and other services for key groups. The BBC also runs orchestras, actively develops new talent, and supports training and production skills for the British broadcasting, music, drama and film industries.

BBC services are used by 91% of UK adults each week and BBC News is the source people are most likely to turn to for news they trust and for impartial, accurate coverage.

The Corporation is funded through a television licence fee and 95% of it's controllable spend is focused on content and delivery with just 5% spent on running the organisation.

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 of the United Kingdom’s nations and regions and, in doing so, support the creative economy across the United Kingdom.
• - To reflect the United Kingdom, its culture and values to the world.

The BBC word mark and logo are trade marks of the British Broadcasting Corporation and are used under licence. BBC logo © BBC 1996

BT is one of the world’s leading communications companies. We provide the essential backbone for fixed telephone services, mobile network operators and much of the UK’s terrestrial TV distribution.

BT is organised into a number of separate businesses:-

• BT Retail – provides services to small and medium sized businesses and to residential customers. It also runs the UK’s largest internet business as well as BT Vision – BT’s on-demand internet television service. It provides around 19 million fixed and 5 million broadband lines.
• BT Wholesale - supports the UK’s fixed and mobile communications industry with a range of products and managed services including, for example, major network capacity to the UK’s mobile companies, the transmission capacity for much of the UK television network, and ‘white label’ broadband, fixed line and other services for some of the biggest names in the competitive UK market. It also manages other operators’ networks on their behalf on an outsource basis.
• BT Global Services – provides services to large businesses, to multi-site organisations in the UK and across the world, and operates in over 170 countries worldwide.
• Openreach - looks after the ‘first mile’ of network, from the exchange through to homes and businesses. Its customers are not end users but the companies who supply their telecommunications services to them. It treats all its customers on an equal basis and thus provides the essential ingredients for the vibrant, competitive retail market in the UK. Is also the engine for BT’s extensive fibre rollout programme.
• BT Innovate and Design - is responsible for BT's research and innovation – with BT being a top investor in R&D.

• The UK has the world’s most competitive communications market in the world, with unrivalled broadband availability, take-up and prices.
• BT invests billions of pounds each year in infrastructure to boost productivity, create jobs, bring communities together and enrich peoples’ lives.
• Telecoms prices in the UK are down in real terms by 54% since 1990.
• More than 60% of UK homes now have broadband – up from 12% in 2003 and a higher rate than Italy, Spain, Germany, France and the USA.
• We are investing £1.5bn in providing fibre-based services to up to 10m homes by 2012 (40% UK households). Assuming an acceptable environment for investment, we plan to add a further £1bn by 2015, taking coverage to around 66% of the UK.

• Competition is better than regulation for protecting the interests of customers.
• Where there is regulation, it should promote competition.
• Markets worldwide should be open, with state authorities acting to promote competition, encourage innovation and challenge vested interests.
• Financial and social stability will be underpinned by sustainable digital economies.
• Investment in the communications infrastructures of such economies requires regulatory stability, technological neutrality, and appropriate financial rewards.

CityFibre is the UK’s leading alternative provider of full fibre broadband infrastructure, with wholesale open-access full fibre networks in over 50 towns across the UK, delivering reliable, gigabit-capable full fibre connections to consumers in the public sector, business community, mobile operators and residential markets.

Full fibre connectivity is revered for its gigabit speeds, near unlimited bandwidth and consistent reliability. CityFibre is making significant investments in towns and cities across the UK as we look to rapidly expand the number of homes and businesses which have access to full fibre.

As part of our £2.5 billion investment programme, we are bringing full fibre to one million UK homes and businesses by 2021 and 5 million by 2025 - leading the drive to build the digital infrastructure needed to support the UK’s communities, businesses and wider economy.

KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership operates from 22 offices across the UK with over 10,000 partners and staff. KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. We operate in 148 countries and have more than 113,000 professionals working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International, a Swiss cooperative.

Within KPMG’s Information, Communications and Entertainment practice we focus on the issues faced by our media clients in this period of unprecedented change. The much heralded convergence is finally a reality, with the traditional lines between media, communications and technology companies now rapidly blurring. The digitisation of content, the explosion in broadband capacity and take up, and the rapid fall in the cost of data storage are forcing ‘old media’ companies to consider their future business models and to forge unprecedented partnerships. As traditional revenue streams fragment, and historic price points become unsustainable as the perceived value of content declines, the challenge is to ensure content is available as widely as possible to maximise potential revenues.

Broadband has enabled the coming of age of the internet, with online trading, the phenomenon of social networking and the rapid migration to online of advertising spend all causing seismic shifts in the business models of many old media companies. The music industry was the first to feel the force - it is now the turn of the broadcasters, newspapers and the film industry. For all media companies, the survivors will be those with the foresight and boldness to change with the times.

KPMG has a keen understanding of these challenges, and the specific threats faced by each of the media segments – broadcasting, advertising, music, film and publishing – enabling us to provide tailored services that address our clients’ needs. For example, our intellectual property, strategic and commercial intelligence and IT advisory specialists are ideally placed to help guide our clients through the challenges posed by the changes this sector faces.

Our teams of sector professionals can work with you to help you achieve your objectives and keep ahead of the game in this ever challenging environment.

KPMG International’s Trademarks are the sole property of KPMG International and their use here does not imply auditing by or endorsement of KPMG International or any of its member firms