Contents

Foreword
Introduction
1 Scope
2 Definitions
3 Measurement of TMBS Accuracy and Reliability
4. Individual Bill Accuracy
5. Timeliness of Post Pay Billing
6. Tariffs
7. Interworking between Operators
8. Quality
9. Materiality
10. Measurement Systems
11. Service Usage Specification
12. Conformity to this Standard
Annex A – Application of this Standard to compliance with UK legislation
Annex B – Designation

Abbreviations

DG - Oftel Director General of the Office of Telecommunications

PTO - Public Telecommunications Operator

SUS - Service Usage Specification

TMBS - Total Metering and Billing System

UK - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

VFSTS - Voice Frequency Switched Telecommunications Services

This Standard has been published by Oftel for the United Kingdom (UK) Metering System & Billing System Approval Scheme.

It supersedes Oftel Technical Requirement (OTR) 003: 1993 referred to in Designation No. Oftel/92/1 under Section 24(6) of the Telecommunications Act 1984 (the Act). OTR003: 1993 was issued on 10 December 1993 and will be withdrawn at a date to be announced.

Introduction

This Standard defines objective criteria against which the overall accuracy of Logging/Metering, charging and billing for Telecommunications Services can be assessed.

Earlier editions of this Standard were issued to provide certain Public Telecommunications Operators (PTOs) in the UK with objective criteria against which their metering and billing systems could be measured, thereby demonstrating compliance with section 24 of the Act, and relevant PTO licence conditions.

Following publication of the Oftel statement "Ensuring telephone bills are accurate" (February 2000) with its potential application to many more PTOs and service providers, the opportunity has been taken to bring this Standard in line with current needs and practice. Its scope has been broadened to cover currently foreseen Telecommunications Services.

This Standard may be cited in primary or delegated legislation. Such citation may limit the scope of application for legal purposes and/or apply other requirements.

NOTE: Within the UK such citation is often contained within a legal instrument known as a Designation.

Within the body of this Standard, certain words and phrases shown in Title Case have specific meanings; these are defined in clause 2. Otherwise, normal definitions from the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary apply.

The associated Oftel Metering Systems & Billing Systems Scheme Guide provides additional information to assist with the interpretation of this Standard.

1. Scope

1.1 This Standard applies to any Total Metering and Billing System (TMBS) run by an Operator or Operators to record access to and usage of, and charge accordingly for, Telecommunications Services.

1.2 This Standard applies to the cumulative performance of a TMBS concerned in the billing of a Chargeable Event, whether in being at the date of issue of this Standard or subsequently.

1.3 This Standard applies to TMBSs used for both retail and wholesale purposes. It does not apply to charging and billing raised by one Operator against another for handling telecommunications traffic passed between their systems (i.e. interconnection and settlement charges between Operators).

NOTE: This Standard, however, does apply to Logging/Metering of such traffic; see clause 7.

2.1 Approval Body
an undertaking appointed under legislation to approve TMBSs

2.2 Bill
either:
a) the documentation Issued by an Operator to the customer informing of the charges levied;
or
b) the information retained by an Operator recording and allowing debits to be made from a customer’s account.

NOTE: Prepay services are typical examples of b).

2.3 Chargeable Event
either:
a) implementation of a request for a service, feature or discount that attracts a recurring or non-recurring charge;
or
b) a use of such a service that attracts an individual charge for each use.

NOTE 1: The term Service Usage (see clause 2.13) corresponds to b). A typical example of Service Usage charged for by duration is a telephone call. Another example is the transmission of data, which could be charged for by counting the number of bytes or data packets required.

NOTE 2: Chargeable Events may occur without having been initiated by the user. An example would be charges for the terminating leg of a call. Where charges apply to both the origination and termination of the same call, two distinct Chargeable Events will have occurred. Examples are call diversion or mobile telephone roaming.

2.4 Complaint
an expression of dissatisfaction with the Operator or the service it provides, received from a customer

2.5 Due Process
the investigation, recording and correction of a failure, error or upheld Complaint, as determined by audit to be fit for purpose

2.6 Equipment
all hardware and software and/or firmware necessary for the operation of a function, including those elements concerned solely with ensuring correct operation

2.7 Issue
the action whereby the Operator, having completed preparation of a Bill, in the sense of clause 2.2 a), passes it to the delivery agent

NOTE: The Operator has completed preparation of the Bill if any further processing still to be performed by the delivery agent is for presentational purposes only.

