Lord Carter's Digital Britain review has been the most comprehensive examination of the media and telecoms landscape in the UK in recent memory. His final report, released tomorrow, will span everything from digital literacy and protecting children on the internet, to solving Channel 4's funding crisis and combating online piracy. Here are some of the main issues and what to expect.
Broadband
Carter called for a new universal broadband commitment in his Digital Britain interim report: by 2012 he wants everyone in the UK to have internet access at the speed necessary for watching live TV.
Likely result
Carter is expected to use the digital switchover surplus to bring about universal broadband access, with BT predicted to get the majority of the digital switchover money to push its fixed-line network into more remote areas. The universal broadband service, however, will only reach about 98% of the population - Carter is expected to say that satellite broadband can be used to reach 100% coverage with the government and regional development agencies working in partnership to try to reduce the cost of such services.
There is not expected to be a massive injection of public funds into the creation of next generation networks but a range of technical changes are likely to be introduced to make it easier and cheaper to build them.
Online piracy
Protecting the UK's creative industries from piracy was a main aim of the interim report. Since January, Carter has been locked in talks with ISPs and the content industry, and a further document has set out the possible role of a "rights agency" to bring the two warring factions together.
Likely result
Carter will not introduce a system that results in people being summarily disconnected - but is expected to codify last year's memorandum of understanding between several ISPs and the content industry, which resulted in warning letters being sent out to persistent illegal file-sharers. All ISPs will have to sign up to a new warning letter regime, which will be backed up by "technical measures" where the worst offenders will have their connection speeds reduced sharply.
The government is also looking at changes to the tax regime in the UK to prevent the brain drain of developers leaving the country.
Media ownership
The local and regional media industry is in turmoil. In January, Carter announced plans to discuss potential changes to the rules governing the merger of local and regional media companies to see whether the industry can be saved by a spate of mergers and consolidation.
Likely result
The digital economy bill, which will be set before parliament later this year in order to implement Carter's proposals, will include a relaxation of the rules governing local and regional newspaper ownership. Some newspaper owners, however, may be disappointed by the final Digital Britain report, as Carter will not look at the issue of online aggregators such as Google news, who do not always give newspapers the opportunity to monetise the traffic around their content.
Channel 4/BBC Worldwide
January's interim report threw its weight behind a tie-up between C4 and BBC Worldwide and the creation of a "new entity" with public service broadcasting at its heart. C4 had argued that its long-term survival was in serious doubt and that it faced an annual funding gap of £150m from 2012. The door was, however, left ajar for a potential Channel Five deal.
Likely result
Carter and the former culture secretary, Andy Burnham, have already begun managing expectations around tomorrow's report. Burnham has said the industry should not expect a "tablet of stone" but "powerful seeds and ideas" from which the future of public service broadcasting might be shaped. It is understood that BBC Worldwide and C4 do not have a done deal on the structure of the new entity, and observers do not believe Carter will unveil a final blueprint. Carter is stuck between a rock and hard place, with any BBC asset-sharing that resembles state aid likely to lead to official complaints. This makes it likely that Carter will, again, give the go- ahead to a C4/BBC Worldwide tie-up with a potential focus on how governance and ownership issues will be tackled.
Provision of regional news
ITV intends to pull out of providing the programming for a regional news service from 2012. What happens next could depend on what Carter's report says about the use - or not - of the £130m-a-year "digital switchover surplus" from the licence fee.
Likely result
The idea that regional news could be run by various independent news consortia - which could mean media companies such as STV, Reuters, ITN, PA or the Guardian Media Group delivering regional news - was proposed in Ofcom's public service broadcasting report. The consortia would be funded by between £40m -£60m annually from the licence-fee switchover surplus, which could potentially be £250m plus - but there are other groups, including the broadband lobby, who would also like to get their hands on the cash.
Early indications suggested that the switchover funding could be split between the two plans, although more recent estimates of the cost of a regional news service have cast doubt over whether this would be possible.
