Transcript About Mobile VCE

A UK Trade & Investment Mission to China and Korea
Wireless Telecomms
in China & Korea
Assessment, Conclusion, Recommendations
Walter Tuttlebee
Mobile VCE
A UK Trade & Investment Mission to China and Korea
Assessment & Conclusions
Lessons to benefit UK Trade & Investment ?
 Policy Objectives & Characteristics (in China / Korea)
 Policy Implementation & Outcomes (in China / Korea)
 Implications for the UK
 What works in Asia won’t work here, but…
 …the UK has different strengths on which we need to build
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Recognising the Issues
Clear Lessons
Recent Changes in UK Policy & Environment
Building for the Future – what could or should be done ?
A UK Trade & Investment Mission to China and Korea
Assessment & Conclusions
Policy Objectives & Implementation in C/K
 Clear, similar, but different, national policy objectives
 Economically and socially driven
 Looking beyond industrialisation to the knowledge economy,
with major focus on (and success in) developing R&D base
 Common Implementation characteristics
 Technology innovation driven by future services, not in isolation
 Specific service and technology priorities, jointly owned by
Government and Industry
 Specific, long-term, R&D programmes, jointly funded by
Government and Industry at very substantial levels
 Commitment to and mechanisms for commercialisation
 Consistent implementation over time, with ability to make midcourse corrections and to live with conflicts and inconsistencies
A UK Trade & Investment Mission to China and Korea
Assessment & Conclusions
Policy Outcomes C/K (1)
 Technology Investment
 In both countries the clear lead and support given by
Government has been matched by industry commitment in
terms of financial investment and, in the case of China,
significant foreign direct investment.
 Technology Innovation
 Korean and Chinese industry and research institutes today hold
significant patent portfolios in WiMAX, TD-SCDMA and 4G as a
direct result of these investments, reducing their future reliance
on overseas IPR
 Standards
 Both countries contributed large volumes of technical results,
creating an opportunity for future licensing exploitation. Both will
submit strong technical proposals in response to the 2008 ITU
call wrt 4G, substantiated by experimental testbed results.
A UK Trade & Investment Mission to China and Korea
Assessment & Conclusions
Policy Outcomes C/K (2)
 Domestic Market Creation
 Korea - has successfully created a new mobile TV service for its
consumers and a new market for its own manufacturers, of
~4.2m handsets to March 2007, a 9% population penetration.
Its industry is strongly positioned to address the global mobile
TV opportunity, irrespective of technical standard (DMB, DVB-H
or MediaFLO).
 China - is poised to use the Olympic opportunity to create a
domestic 3G market for its TD-SCDMA technology, which will
initially be dominated by its own local industry. Longer term, if
the market does become significant, it is possible that a few key
international players, such as Siemens, will also be
beneficiaries, with local companies losing market share, as has
occurred in the 2G handset market.
A UK Trade & Investment Mission to China and Korea
Assessment & Conclusions
Policy Outcomes C/K (3)
 Exports
 Korea has achieved the export targets specified in its IT 8-3-9
plan, apparently ahead of schedule. Export contribution from
WiBro to date is minimal, Mobile TV has been greater, and
WCDMA handset exports significantly greater.
 China has enjoyed growth in telecoms exports, although its
policies have addressed technologies that have yet to be
commercialised.
 Industry Implications
 Telecom Manufacturers continue to play a growing role in both
countries’ economies, at a time when counterparts in US/ Europe
have seen significant cost pressures and consequent mergers (eg
Nokia-Siemens, Alcatel-Lucent).
 The fact that Telecom Operators in in both countries are now
looking overseas for growth is a new trend, not so evident in 2004
A UK Trade & Investment Mission to China and Korea
Assessment & Conclusions
Policy Outcomes C/K (4)
 Regulation
 In both countries the historic separate regulation of
broadcasting and telecoms is causing tensions in the era of
service convergence. Whilst this has been “managed” to date,
structural changes in regulation may be anticipated within the
next few years, if both countries are to fully capitalise on their
policy investments – this will erode an advantage currently
enjoyed by the UK which we could exploit.
A UK Trade & Investment Mission to China and Korea
Assessment & Conclusions
Implications for the UK
 Telecom manufacturing in the UK is a minimal activity by
comparison with Korea or China, but …
 Telecoms is an essential enabler of the digital economy, which
we neglect at our peril. The UK has:
 World-leading telecom operators & broadcasters, with mature
capabilities to operate global networks and services.
 Great innovation – the UK’s light touch regulation, (free market vs
control), leads to service innovation, enabled by cooperation,
creativity and commercial deals, as well as technology.
 World leading research - University education and research in
telecoms remains remarkably strong in the UK - and has
contributed to most telecom manufacturers having R&D in the UK.
 A need for a technology capability for network-centric warfare
A UK Trade & Investment Mission to China and Korea
Assessment & Conclusions
Recognising the Issues & Opportunity
 Every country recognises that ICT is the enabler of the digital
economy – including Korea, China & the UK
 …but how to seize the opportunity ?
 2004 Report Conclusions:
 “Strategic action is urgently needed if the UK is to retain its role as
a global knowledge-based economy…over the next decade”.
