Tech policy & human rights
Big tech accountability? Read how we got here in The Closing of the Net
The market, the monopoly and Mercury
Published in Accountancy magazine
Article Abstract:
Mercury Communications was created in 1982 in order to provide an alternative to the monopoly enjoyed by British Telecom (BT). BT had proved inefficient and it was hoped that a competitor would provide quality service and hasten the reform of BT. Office of Telecommunications Director General Sir Bryan Carsberg is currently undertaking a review of the duopoly to analyze the progress made in modernizing the UK telecommunications system, whether that progress is attributable to privatization, and whether more progress can be stimulated by the introduction of more competitors. Mercury is profitable and has provided an impetus for BT becoming more efficient in order to remain competitive. Mercury had pre-tax profits of 66 million pounds sterling on a turnover of 492 million pounds, processes three million calls a day, and enjoys a 12% share of all international calls and half of international digital private lines.
Publication Name: Accountancy
Subject: Business
ISSN: 0001-4664
Year: 1990
IPtegrity commentary
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- Not a blank cheque: European Parliament consents to EU-UK Agreement
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- What? Will UK government ignore security as it walks away from EU?
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- EU lawmakers seek to protect free speech in online content rules
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Published work
- Algorithms Patrolling Content: Where’s the Harm?
- Content responsibility: The looming cloud of uncertainty for Internet intermediaries
- Freedom of Expression, Human Rights Standards and Private Online Censorship
- The Policy Challenge Of Content Restrictions: How Private Actors Engage The Duties Of States
- Internet Policy Review - The Aereo dilemma and copyright in the cloud
My Linked In profileIptegrity in brief
Iptegrity.com is the website of Dr Monica Horten. I’ve been analysing analysing digital policy since 2008. Way back then, I identified how issues around rights can influence Internet policy, and that has been a thread throughout all of my research. I hold a PhD in EU Communications Policy from the University of Westminster (2010), and a Post-graduate diploma in marketing. I’ve served as an independent expert on the Council of Europe Committee on Internet Freedoms, and was involved in a capacity building project in Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine. I am currently (from June 2022) Policy Manager - Freedom of Expression, with the Open Rights Group. For more, see About Iptegrity
Speaking engagements
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States v the 'Net?
Read The Closing of the Net, by me, Monica Horten.
"original and valuable" Times higher Education
" essential read for anyone interested in understanding the forces at play behind the web." ITSecurity.co.uk
Find out more about the book here The Closing of the Net
FROM £15.99
In 2012, I presented my PhD research in the European Parliament.
