Telecoms Advisory Panel
Chairmen of the Advisory Committees on Telecommunications: representing consumer
needs to OftelForward Plan 2002-2003
Introduction
Every year the six Advisory Committees on Telecommunications
(‘ACTs’) each issue an Annual Report and Plans leaflet (please see the ACTs web
site at www.acts.org.uk). The leaflets review the
previous year and outline priority areas of interest for each committee in the coming
year. Short committee reports also appear in Oftel's Annual Report.
Starting this year, we are publishing a combined Forward Plan (this
document), covering the priorities for the Telecoms Advisory Panel (TAP - meetings
of the six ACT Chairmen) and the six committees. Separately a 2001 TAP annual report
is being published by Oftel that looks back at activities last year.
Telecoms Advisory Panel
Moira Black Chairman, CCE
Jeremy Mitchell Chairman, SACOT
Peter Sayers Chairman, CfB
Mike Tedd Chairman, WACT
Courtenay Thompson Chairman, NIACT
Bob Twitchin Chairman, DIEL
For further information, Please contact:
Advisory Committee Secretariat
50 Ludgate Hill
London EC4M 7JJ
Tel: 020 7634 8773
Fax: 020 7634 8924
Text: 020 7634 8969
e -mail: actsec@acts.org.uk
The Advisory Committees on Telecommunications
Under section 54 of the Telecommunications Act 1984, six advisory
committees were established:
CCE representing users in England
SACOT representing users in Scotland
WACT representing users in Wales
NIACT representing users in Northern Ireland
DIEL representing users who are disabled or elderly
CfB representing small business users
The committees advise the Director General of Telecommunications.
The Telecoms Advisory Panel
The Chairmen of the six committees meet regularly in a non-statutory
forum - the Telecoms Advisory Panel - to co-ordinate their work, and to raise
matters with the Director General.
This forward plan sets out the broad aims and priorities of the
advisory committees and the panel over the coming year.
Mission statement
To be an effective voice for users of telecoms services in the UK,
particularly for those with least power in the market, by promoting their interests
through advice to the Director General of Telecommunications and his staff. In order to do
this we will liase with the telecoms industry, government, and the European Union as well
as seeking the views of consumers.
Who are we?
- We are statutory committees representing the concerns of users of
telecoms services to the Director General of Oftel.
- The Chairmen and members of the four country committees are appointed
by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. The Chairmen and members of DIEL and CfB
are appointed by the Director General of Oftel.
- The committees are financed by Oftel. Our support staff are employed
by or are contractors to Oftel. However the committees’ discussions, activities and
published views are completely independent of Oftel, government, and the telecoms
industry.
- The NIACT Secretariat in Belfast also deals with complaints from
telecoms consumers in Northern Ireland on behalf of the Director General.
- Chairmen and members are part-time. They claim expenses and receive a
small daily allowance for the time they give to their work with the committees.
How do we represent users interests?
- We are consulted by and give independent advice to the Director
General of Oftel and his staff on all matters affecting telecoms consumers. We expect the
Director General to take account of our advice.
- We maintain liaison with the major telecoms companies, whose licences
require them to take due notice of our advice.
- We sit on a variety of working groups, involving both the telecoms
industry and Oftel, in order to represent user interests on particular issues.
- We monitor trends in consumer complaints, carry out consumer
research, and make use of Oftel and other market research evidence, to refine and focus
the advice we give to Oftel.
- We hold some of our committee meetings in public and our reports are
published.
- We seek feedback on our Annual Report and Plans leaflets, and on our
other activities via our website and through occasional surveys.
- We voice the concerns of telecoms consumers to Oftel, and seek to
exercise a responsible influence on telecoms companies, government, and other bodies. Our
responses to consultations from Oftel and others are published.
- We liaise with a wide range of other bodies including other national
and regional consumer organisations to inform our awareness of the concerns of telecoms
consumers.
- We give emphasis to representing the interests of consumers with
least power in the market, including people living on low incomes or in rural areas, micro
and small businesses, disabled and older people with additional requirements needs, and
people without a phone.
Working with Oftel
The key function of our committees is to advise the Director General
of Telecommunications. We therefore work closely with the Director General and his staff,
seeking to influence Oftel in the carrying out of its duties and objectives, to ensure
that consumer interests are promoted and protected.
Oftel provides our resources, and we have consulted the Director
General in drawing up this statement. We also have a duty to provide the Director General
with an annual report on the activities of each committee.
To help us carry out our functions, the Director General has
undertaken to:
- Consult us on matters affecting the interests of consumers.
