Present:
Peter Sayers Chair (CCE member)
Ian McPherson (NIACT member)
Alastair Robertson (SACOT member)
Jon Simonds (WACT member)

In attendance:
Paul Rogers Head of ACT Secretariat, Oftel
David Edwards CfB Secretary, Oftel
Harriet James Policy Adviser, Oftel (Item 6)

Welcome, apologies and notification of any other business (Ag1)
CfB3403 Apologies were received from Stephen Smith (DIEL member).

Minutes of the last meeting (Ag2)
CfB3503 The minutes of the CfB meeting of 11 March were agreed.

Matters arising not otherwise on the agenda (Ag3)
CfB3603 Rolling actions list (Ag3.1): The DTI had consulted on Internet addresses in Spring 2002. The results of the consultation would be published on the DTI website.

Action 3603 Secretariat to alert CfB members to publication of DTI consultation results.

CfB3703 A response was awaited from the Association of Social Alarm Providers on DACS and alarm lines. The Chair commented that DACS had been addressed by Oftel's recent discussion of line sharing and its affect on functional Internet access in its publication Notification of proposals for designated universal service providers. Oftel had proposed that guidelines on functional Internet access should refer to a minimum data rate of 28.8 kbit/s and set out the specific steps that providers should reasonably take to prevent line sharing solutions being the cause of data rates inadequate for functional Internet access.

CfB3803 Ian McPherson reported that NIACT was unable to carry out a study on mobile phone masts and radiation fears, although it remained an emotive issue in Northern Ireland. Alastair Robertson had recently joined an ETSI group as a representative of BSI. For information, he reported that ETSI's Human Factors group was working on a standard on measuring the radiation 'soup' in the environment generated by communications of different kinds. Ian McPherson commented that domestic roaming could reduce the number of mobile masts and this had been raised by NIACT. It was unclear whether domestic roaming was permitted by regulation. It was suggested that fewer masts might not necessarily be helpful since shared masts would be used more and this could mean increased emissions from the masts concerned.

Action 3803 Secretariat to confirm the regulatory position re domestic roaming.

CfB3903 At the previous CfB meeting there had been discussion of structured cabling and requirements in Spain. Alastair Robertson provided contact and other details to allow the Secretariat to obtain more information on this topic.

Action 3903 Secretariat to pursue structured cabling contacts.

CfB4003 The general conditions of entitlement (Ag3.2): There had been further correspondence between the Chair and Oftel on the application of the general conditions. CfB had been concerned that some small businesses who were communications providers could be unaware that they would have new obligations under the general conditions or the Communications Bill when it became enacted, eg a consumer Code of Practice (CoP). Some consumer representatives had been invited by Oftel to examine and discuss some of the draft CoPs that it had received. Peter Sayers argued that consumer representatives should have a continuing role in Oftel's/Ofcom's CoP approval process. Alastair Robertson commented on a lack of a consistent structure in the various CoPs he had examined. CfB members were uncertain of what would be implemented under the new EU Communications Directives and/or as a result of the Communications Act.

Action 4003 Secretariat to confirm derivation of CoPs etc.

CfB4103 CPIs (Ag3.4): The CfB Chair had continued to 'push' the CPI Industry Forum to publish meaningful information for consumers in an accessible format. The CPI process had improved but there remained scope for further progress. Oftel's Customers and Markets Unit had undertaken some consumer research on consumer perceptions of CPIs but the results had not been as helpful as had been hoped. Both industry and consumer representatives were in favour of making CPIs mandatory but Oftel was not in agreement and it was expected that Ofcom would hold a similar view, ie that CPIs provided a good example of a co-regulatory approach to consumer information. There was then discussion of Ofcom and the appropriate level for consumer views to feed into the new regulator. An Ofcom Board member would be the key executive contact with the Consumer Panel, The CfB Chair argued that instead the Panel should have regular contact with the Ofcom Chairman and/or the Chief Executive if it is to have influence.

CfB4203 CfB would provide views to the CPI Forum on ETSI Quality of Service criteria for Internet access. A paper had been prepared and would be forwarded on.

Action 4203 The Chair to forward paper on QoS to the CPI Forum.

Chairmens' issues (Ag4)
CfB4303 TAP report (Ag4.1): CfB members had received minutes of the April TAP meetings and the Secretariat was in the process of drafting the TAP annual report. Stephen Carter, Ofcom Chief Executive, had been invited to attend a TAP meeting. David Edmonds, the Director General (DG), had not been able to attend recent TAP meetings due to other commitments. ACT Chairmen were keen for him to attend the July meeting. Peter Sayers asked CfB members if they had issues to be raised by the TAP. Ian McPherson raised domestic roaming as a topic for TAP discussion.

Action 4303 CfB members to advise Peter Sayers of any other issues they wished to raise at the next TAP meeting.