2.8 Logging/Metering
the operation of any Equipment constructed or adapted for use in ascertaining the extent of Service Usage of a telecommunication system

2.9 Operator
an undertaking or part thereof, providing public telecommunications networks or publicly available Telecommunications Services

2.10 Overcharged Event
either:
a) a Chargeable Event for which the charge to the customer exceeds that calculated on the basis of the applicable Published Tariffs, or Previously Agreed Tariffs;
or
b) any other incident which results in a charge being logged or added erroneously to the Bill.

NOTE: An example of b) is multiple entries relating to the same Service Usage.

2.11 Previously Agreed Tariff
a documented agreement between an Operator and one or more of its customers stating charges for Telecommunications Services that is not made public

2.12 Published Tariff
publicly available statements that specify the charges which an Operator makes for Telecommunications Services

NOTE: The term is intended to cover paper documents made available for public inspection, statements published in The London Gazette or other periodicals, advertisements, information published on the Internet, and the like.

2.13 Service Usage
the extent of the customer’s use of the service provided when successfully accessed

2.14 Service Usage Specification (SUS)
a document containing the detailed description of the basis on which a customer’s use of an Operator’s telecommunications facilities is assessed for charging purposes

2.15 Telecommunications Service(s)
a service provided to the public for the conveyance of speech, music and other sounds, visual images, data and control signals through the agency of electric, magnetic, electromagnetic, electrochemical or electromechanical energy

2.16 Total Metering and Billing System
the totality of all Equipment, data, procedures and activities used to determine the charges to be sought for service provision and Service Usage, and/or to present these charges on customers’ Bills

NOTE: A TMBS incorporates all processing steps from the original recording of a Chargeable Event to its readiness for presentation on a Bill to the end customer whether performed by one or more Operators.

2.17 Undercharged Event
a Chargeable Event
either:
a) for which the charge to the customer is lower than that calculated on the basis of Published Tariffs, or Previously Agreed Tariffs;
or
b) which has been omitted from the logged record or Bill owing to an incident and which is not covered by a SUS claim.

NOTE: An example of b) is the loss of call records as a result of a switch restart.

3. Measurement of TMBS Accuracy and Reliability

3.1 All charges must be consistent with the Published Tariff or Previously Agreed Tariff applicable to the customer charged except as specifically permitted in this Standard.

3.2 Unless otherwise specified in the Published Tariff or Previously Agreed Tariff, a charge shall be determined in accordance with all of the following limits that apply to it:

a) where the charge is dependent upon duration, the recorded duration shall be measured to within:

i) between +500 milliseconds and –1,000 milliseconds;
or
ii) between +0.01% (1:10,000) to –0.02% (1:5,000)
whichever is less stringent;
and

Where measurement under clauses 3.2 a), b) & c) reveals systematic errors in timing or counting that result in Overcharged Events which are not stated in Published Tariffs or Previously Agreed Tariffs then correction should take place to ensure accurate Bills (see clauses 11 and 12).

3.3 The performance of a TMBS shall be such that, subject to the tolerances specified in clause 3.2:

a) the numbers of items of Service Usage that are Overcharged Events or Undercharged Events shall not exceed as a proportion of the total number of Chargeable Events the limits shown in the column marked "Logging / Metering" in Table 1;
and

NOTE: Measurement results can be presented as a ratio or percentage.

Table 1 – TMBS reliability performance requirements

Chargeable Events	¬ Logging / Metering	­ End to End	® Billing
Number under or not charged	0.01% (1:10K)	0.1% (1:1K)	0.09%a (1:1.1K)
Number overcharged	0.002% (1:50K)	0.004% (1:25K)	0.002% (1:50K)
Value under or not charged	Not Applicable	0.05% (1:2K)	0.05% (1:2K)
Value overcharged	Not Applicable	0.002%b (1:50K)	0.002%b (1:50K)
a. Determined from end to end and logging requirements. b. This requirement shall be deemed to have been met if the value overcharged does not exceed £500 per calendar month.

3.4 Where implementation of an order for a service, feature or discount which depends on the number or duration of Chargeable Events is applied at variance with Published Tariffs or Previously Agreed Tariffs, each Chargeable Event within the scope of the incorrectly applied order shall be an Undercharged Event or an Overcharged Event, as appropriate, for the purposes of clause 3.3.