- Take account of our comments and views in carrying out his statutory
duty to promote consumers’ interests.
- Provide us with sufficient information to enable us to carry out
effectively our statutory duty to advise him.
- Meet regularly with the Telecoms Advisory Panel to report on
his work, to receive our comments on Oftel policy and projects, and to answer our
questions.
- Meet the individual Advisory Committees as appropriate to hear their
views in person.
- Support the involvement of ACT members in co- or self-regulatory
project working groups.
- Consult us on his market and consumer research programme.
- Take account of our comments in his work with other regulators in
taking forward government proposals to reform communications regulation.
- Take account of our comments in his work with other government
departments and with the EU.
- Support the publication of our responses to consultations.
We are required to report annually to the Director General on our
activities.
We are subject to Codes of Conduct agreed with Oftel and based on
Cabinet Office guidelines. A public register of ACT members' interests is produced
annually.
Our priorities for 2002 – 2003
Our Forward Plan covers the year from April 2002 to March 2003. We
will give particular attention to the following issues over the coming year:
- Legislation to reform communications regulation;
- Active participation in co-regulatory initiatives, particularly in
the area of consumer information provision, codes of practice, comparable performance
information, and development of a Telecoms Ombudsman Scheme;
- Other appropriate activity to promote and improve consumer access to
telecoms services and information about telecoms services.;
- The implementation of new European Union Directives on tTelecoms;
- Oftel’s mMobile and Internet access market reviews;
- Monitoring and responding to trends in consumer complaints and
enquiries and policy issues arising from them, and other developments in the telecoms
market.;
- Eexternal relations - we will work actively with other consumer
bodies to establish a clearer view of consumer needs and preferences.;
- Organisational development - developing effectiveness measures,
reviewing our work, and enhancing public awareness of the work of the advisory committees.
Our activities in each of these areas are set out in the plans
prepared by each individual advisory committee. These are summarised below.
We review our activities each October, and prepare our draft plans
for the following year in the light of our review. We will publish the final version of
our Forward Plan in March/April, in the light of Oftel’s own draft management plan
for the coming year.
Contact details for each committee are at the end of this document.
Consumer Communications for England (CCE) - Priorities for 2002
In pursuing its aims, CCE advises, monitors, and seeks to influence
the operation and regulation of telecoms markets, to protect and promote the interests of
consumers in England. In particular CCE strives to give a voice to those consumers with
least power in the market and who might otherwise not be heard:
- People without the voice of supporting organisations to put forward
their concerns;
- People living on low incomes and those living in rural communities;
- People at present without access to the Internet.
CCE priorities for 2002
- CCE wishes to see Oftel maintaining social protection, through a
combination of Universal Service Obligation and Retail Price Controls on BT, to ensure the
widest access to basic voice telephony and the internet.
- CCE believes Oftel's regulatory activity must remain focussed on the
needs of telecoms users, both as consumers and citizens.
- CCE believes consumers must have and be aware of a range of
information sources that are accessible, trusted and provide comparable price and other
information, so that they can make effective decisions in a competitive market.
What CCE will be doing in 2002 CCE aims
To influence Oftel by:
- Continuing to push for the inclusion of consumer impact assessments
in Oftel's consultation documents;
- Continuing to receive quarterly reports on complaints trends;
- Maintaining participation, in co-ordination with other advisory
committees, in the range of co-regulatory working parties and other Oftel forums;
- Publishing responses to at least ten Oftel consultations.
ETO enhancinge the quality and availability of consumer
information by:
- Promoting development of a web-based service for publication of
comparable indicators of telecoms operators' performance;
- Encouraging Oftel to publish more information aimed at consumers and
third party information and advice providers.;
DTO developing CCE's effectiveness by:
- Establishing in collaboration with the other advisory committees a
range of effectiveness measures;
- Commissioning market research;
- Ensuring Secretariat provides regular briefings for members;
- Participating in the 2002 ACT members' conference.
RTO raisinge the profile of CCE by:
- Having the CCE Secretary run at least two seminars to inform Oftel
staff about CCE's activities and objectives;
- Participating in the Public Utilities Access Forum and liaising with
other consumer organisations;
- Running a small invitation-only seminar for consumer organisations;
- Establishing a new mailing list and publications strategy.
The Scottish Advisory Committee on Telecommunications (SACOT)
- priorities for 2002
The primary aim of SACOT is to promote the interests of users of
telecoms services and equipment in Scotland. We do this through our advice to Oftel about
regulatory policy and its effects on consumers and through direct representations to
telecoms companies operating in Scotland.