CfB4403 Peter Sayers would meet with Ofcom Board Member Ed Richards on 26 June. Part of Ed Richards' role would be executive contact with the Ofcom Consumer Panel and the meeting would be to discuss the transition to the Panel. CfB members discussed the role of the committee in the period between the Communications Bill receiving Royal Assent (expected by 25 July) and the end of the year when the advisory committees will be wound up. Alistair Robertson proposed that CfB should 'go out on a winnable issue', eg consumer issues around Electronic Programme Guides (EPGs) or a suitable conveyance or convergence issue.

Action 4403 Secretariat to arrange a CfB briefing in EPGs.

Secretariat report (Ag5)
CfB4503 Peter Sayers had been re-appointed as Chairman of CfB. All ACT appointments would terminate on 31 March 2004 or sooner, depending on the progress of legislation, ie the Communications Bill. Paul Rogers commented that Oftel staff, including the ACT Secretariat would be involved in a job matching process and would know more about their futures in August.

Communications Bill (Ag6)
CfB4603 Harriet James gave CfB members a brief update on the progress of the Communications Bill in the House of Lords. The Report Stage would begin on 23 June, would be spread over four days and provide an opportunity for more amendments to be put forward. It would then be followed by a third reading in the Lords but the date had not been fixed, it would last one day and be a further opportunity for amendments. The Government had put forward its own amendment on inclusive design of equipment for consumers with disabilities and was in discussion with Lord Putnam about media ownership rules.

CfB4703 CfB had maintained contact with the Forum of Private Business (FPB) and commented on draft amendments, eg arguing for a small business advisory body under the Consumer Panel. Briefing material had also been supplied to FPB for Lord Randall who is working to amend the Bill in favour of small businesses. FPB and CfB had met 'halfway' on the size of small businesses to be represented by the Consumer Panel - firms with up to 50 employees.

Ofcom and the Consumer Panel (Ag7)
CfB4803 It was agreed that this item had been dealt with in earlier discussion.

Directory Enquiries (Ag8)
CfB4903 Oftel had published a statement on The future use of Legacy Directory Enquiry Numbers. It appeared that the views put forward by the ACTs in their responses to the earlier consultation document had not been taken up, apart from the argument for an extension to the period of network messaging on 192 that will come into effect in August when the period of parallel running ends for 192 and new DQ numbers. Network messaging would end in June 2004 and coincide with the end of roll out of BT phonebooks containing a consumer leaflet with information about new and competitive DQ services. Peter Sayers confirmed that a TAP response to the statement would be submitted to Oftel.

SME complaints (Ag9)
CfB5003 Alastair Robertson reported that one of his SACOT colleagues had worked closely with Alistair Cox of Oftel's CRS on presentation of Scottish consumer complaint information. Alastair Robertson suggested that a similar format could be useful to CfB members. Alistair Cox previously attended CfB meetings and had presented complaint data in different ways to meet requests from CfB members. His presence at the next CfB meeting could help answer queries raised by members.

Action 5003 Secretariat to discuss data presentation with Alistair Cox and to invite him to the next CfB meeting.

Members reports (Ag10)
CfB5103 Jon Simonds reported that WACT was concerned about the level of BT consumer complaints in Wales. BT had agreed to conduct research to examine why there were more complaints when compared with the rest of the UK on a pro-rata basis. The auction of 3.4Ghz spectrum for microwave broadband services had been concluded. The Secretariat was requested to provide members with more information on the auction and to make enquiries about a map of Wi-Fi 'hot spots'.

Action 5103 Secretariat to report on the 3.4Ghz auction and Wi-Fi.

FSA e-business Advisory Group (Ag11)
CfB5203 Alastair Robertson reported that the FSA Group had not met since the last CfB meeting. It was expected to meet at the end of the year.

Small Business Task Force (Ag12)
CfB5303 CfB members had attended the final meeting of the Task Force in April 2003. Members supported the recommendation that the initiative be carried forward by Ofcom, including the TelecomsAdvice website.

Oftel consultations for discussion (Ag13)
CfB5403 Responses had been submitted to six Oftel consultations since the last quarterly CfB meeting , including some of the market reviews required under the new EU communications directives. There would be a further round of market reviews.

Action 5403 Secretariat to liaise with CfB Chair on responses to market reviews.

AOB (Ag14)
CfB5503 There was no other business apart from discussion of the next CfB meeting. Members had held meetings at Oftel, in Scotland and in Northern Ireland but, so far, not in Wales. It was agreed that the next CfB meeting should be held in Aberystwyth in September.

Action 5503 Secretariat to circulate dates and make meeting arrangements.

Numbering and small businesses (Ag15)
CfB5603 Liz Greenberg, of Oftel's Numbering Unit, was due to attend to discuss corporate numbering and any other numbering issues affecting small businesses. The CfB meeting had to be wound up early and that discussion was carried forward to a future meeting.

[Note: CfB members met with Liz Greenberg on 26 June 2003.]

Date of next meeting: To be confirmed.