3.5 Where an item of Service Usage is completed other than intended, but the charge applied is correct for the service as delivered, this shall not be regarded as either an Undercharged Event or an Overcharged Event.

NOTE: Examples include such events as wrong numbers.

3.6 The increase in duration or number of items of Service Usage resulting from degraded transmission performance shall not be taken into account when computing the performance of the system.

NOTE: Such degradation may result in the repetition of voice or data messages.

4. Individual Bill Accuracy

4.2 The Operator shall have, and enforce the use of, a documented process for identifying, investigating and dealing with billing Complaints and creating appropriate records thereof. This process will be subject to audit to determine fitness for purpose.

4.3 The Operator shall have, and enforce the use of, a documented process for carrying out a root cause analysis for each upheld billing Complaint, categorise the cause and establish proportionate remedial action to correct it. This process will be subject to audit to determine fitness for purpose.

4.4 Where the root cause affects multiple customer accounts, then all affected Bills shall, if practicable, be included in a recovery programme.

4.5 Where remedial action has not been completed and the cause is likely to affect other Bills when Issued, then the Operator shall take reasonable steps to ensure that they are checked and, if necessary, corrected, before being sent to the customer. If not checked and corrected such Bills shall be included in a recovery programme (clause 4.4).

 5. Timeliness of Post Pay Billing

5.1 The timeliness of Bill Issue or Bill data file Issue shall be subject to Due Process.

5.2 Unless Published Tariffs or Previously Agreed Tariffs contain alternative provisions, any Chargeable Event details which are not to hand when the Bill is prepared shall be included in a Bill no later than:

Any details not so presented shall, unless permission to do otherwise is being sought from the customer, be written off, and if significant counted against the performance for Undercharged Events in clause 3.3. Exceptionally, Chargeable Event details from a separate Operator (see clause 7) may be billed by the receiving Operator up to three months after receipt.

5.3 Agreement to extend the time scales described in clause 5.2 may be sought from the Director General of the Office of Telecommunications (DG Oftel) via the Operator’s Approval Body. An extension will only be available on an irregular basis. Decisions will be made on application for an extension concerning:

NOTE: Such decisions made by the DG Oftel may be published on the Oftel website.

5.4 The Operator shall contract with its delivery agent to ensure that an effectual Bill or Bill data file delivery schedule is in place. The existence of such a contract shall be subject to audit.

NOTE: For avoidance of doubt, the Operator does not need to establish when the Bill is actually delivered, only that it has Issued the Bill with sufficient time for the delivery agent to deliver the Bill on time. It is reasonable to assume that the delivery agent performs to the level described in its agreement with the Operator or in its public statements.

6. Tariffs

6.1 Where more than one document has been placed in the public domain to constitute Published Tariffs, and conflicts in the information so published exist between them, the Operator shall:

6.2 Tariffs shall include statements to define the resolution and rounding of charges, including the underlying units of measurement. This applies to both aggregated and individual charges.

6.3 Where the fee varies according to a choice made by the customer, then such variations should appear in the Published Tariffs.

6.4 If a Previously Agreed Tariff statement is made by the Operator to the general public, it is to be regarded as a Published Tariff for the purposes of clause 6.1.

7. Interworking between Operators

7.1 Where a TMBS is operated by more than one Operator, each Operator shall be responsible for the timeliness and accuracy of output produced by its Equipment, procedures and data.

7.2 No Operator shall be responsible for the accuracy of output produced by another Operator's Equipment, procedures and data.

7.3 If there is evidence that signals or data handed over to a receiving Operator contain errors, then such errors, if uncorrected, shall be counted by the receiving Operator in determining compliance with this Standard. The correction of errors shall be subject to Due Process.

NOTE: An example of signalling error is a premature answer signal being transmitted.

7.4 Application of Table 1

8. Quality

8.1 An Operator operating a TMBS shall have, and enforce the use of, effective procedures and documentation covering all aspects of operation for which it is responsible, under the scope of this Standard.

NOTE: This shall include sub-contractors’ formal procedures and documentation.

8.2 Where accuracy of Logging/Metering and/or billing may be affected by the performance of Equipment operated and/or maintained by a sub-contractor, the Operator shall contractually commit the sub-contractor to operate and/or maintain the Equipment so as to maintain compliance with this Standard.

