From the Deputy Director General of Telecommunications

In the last issue of Oftel News, we reported progress on OFCOM and the publication of the Government's draft Communications Bill.

This has now been followed up by the appointment of Lord Currie as the first Chairman of OFCOM and the publication of a detailed commentary on the Communications Bill from a Joint Committee of both Houses of Parliament. So we can expect the pace of 'OFCOMmery' to quicken as we move into the autumn.

But it is still likely to be a year or so before OFCOM takes over from the existing regulators. And given that more seems to happen in a month in telecommunications than in a year in some other industries, we have good deal to do before it arrives.

For example, broadband take-up in the UK is at an all-time high with over 90,000 customers a month currently signing up. So we are delighted to include in this edition an article by Stephen Timms, the e-commerce minister, on progress to date and the government's broadband strategy for the future.

We can also expect in the next few months, the report of the Competition Commission on calls to mobile, on which we include a progress update. And a considerable amount of Oftel time and effort is currently going into preparing for the various market reviews which are required for the new EU telecoms regime which comes into force next July.

In many ways, these issues are more relevant to stakeholders than the creation of the new OFCOM. The challenge for Oftel is to make sure we get the balance right between working with Lord Currie to prepare properly for OFCOM, and maintaining our focus on the immediate telecoms issues. It won't be dull.

Peter Waller