Ref:  08/00
Date: 17 February 2000

All major public telecoms operators with annual revenue of £1 million or more, will be required to have their metering and billing systems and procedures subjected to rigorous assessment and certification under improvements to Oftel's Metering and Billing Approvals Scheme.

The improved approvals scheme will also include a much wider range of telephone services including fixed line rental, discount schemes and supplementary services (eg call minder), in addition to metered calls for analogue and digital telephony which are already covered by the current scheme

The current scheme, administered by the British Approvals Board for Telecommunications (BABT), gives the Director General the authority to require any public telecoms operator to submit its metering and billing systems for approval. To date only BT, Cable and Wireless, Kingston Communications (Hull), Vodafone and Cellnet have had their metering and billing systems approved.

However Oftel's review of the scheme showed that telecoms users were strongly in favour of all major telecoms companies including cable operators and mobile operators being included in the scheme.

To cope with the anticipated increase in the volume of approvals work, Oftel intends to open up the assessment and certification of approvals to other UK accreditation bodies in addition to BABT.

Commenting on the announcement, David Edmonds, Director General of Telecommunications said:

"The improved approvals scheme will provide telecoms companies with a rigorous assessment of their billings systems and procedures and will help them to identify and resolve weaknesses in their processes. Oftel will continue to consult user groups and the industry about further improvements to the approvals process.

"Billing is one area of activity where customers really should have total confidence in their telecoms companies. Extending the approvals scheme to include more companies and more services is an important step forward in helping to raise standards and spread best practice throughout the industry."

Notes for Editors

1. The document Ensuring Telephone Bills Are Accurate - A Statement on the Review of The Oftel Meter Approvals Scheme for Public Telecommunications Operators is available from Oftel's website. Copies are also available to the media from Oftel's Press Office on 0171-634 8991 and to the public from Oftel's Research and Intelligence Unit on 0171-634 8761.

2. The current Metering and Billing Approvals Scheme is administered on behalf of the Director General of Telecommunications by the British Approvals Board for Telecommunications.

3. Companies with annual revenue of more than £1 million will be required to submit their metering and billing procedures for approval by December 2001.

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