What SACOT will aim to do in 2002
- Press the UK government to ensure that its plans to reform the
structure of telecoms and broadcasting regulation provide for effective representation of
the interests of consumers and citizens in Scotland.
- Press for price controls to be maintained until it is clear that
competition is fully effective and, in particular, that telecoms consumers have full,
comparable information to enable them to take decisions that are in their own best
interests.
- Press for new broadband telecoms services to be made available to all
consumers in Scotland, including those living in isolated communities and those on low
incomes.
- Work with the telecoms industry and other consumer organisations to
set up a UK-wide telecoms ombudsman scheme.
- Carry out research into the effectiveness of competition in the fixed
and mobile telephone markets in Scotland.
The Welsh Advisory Committee on Telecommunications (WACT) -
priorities for 2002
WACT promotes the interests of everyone in Wales who uses telecoms
services or buys telecoms equipment. We focus on the needs of residential consumers and we
want to see in particular better access to telecoms services in rural Wales. We carry out
a range of activities, seeking to influence Oftel, government departments and telecoms
companies.
Oftel is currently developing a Welsh Language Scheme, to be
implemented in full in 2002.The Scheme applies to both Oftel and WACT.
What WACT will do in 2002:
- Contribute to the preparation for the establishment of OFCOM,
advocating effective arrangements for the representation of consumers, particularly those
in Wales.
- Continue to identify issues of particular relevance to
telecommunications consumers in Wales, and to represent these issues to Oftel and to the
operators in Wales.
- Maintain our links with the National Assembly for Wales.
- Receive reports from Oftel’s Consumer Representation Section
concerning contacts from consumers in Wales, and follow up any general issues that arise.
- Mount a conference in the autumn to raise awareness in Wales about
telecommunications issues.
- Initiate research into the coverage of mobile telephony in Wales, and
the economic and social implications of any inadequacy in this coverage.
- Contribute to Welsh Development Agency and National Assembly
initiatives to encourage the availability of broadband services throughout Wales.
- Contribute to the Competition Commission’s inquiry into mobile
telephony.
- Work with Oftel to implement its Welsh Language Scheme, and to
monitor its operation.
The Northern Ireland Advisory Committee on Telecommunications
(NIACT) - priorities for 2002
The primary aim of the committee is to promote the interests of
users of telecoms services and equipment in Northern Ireland. We do this through our
advice to Oftel about regulatory policy and its effects on consumers and through direct
representations to telecoms companies operating in Northern Ireland. NIACT liaises with
the local public telephone operators to:
- ensure that they comply with their licences;
- deal with customer complaints and enquiries;
- respond to consultation papers and discussion documents.
What NIACT will be doing in 2002
Processing an increasing number of complaints not fully resolved by
telecom operators
NIACT expects the number of complaints to increase as new operators
and mobile phone providers enter the marketplace. In an ever-changing industry, the
Committee will make every effort to ensure that Northern Ireland consumers are well
represented. New equipment and systems are being put in place to ensure that NIACT's
service continually improves.
Responding to Oftel consultation documents and statements
NIACT will continue to respond to consultation documents in the best
interests of consumers, working towards universal service. We will also respond to
consultations from other relevant sources.
Proactive consumer representation
- Dates and agendas for our meetings published in advance on our
website and continuing to meet with local representatives to hear local issues.
- The Annual Conference open to the general public.
- A project to research Broadband Internet and to promote its use in
the region, culminating in a second roadshow in the autumn.
- Arguing for continued Northern Ireland representation in the light of
the Communications White Paper, and ensuring that OFCOM, the proposed new regulator, will
take into account the views and needs of the Northern Ireland people when it is formed.
Number change - Working closely with the operators and
the media to ensure maximum awareness and full explanation of changes as they continue.
Local call rates - NIACT will continue to support this
initiative in the best interests of consumers. NIACT would encourage all to follow the
example of some operators by offering local call charges for all calls within Northern
Ireland.
Mobile phones - We will continue to look at:
contracts, tariffs, cost of calls to mobiles, roaming, coverage and health issues.
Convergence - NIACT will continue to monitor the
fast-moving telecommunications technologies and encourage convergence where appropriate.
We will continue to work with the media and use the NIACT conference and roadshows as a
forum to inform consumers of the latest developments.
Price control - We will continue to encourage competition
amongst the operators in line with Oftel’s strategy for reducing regulatory
intervention, whilst monitoring new tariffs and discount structures to offer consumers the
best deal. NIACT supports maintenance of price control based on its view that the market
place is not sufficiently competitive to sustain full value and quality of service to the
consumer.