 It did not propose the adoption of Asian policies
 It did identify the need to develop a clear and coordinated UK
response and identified the opportunity for the UK to provide a
lead in Europe.
 It stimulated much discussion amongst UK industry players, but at
that time met with limited resonance in Government
A UK Trade & Investment Mission to China and Korea
Assessment & Conclusions
Lessons from 2007
 Reinforced these earlier conclusions, adding new evidence
 Clear objectives have shaped straightforward policy goals in
China & Korea, accompanied by specific objectives
 Detailed approaches to achieving these goals have been
developed through Industry/Government analysis and consensus.
These approaches have been implemented consistently over
several years
 Whilst not without conflicts and inconsistencies, and despite less
than 100% success, these policies have moved both countries
significantly closer to their objectives
 Tangible economic benefits and international recognition, for both
Industry and Government of these nations, has been realised
A UK Trade & Investment Mission to China and Korea
Assessment & Conclusions
The UK Environment – The Right Time
 Many parts of UK Government now recognise the issues and
have begun to take independent action – the need for this to
become joined-up is also recognised
 Technology Strategy – the establishment of the industry-led
Technology Strategy Board. The TSB has shown clear drive and
initiative, establishing specific new priorities and mechanisms.
 Research Impact – an escalating priority has been given to the
economic impact of publicly funded research by Treasury.
 University-Industry Engagement - EPSRC has developed new
mechanisms, such as Strategic Partnerships with industry, to
increase knowledge transfer
 Ofcom – has endeavoured to take a converged approach to the
regulation of communications and broadcasting, whilst
increasingly recognising the impact of spectrum on economies of
scale and national competitiveness
 UK T&I – Recognise need for refreshed strategies
A UK Trade & Investment Mission to China and Korea
Assessment & Conclusions
Starting the Debate
 What might be a possible strategic response to strengthen the
UK’s future economic prospects?
 “What might be an appropriate (simple) national objective for the
UK?”
 “Within the framework of recent UK developments how might this
be achieved?”
 We want to stimulate a debate involving Government, Industry
and other key players, to accelerate the development of such
shared goals and approaches
 Policy objectives jointly owned by Industry & Government, and
 Implementation actions that logically flow from these
A UK Trade & Investment Mission to China and Korea
Assessment & Conclusions
Building on National Strengths
 Global Operators
 Telcos (Vodafone, BT, Inmarsat) and Broadcasters ( BBC,
BSkyB) – players who compete and collaborate at the leading
edge of service convergence and innovation
 A Strong Research Base
 Internationally recognised University research capability,
R&D centres of many of the major international communications
manufacturers, and collaborative research mechanisms across
borders & cultures (Mobile VCE)
 Forward-looking Spectrum & Telecommunications Regulation
 Highly developed Service Economy & Creative Industries
 Clear Government Commitment to strengthening and
exploiting the science base
 The strongest for a long while
A UK Trade & Investment Mission to China and Korea
Assessment & Conclusions
What is Needed ?
 A Clear Agreed Objective
 with full Industry and Government commitment, both in principle
and financially, flowing out of consensus
 Structures to facilitate effective dialogue between Industry and
Government
 to create detailed implementation approaches, building upon the
agreed objective
 Mechanisms to support Technology Pull-through
 eg enabling experimental trials of innovative research for
‘not-yet-proven’ business cases (but not ‘basket cases’ !)
 Coordination of Regulatory and Industry Policy
 requiring the involvement of Ofcom, BERR and other agencies
and bodies – so that successful trials can be rapidly
commercialised
 Engagement of Multiple Government Departments / Agencies
 to include all who can benefit
A UK Trade & Investment Mission to China and Korea
Assessment & Conclusions
Mechanisms ?
 The Knowledge Transfer Network ?
 One possible forum for industry dialogue; however implementation
clearly exceeds the TSB-defined remit of a KTN and requires
much wider Government participation, support and funding.
 An Innovation Platform ?
 Possibly … but not in isolation
 Wireless telecoms is a fundamental transformational capability
for many (all ?) of our industries
 The integration of the above discrete steps into an overall
national wireless telecoms initiative could be highly effective in
underpinning, working with and providing a technology enabling
framework for existing and emerging Innovation Platforms,
leveraging wireless, telecom and other ICT technology across
them all, impacting multiple industries and attracting inward
investment.
A UK Trade & Investment Mission to China and Korea
Assessment & Conclusions
A Way Forward ? Let’s start talking…
 Other countries will, in all probability, set the standards agenda
for products and manufacturing for future telecoms such as 4G
 China and other Asian countries have invested and continue to
invest both significantly and strategically in ICT, in a logical and
consistent manner, harmonising Government and Industry activity
and perspectives to grow manufacturing exports.
 The UK has a historic opportunity to prepare itself for the next
decade by leveraging wireless telecoms, to the benefit of our
diverse and strong service economy, creating an environment
to retain and attract manufacturers’ R&D inward investment
 The UK should grasp this opportunity for strategic coordination
and thereby ensure a significant participation in the next stage
of the wireless telecoms and wider industry evolution.
A UK Trade & Investment Mission to China and Korea
Thank you
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