Advisory Committees on Telecommunications

DIEL Appointments

In April the Director General appointed three new members to the Advisory Committee on Telecommunications for Disabled and Elderly People (DIEL). The new members are Gretal Jones, Katherine Phipps and Hilary Smith.

DIEL, established under the Telecommunications Act 1984, provides advice on issues affecting telecommunications consumers who are older or disabled. These appointments will enhance the committee's existing wide range of expertise.

Reports and Plans 2001 - 2002

The ACTs have published new leaflets reviewing activity in 2001 and outlining the Committees' plans for this year. Copies of the leaflets are available on request from the ACT secretariat and are also available on the ACT website.

Telecoms Advisory Panel

The Chairmen of the six advisory committees, who meet regularly as the Telecoms Advisory Panel (TAP), have published a Forward Plan, published on the ACT website, that details their priorities for the coming year.

In May, to coincide with the publication of Oftel's Annual Report, the TAP published an annual report covering its work in 2001, which is available from the ACT secretariat.

NIACT

After the success of its annual conference in March, the Northern Ireland Advisory Committee on Telecommunications (NIACT) is now looking to the future - but without John Stringer, who has retired as NIACT Secretary. John is replaced by Frank Hewitt who has a background in local government, especially in industrial development.

In 2002/03 NIACT would like to see the spread of broadband access in Northern Ireland. BT will upgrade its exchanges for ADSL where there is a sound business case. NIACT hopes to be an active participant in this process by helping areas to make a case for BT to invest locally.

Responses to consultations and ACT website

The Advisory Committees have submitted responses to a number of consultations including Oftel's recent review of the fixed telephony market. You can find these responses on the ACT website.

If you wish to be notified by email when ACT responses are published on the website please register online.

For more information on the work of the ACTs, please contact the ACT Secretariat (tel: 020 7 634 5301 or e-mail: actsec@acts.org.uk). You can find the ACTs website at www.acts.org.uk.