Important developments this summer have kept work on course to set up OFCOM as the new, single regulator for the communications industry by 2003/4.

The Government published a short Office of Communications Bill in July. The Bill gives the Government powers to appoint a Board whose sole function will be to prepare for the creation of OFCOM. Until the main Communications Bill becomes law, the Board will have no regulatory powers transferred from existing regulators.

This short Bill reinforced the commitment, given in the Queen's speech in June, to publishing a full draft Communications Bill for public consultation during this session of Parliament. It is expected that the main Bill will be introduced in the next session in late 2002.

This would enable the main legislation to be enacted in 2003 - allowing OFCOM to 'go live' in late 2003 or early 2004

July's Office of Communications Bill will also place a duty on the existing regulators - Oftel, the Independent Television Commission, the Broadcasting Standards Commission, the Radiocommunications Agency and the Radio Authority - to co-operate with the Board, in its establishment of Ofcom.

This duty to co-operate will effectively formalisethe arrangements that are already in place. The Director General and his counterparts from the four other existing regulators are already working together on a Regulators' Steering Group, looking at all the transitional and planning issues that need to be covered in the run up to OFCOM.

The scoping study by management consultants Towers Perin has now produced a report wth a small number of structural options for OFCOM and design criteria for judging them. This is currently being considered by the Regulators' Steering Group.

The study also gave the Steering Group a transition plan covering the period from now until OFCOM is created. This plan will form the basis of the next stages of the preparatory work which the Steering Group will take forward in co-operation with the OFCOM Board.

For further information contact Ian Forsyth (tel: 020 7634 8776 / e-mail: ian.forsyth@oftel.gov.uk).