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Contents
Summary
Determination
under condition 11.1 of the Orange licence, the T-Mobile licence, the
NTL licence and the Telewest licence
Explanatory
memorandum
Summary
This document contains
a determination under Condition 11.1 of the licences of Orange, T Mobile,
NTL and Telewest. The effect of the determination will be to provide
for the latest date by which each of the affected licensees shall apply
for Approval as regards the description of Meter specified by the Director
General of Telecommunications (the ‘Director’) which is in use on the
date of that specification.
Determination
under condition 11.1 of the Orange licence, the T-Mobile licence,the
NTL licence and the Telewest licence
WHEREAS:
A. the Secretary
of State has granted under section 7 of the Telecommunications Act 1984
(the ‘Act’) the following licences (the ‘Relevant Licences’):
i. the licence
granted to Mercury Personal Communications Limited (now known as T
Mobile (UK) Limited) on 9th May 1995;
ii. the licence
granted to Orange Personal Communications Services Limited on 27th
July 1995
iii. the licence
granted to NTL Group Limited on 23rd June 2000; and
iv. the licence
granted to Telewest Communications plc on 14th January
1997;
B. Condition
11.1 of each of the Relevant Licences provides that as regards any description
of Meter in use on a date specified by the Director in connection with
the Applicable Systems and which has been specified by the Director,
the Licensee shall apply for Approval as soon as is practicable, and
in any case not later than such date as the Director may determine in
relation to that description of Meter;
C. this Determination
relates to the meters, as specified by the Director in Designation Number
Oftel/2001/1 of 21st December 2001, in use by the holders
of the Relevant Licences on the date of that Designation (the ‘Meters’)
and ;
D. in making this
Determination, the Director is satisfied that it is reasonable to determine
that the latest date by which the holders of the Relevant Licences shall
apply for approval for the Meters shall be 30th June 2002.
The Director is further satisfied that it is justified to specify a
different, later date for other holders of licences granted under section
7 of the Act in a separate determination;
E. in making this
Determination, the Director has taken into account representations and
observations received as part of the consultation process, and the matters
described in the Explanatory Memorandum to this Determination; and
NOW, THEREFORE,
THE DIRECTOR, PURSUANT TO CONDITION 11.1 OF THE RELEVANT LICENCES, HEREBY
DETERMINES THAT:
the latest date
by which the holders of the Relevant Licences shall apply for approval
for the Meters pursuant to Condition 11.1 of the Relevant Licences shall
be 30th June 2002.
Signed:
…………………………………………..
David Albert
Edmonds
Director General
of Telecommunications
26 June 2002
Explanatory Memorandum
1. In February 2000,
Oftel published the Statement "Ensuring telephone bills are accurate"
which set out plans for a revised Metering and Billing scheme. The scheme
is intended to improve consumers’ confidence in the integrity and accuracy
of the bills they receive from communications service providers. The
main features of the revised scheme are:
- a revised standard
which covers fixed charges (such as line rental and discount schemes)
and which focuses on the accuracy of the individual customer’s bill
as well as the aggregate accuracy of metering and billing systems;
- an increase in
the number of approval bodies accredited to operate the scheme;
- the progressive
extension of the scheme to all major operators and service providers.
2. Because of its
complexity and the decision to proceed on a co-regulatory and hence
consensual basis, the revised scheme has taken longer to develop than
was originally envisaged. However the key elements have now been set
in place:
- the revised standard,
OTR 003 : 2001, was designated on 21 December 2001;
- the first issue
of the Metering Systems and Billing Systems Approval Scheme Guide
was published on 9 January 2002;
- three Approval
Bodies (BABT, BSI, NQA) were formally appointed by the Secretary of
State at the Department of Trade and Industry to approve meters against
the designated standard, on 25 March 2002.
3. The only providers
included in the original scheme were BT, Kingston, Cable & Wireless
(Mercury), BT Cellnet and Vodafone, which will migrate to the revised
scheme. However the intention is that the revised scheme will be progressively
extended to apply to all providers with an annual turnover in excess
of £1m.
4. In the February
2000 Statement, the following providers were identified as being the
first to be brought in to the revised scheme: One 2 One and Orange (tranche
1); all cable companies i.e. NTL and Telewest (tranche 2); Colt, World
Com and Energis (tranche 3); Global Crossing, Torch, Thus and Your Communications
(tranche 4). The identity of these providers was subsequently confirmed
in a series of communications from Oftel: the December 2000 open letter
to the industry and the October 2001 Statement which introduced the
consultation on the revised standard. That October 2001 Statement indicated
Oftel’s intention to merge the first two tranches and to invite the
relevant providers to apply for approval within six months of the revised
standard’s designation.
5. More recently,
in February 2002, Oftel wrote to all the providers in the first four
tranches setting out the dates by which they would be expected to seek
approval for their metering and billing systems. The dates were 30th
June 2002 for tranches 1 and 2, and 30th September 2002 for
tranches 3 and 4. These dates were staggered so that the three approval
bodies have the capacity and time to handle applications for approval
in an orderly way. It is intended that a further Determination in respect
of the September date will be made, subject to consultation, in due
course. However, there is nothing to prevent any provider seeking approval
for its meters in advance of a Determination being
made.
6. Under Condition
11.1 (Metering Arrangements) of the standard PTO licence, the Director
was minded to determine that the latest date by which the holders of
the Relevant Licences i.e. Orange, T Mobile, NTL and Telewest shall
have applied for approval of their meters shall be 30th June
2002 and issued a consultation to that effect on 16th May
2002.
7. Responses to
the consultation have been received from NIACT, T Mobile and another
operator whose response was confidential. Some points made by T Mobile
related to the underlying Standard, which has already been subject to
extensive informal and formal consultation, so will not be responded
to by Oftel. NIACT supported moves to speed up the inclusion of operators
within the scheme. T Mobile made the point that the deadline for application
for approval falls six working days after the close of the consultation
on the ‘Designation of the revised Standard for Telecommunications Metering
Systems and Billing Systems (OTR 003: 2001)’ and considered that that
was an unreasonable timeframe. Having considered those representations
and whilst recognising that the deadlines proposed seem short, Oftel
is mindful that the operators have been aware of the dates for a considerable
time and has therefore maintained the aforesaid dates in making this
determination.
8. Non-confidential
representations are accessible via a link created on the title page
of the electronic text of this document. This can be found in the Publications
section of Oftel's website under the classification Licensing and Enforcement
Actions. Paper copies of representations will also be made publicly
available in Oftel's Research and Intelligence Unit. Appointments to
view written comments in this way, which must be made in advance, may
be arranged by phoning: 020 7634 8761 (fax: 020 7634 8946).
9. The Designation
of OTR003: 2001, Designation Number Oftel/2001/1 of 21st
December 2001 was subject to a subsequent consultation in May 2002 in
the interests of transparency, after T Mobile brought to Oftel’s attention
that its terms were not consulted upon during the October 2001 consultation
or afterwards. Having considered the responses and received no comments
on the terms of the Designation itself, Oftel re-issued the Designation
without change on 26th June 2002.
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