9. Materiality

9.1 Compliance with the requirements of this Standard shall need to be demonstrated only in relation to products and services that have a material impact on the customer’s Bill. This materiality is deemed to be:

NOTE: Such a direction may, for example, be given in the event of a product or service raising a disproportionate level of Complaints.

10. Measurement Systems

The means for demonstrating conformity with the requirements of this Standard shall be subject to agreement between the Operator and Approval Body. Such agreement shall take the form of a measurement strategy document.

NOTE: Where conformity to the performance requirements is monitored through the deployment and use of call logging/call sending equipment, it is permitted to express the requirements so monitored in terms of the results to be expected from that equipment.

11. Service Usage Specification

11.1.The Operator shall produce a SUS for each TMBS and agree its content with its Approval Body.

11.2 Where design features and operating processes are used to protect customers' interests and, under normal operation of the Operator's TMBS, result in one or more Undercharged Events, such undercharging shall not count against the requirements of this Standard provided the said features and processes do not under any circumstances result in Overcharged Events.

12. Conformity to this Standard

12.1 The Operator will provide the Approval Body with access to all people, locations, Equipment and data necessary to establish conformity to this Standard.

12.2 In general, compliance with this Standard shall be assessed by:

Annex A

Application of this Standard to compliance with UK legislation

NOTE: Annex A explains the relationship between the enabling legislation and the Standard and is thus not a part of the Standard.

A.1 The Act and the licences under which PTOs operate lay down requirements for the approval of "Meters" for Voice Frequency Switched Telecommunications Services (VFSTS), being those services carrying or capable of carrying speech and which involve switching.

A.2 The term "Meter" as defined in the Act encompasses functionality today found in TMBSs. For the avoidance of doubt, this Standard sets performance requirements for TMBSs which must be met before the "Meters" can be approved under the requirements of the Act.

A.3 Approvals may only be granted by the Secretary of State, the DG Oftel, or such bodies as may be appointed by the Secretary of State. The Act defines this in Sections 24(1) and 25(1). Before granting an approval, the Approval Body must satisfy itself that that the Logging/Metering and billing accuracy achieved by a PTO meets the requirements of this Standard and other relevant requirements.

A.4 Further, in Sections 24 (6) to 24 (8) the Act defines that a Standard must be Designated before Meters are approved as complying with that Standard. This Standard is formally designated by the DG Oftel in accordance with an authorisation granted to him by the Secretary of State on 29 June 1988 and in exercise of powers in section 24(6) of the Act. Any changes to the designated Standard shall be implemented by means of a variation made under section 24(11) of the Act. In designating this Standard, the DG Oftel has taken account of the technological and other changes which have occurred in the marketplace since the Act was drafted in 1984, and the requirements in this Standard therefore extend to the accuracy of billing.

A.5 The methods of demonstrating compliance with the requirements herein may vary, depending on the technology and size of the network under consideration. The Act, in Section 24 (2), allows the person to whom application is made for approval to set such requirements as he thinks appropriate, and the details of the methods to be used to demonstrate compliance are to be covered in this way.

A.6 Oftel will not expect every Operator to apply for, and achieve approval of, the same range of services. The scope of an individual approval shall be specified in the relevant Application, and Oftel may wish to rule whether such a scope is or is not adequate on a per occasion basis. This Standard has been framed in the most general terms and a materiality clause, 9, has been included to avoid a need for amendments with the introduction of new services.

A.7 Compliance with the requirements of this Standard is evidence of compliance with Section 24 of the Act.

Designation No: Oftel/2001/1

SECTION 24, TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT 1984

DESIGNATION OF STANDARD FOR METERS

1. The Director General of Telecommunications, in accordance with a general authorisation given by the Secretary of State on 29th June 1988, and in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 24(6) of the Telecommunications Act 1984 ("the Act") hereby, for the purpose of the approval of meters by such Approval Bodies as shall be appointed by the Secretary of State in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 25(1) of the Act, designates:

a copy of which is annexed to this designation, as a standard to which:

2. In accordance with section 24(7) of the Act, the conditions specified below must be complied with if any meter used for the metering of Telecommunication Services as indicated in paragraph 1 above is to be regarded as conforming to the Designated Standard:

3. "Meter" in this designation means "meter" as defined in section 24(15) of the Act.

Signed: ……………………………………………………………………………………..

a person duly authorised in that behalf under paragraph 8, schedule 1 to the Telecommunications Act 1984

Date: 21^st December 2001……………………………………………………………….