Ofcom leans towards Government with chief exec

Ofcom has named chief operating officer Ed Richards as its chief executive, filling a vacancy created by the resignation in May of former chief Stephen Carter.

Richards has a strong government heritage, having largely created the 2003 Communications Act. He also served as the prime minister's senior policy advisor on telecoms, Internet and e-government.

Richards beat five shortlisted candidates to the job, which is likely to pay him in excess of £400,000.

Other candidates included existing Ofcom staffers Kip Meek, chief policy partner, and Sean Williams, competition partner, plus three external applicants whose names have not been revealed.

Critics have questioned whether a man who has worked for several years with senior government ministers should have been appointed to head up the regulator, as Ofcom has been proud to trumpet its independence from Westminster.

But Luke Gibbs, managing editor of OfcomWatch, backed the appointment.

"It's good for continuity and it's good that he truly understands the convergence between media and telecoms. He is politically astute and well connected," said Gibbs.

As well as being responsible directly to Tony Blair, Richards has also worked for the Exchequer.

In a blog posting written on Thursday, Gibbs said Richards will take on a different role to Carter.

The new chief executive will take on much more day-to-day implementation of Ofcom's strategic reviews, with "real bread and butter" regulatory work covering spectrum reviews and overseeing Openreach, Gibbs wrote.

"Gone — for the most part — are the days of strategic thinking combined with predictive statements about the future," according to Gibbs.

During his time as a senior policy advisor, Richards was forced to explain broadband to Tony Blair. Two years later, Richards co-wrote the act which enabled the five media, radio and telecoms regulators to be rolled into Ofcom.