Berkett fumes over the BBC’s handling of Project Canvas
The Virgin Media’s chief executive officer Neil Berkett has bitterly criticised the way of handling of Project Canvas by the BBC Trust. Project Canvas is a controversial video-on-demand service that has been proposed for the broadband consumers in the United Kingdom.
Berkett who spoke at the annual Cable Congress in Brussels on Thursday March 4 said that he was not convinced that a sufficiently transparent as well as rigorous scrutiny of the activities of the corporation along with its impact on the digital market was not being provided by the BBC Trust.
As a matter of fact, Virgin Media, the leading cable and fibre optic broadband provider operating in the UK has always argued against the stated goals of Project Canvas that were lowering the entry barriers, creation of a simple environment and democratising TV access, and its stand that these could be smoothly achieved with a open technical standard, which was also simple.
However, rather than materialising an open list of standards, which could be followed by the manufacturers in a way similar to Freeview, satellite and cable service providers as well as the users would have to use the interface of Project Canvas and EPG, the delegates resorted to just hearing the theory.
It is also worth mentioning here the viewpoint of Berkett that there seldom was the need for the BBC to develop an entirely fresh user experience mandated TV platform and a sole central user interface that was proprietary with a view to achive its stated objectives.
Berkett also said that Project Canvas obviously should have the potential for injecting the much required momentum into the digital economy of the UK if its possessed a set of technology neutral standards that were genuinely open.
