Oftel has confirmed its policy of seeking to address issues through less formal means of regulation where appropriate.

The benefits of self and co-regulation to consumers and industry, a statement published in July, outlines Oftel's policy of pursuing flexible and responsive means of regulation, alongside the formal regulation that will still be needed in some circumstances.

Self-regulation refers to industry-led initiatives which are implemented without the involvement of the regulator, while co-regulation initiatives include a role for Oftel to encourage progress and provide assistance in areas where the market is not delivering desired outcomes.

Some examples of self and co-regulatory initiatives are:

• comparisons of prices and quality of service provided by the telecoms industry;
• the proposed Ombudsman scheme to handle customer disputes with providers (see Oftel News 52 and article on page 7);
• the regulation of premium rate services;
• industry resolution of network interoperability issues.

Some of the benefits of self- and co-regulation are that they can produce better consumer information leading to greater confidence about exercising choice, and may offer faster delivery of consumer protection measures.

For the telecoms industry, effective self- and co-regulatory mechanisms will tend to allow a faster relaxation of formal regulation, and in some cases could avoid formal regulation to address new concerns.

In certain circumstances, particularly where specific providers with strong market positions are involved, self and co-regulation are likely to be less applicable.

However, to extend self- and co-regulation where they can be of value, Oftel has identified specific mechanisms that mainly concern how stakeholders communicate with each other and commit to self- and co-regulatory action.

Oftel plans to discuss such mechanisms with stakeholders this Autumn. Isses to explore will include websites for conveying information between stakeholders and to consumers, models for the working of self- and co-regulatory groups and Oftel involvement in industry-led discussions on codes of practice.

Oftel's policy on self- and co-regulation is consistent with the Government's proposals for OFCOM, the future communications regulator, which will have a duty to encourage self and co-regulation where appropriate.

For further information contact Nic Green (tel: 020 7634 8891/e-mail: nic.green@oftel.gov.uk).