Highfield, managing director and vice-president of Microsoft UK, said there was a risk that the Digital Britain report - which aims to map out a future blueprint for the UK TV, print, radio and online sectors - was not including companies like Microsoft in the picture.
He made his comments at London Business School event, Digital Britain and the Future of UK PSB TV debate. He said: "I wonder if the proposals are radical enough and have included the companies which make up the other side of the coin."
Carter also came under attack from BT's director for media and convergence, Simon Milner, who was concerned the Digital Britain report was trying to achieve too much. He said: "If this was a single business, we would be thinking about how to get through this tough period right now - not trying to come up with long-term solutions for 10 years time."
Carter defended his report by saying: "We are not putting this together in haste. We are using the time to gather some coherent analysis in one place."
He added: "It's a real opportunity to take stock and gather, in one place, all the options. We are trying, through consultation, to avoid making any of those types of mistakes."
Conservative MP Ed Vaisey, the shadow culture minister, accused the Government of being too slow in its approach to reviewing public service broadcasting and called for the introduction of product placement to bring a much needed extra revenue stream to PSB broadcasters.
He said: "Broadcasters know their own market and how to temper it. When the model is breaking, why not deregulate and let them introduce it?"
Vaisey also talked about the potential for tax breaks to encourage investment in the sector. However, Carter said he wouldn't speculate on the idea, but called it a "very legitimate question that falls into the big bucket of where this market should meet the state".
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