DIEL - priorities for 2002
DIEL works with the other Advisory Committees on Telecommunications
(ACTs). We aim to influence telecoms regulation in relation to age and disability issues.
We seek to bring together like-minded bodies to advise policy makers and the industry on
how improvements can be made in relation to access to and information about products and
services. The majority of the members of DIEL are themselves disabled or over age 60.
What DIEL will be doing in 2002
- Try to maintain a high profile for consumers who are older or
disabled in the transition to the Consumer Panel, expected to be outlined in a draft
Communications Bill in Spring 2002.
- Continue to identify barriers to access to telecommunications
services experienced by people who are older and disabled and develop strategies with
others to overcome barriers.
- Work with Oftel on a number of projects, including influencing its
thinking on the new OFCOM to ensure that the requirements of consumers who are older or
disabled are met.
- Encourage Oftel to conduct consumer research that includes and is
representative of the views of and issues affecting consumers who are older or disabled.
- Conduct and support research projects with a focus on telecoms issues
affecting people who are older or disabled.
- Encourage Oftel as an organization to continue to take disability
issues seriously, to make the office and its activities fully accessible to people who are
older or disabled.
- Contribute to ongoing debates about issues around the information
society and electronic commerce.
- Promote closer working with Oftel’s four country Advisory
Committees and CfB, the committee for small businesses, particularly in relation to
sharing advice and information relating to people who are older or disabled.
- Address the NIACT conference ‘Telcoms 2002’ on Tackling
(Tele-) Communications Barriers.
Communications for Business - priorities for 2002
Each CfB member belongs to one of the other ACTs and contributes to
the work of those committees. CfB also monitors and seeks to influence the operation and
regulation of telecoms markets to protect and promote the interests of small businesses.
In particular, CfB strives to give a voice to consumers who might otherwise not be heard
in this fast changing industry, particularly:
- People working as sole traders;
- Small businesses employing 50 employees or less;
- And those running businesses outside urban areas.
What CfB aims to do in 2002
- CfB will continue to respond to Oftel and government
consultations, take part in Oftel and industry working parties and work together with
other consumer organisations.
- CfB will respond to the Government’s draft Communications
Bill expected in the Spring to ensure that the interests of small businesses are taken
into account in the future UK regulatory framework of OFCOM and a Consumer Panel.
- CfB will continue to argue for a ‘moving target’ rather
than the setting of a minimum data speed. CfB believes that this should be kept under
review by Oftel and as more consumers use 56kbits/s modems the mandated speed should be
raised.
- CfB wishes to see the widest possible access for small businesses to
new higher bandwidth services. CfB welcomed BT's wholesale ADSL price reductions announced
in February 2002. We will encourage Oftel to ensure roll-out obligations continue to be
met and to monitor prices over the coming year.
- CfB wishes to see greater choice in services over the local loop and
will take a keen interest in local loop unbundling (LLU).
- CfB will continue to take an interest in monitoring, collating and
assessing complaints made by small businesses particularly where policy issues may arise.
Contacting the Advisory Committees
Please note that apart from NIACT, the committees are unable to
provide help and advice with complaints. If you have a complaint about your telecoms
service, please contact your operator first. If you are unable to resolve the problem, you
may wish to contact NIACT or Oftel on 0845 714 5000.
However the committees do welcome your views on communications
issues. You can contact the committees through their secretaries:
CCE Secretary / CfB Secretary / DIEL
Secretary
ACT Secretariat
Oftel
50 Ludgate Hill
London
EC4M 7JJ
Tel - 020 7634 8773
Fax - 020 7634 8924
Text - 020 7634 8969
E-mail - cce@acts.org.uk cfb@acts.org.uk diel@acts.org.uk
Website - www.acts.org.uk
SACOT Secretary
28 Thistle Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1EN
Tel - 0131 226 7275
Fax - 0131 226 4181
E-mail - sacot@acts.org.uk
Website - www.acts.org.uk
WACT Secretary
4 The Science Park c/o FBA
Aberystwyth
Ceredigion
SY23 3AH
Tel - 01970 636 413
Fax - 01970 636 414
E-mail - wact@acts.org.uk
Website - www.acts.org.uk
NIACT Secretary
Commerce House
22 Victoria Street
Belfast
BT2 7QA
Tel - 028 9024 4113
Fax - 028 9024 7024
E-mail - niact@acts.org.uk
Website - www.acts.org.uk
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