Agenda for the meeting.
Minutes of the meeting.
Action Points from the meeting.
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Item - Presented by: (Oftel unless otherwise stated)
1. Introduction and Action Points - Ann Taylor
2. Mobile Market Influence Determination update - Chris Taylor
3. Price Control Review update - Chris Taylor
4. Utility Review - Neil Buckley
6. AOB
Ann Taylor advised that all of the outstanding action points had either been closed or would be discussed at this OPF.
Chris Taylor explained that the period for consultation following the Notice of determinations that Vodafone and BTCellnet have Market Influence under Condition 56 had been completed. Oftel had considered representations in response to the consultation and, notwithstanding some of the concerns expressed, decided to go ahead with both determinations.
In response to a question from the floor Chris replied that Oftel intended to publish its Guidelines on Market Influence in February.
Chris Taylor explained that he wished to briefly update the OPF on the progress of the price control review.
First, he reported that the second price control review consultation document would be published in February. The document would consider whether the current price controls on BT’s retail and interconnection services needed to be replaced and, if so, by what.
Second, he reminded the OPF that comments on the proposed licence modifications for rollover included with the statement Rollover of BT’s existing retail price and network charge controls needed to be provided to Oftel by 31 January 2000. Oftel intended to add the modifications to BT’s licence as proposed unless responses indicated that the provisions needed amendment.
Finally, Chris also reported that NERA would soon be providing Oftel with its report on BT’s efficiency relative to other operators. This report, which would be used to assist modelling in the event of future price controls, would be published by March.
Neil Buckley explained that he wished to give the OPF an overview of the key changes to telecommunications regulation proposed by the Utilities’ Bill, which was published on 21 January 2000. He advised that the headline changes were:
Neil also gave an overview of other changes to telecommunications regulation, which are set out in the slides.
In response to various questions from the floor Neil advised that: Royal Consent is expected by July and the Authority and TCC would then be established by April 2002; ICSTIS would be unaffected; the role of the Chair of the Authority (not DG) has not been established.
Click here to view the slides Neil used in his presentation.
Chris Taylor reported that on 22 December 1999 the Commission formally agreed to allow the UK to defer implementation of CPS until 1 April 2000. He also highlighted the need for the industry to continue to provide resources for the permanent solution.
Chris then reported on behalf of the CPS Interim Solution Focus Group. He advised that the Focus Group has reached agreement on the Process Document, the dialler categories and the dialler specifications. The product description, however, has still to be finalised.
He then explained that Oftel would determine the costs and charges for interim ICPS. It intended to publish the draft determination in the middle of February and the final determination in March.
Finally, Chris advised that the ICPS trials were expected to begin late in February.
Karen Hardy (Energis) reported:
Process Group (Chair: Chris Tully, Energis)
General
The EC finally gave its deferment decision on 22/12/99 and, as expected, granted a delay until 01/04/00 rather than 12/00 as requested. The regulations have been laid before Parliament and the obligations are now in place on Kingston (01/01/00) and BT (01/04/00) for the implementation of CPS.
Lisbeth Kristoffersen (MCI Worldcom) reported that the Option 2 product description needed minor refining.
Geoff Brighton reported that the NTS Focus Group would be meeting at some unspecified date to begin discussions on the review of the retail uplift (it has since been scheduled for Wednesday, 16 February). Discussions would need to consider the appropriate methodology to calculate the retail uplift.
Lesley Bulman (NTL) reported that the pre-allocation portability trials had been successful. Eight operators – including BT – have agreed to offer to each other pre-allocation portability.
Lesley also advised that the group had not resolved issues surrounding the contractual relationship between the first and second recipient operators in subsequent portability.
Owen Watson (Torch) reported:
1. An industry SOR has been produced for the introduction of Unallocated GNP (U-GNP), however as there is no regulatory requirement to offer this product there are concerns that some operators may not wish to implement the product. It is the majority view of the group that this is an important addition to the product portfolio and that operators should give careful consideration to the introduction of service, especially where they are porting Centrex and DDI.
2. Remote Call Forwarding remains an issue for the group and is still unresolved. The tensions arise from concerns expressed that use of RCF could circumvent the restrictions on mobility, which itself remains an issue for a large number of customers.
3. Centrex portability trial is now partially complete, with no issues revealed. Industry agreement has been reached to allow the sharing of common experience for the first ten or so ports to ensure no process or technical issues exist.
4. Subsequent portability is now available subject to the necessary contractual arrangements between operators. The processes have not been trialled owing to the non-availability of three suitable trialists. As for Centrex, there is industry agreement to exchange experience on the first 10 to 15 ports to determine the workability of the processes.
5. Work has commenced on extending the automation of the order handling interface to multi-line orders. A number of options are being considered from moving to e-mail to the introduction of ftp interfaces between pairs of operators. The implementation of automation remains on an order volume threshold and there will not be a compulsion to automate.
6. A meeting has been arranged for Thursday, 27 January at Torch in Wakefield to discuss options for reducing Service Establishment lead times in the post 1.1.2000 porting environment. A number of options are to be discussed, centring on Prefix on Demand (POD). Any operator interested in attending the discussions should contact Owen Watson on 01924 882642 or by e-mail owen.watson@torch.co.uk.
7. The GNP Process Group has been advised by the DIU that the 28 day rule for the adoption of entries on their systems will be enforced from the end of February. After this date, any unadopted entries relating to ported numbers will be deleted from the systems and the number user will lose their listings in due course. The DIU has a sizeable back-log of numbers and is happy to speak to operators to resolve the problem on a bilateral basis. Contact the DIU on 0113 204 2737.
8. Discussion is taking place with respect to the opening hours of order desks. The proposal that has been put in place is for Monday to Friday 0900 to 1700, although porting activations will remain as they currently stand. This has arisen from experience of the de facto hours as against the standard hours laid down in the End to End Process Manual.
The PNP-FG Process Manual is being refined in light of issues that have arisen during the personal number portability trials. The process for PNP should be available for adoption by operators on 1 March 2000.
Graham Lamb (BT) thanked Ann Taylor, who is leaving Oftel, for her stewardship of the OPF. Ann advised that her successor, Chris Kenny, would be joining Oftel on 14 February. However, Peter Walker has agreed to chair the next two OPFs to allow Chris time to familiarise himself with Oftel.
| No. | Description | Status | Owner |
| 12/1 | Operators that have still to do so are urged to apply for Annex II status. Queries and applications should be sent to Keith Bowman at Oftel (phone: 0171 634 8914 e-mail: annexII@oftel.gov.uk). | Ongoing. | OPF |
| 12/2 | Geographic Number Portability-Focus Group is looking for a
new Chair. Nominations should be sent to Owen Watson (owen.watson@torch.co.uk). Reply: The group has decided to rotate the responsibilities until a permanent chair is nominated. |
Closed. | OPF |
| 12/3 | Report from Mobile Number Portability-Focus Group to be
circulated. Reply: Report attached. |
Closed. | OPF |
| 11/4 | Oftel to organise NTS-FG meeting to discuss the
‘retail uplift’. Reply: The meeting is taking place next Wednesday, 16 February at Oftel. |
Closed. | Oftel |
| 12/3 (97) |
Oftel will provide periodic updates on the latest EU Directives and briefings on forthcoming licensing issues. | Ongoing. | Oftel |
| 4/4 (98) | BT will provide periodic updates on its proposals to increase the number of available chargebands. | Ongoing. | BT |
