Contents 
Summary
Draft
Determination
Explanatory
Memorandum
Consultation
Summary
S.1 This document
contains a draft determination relating to the provision of Controlled
Premium Rate Services under sub-paragraph 22.9 of the proposed Condition
22 of all Public Telecommunications Operator ("PTO") licences
and under sub-paragraph 26.9 of the proposed Condition 26 of the class
licences to run branch systems to provide Telecom munications Services
("TSL") and to provide International Simple Voice Resale Services
("ISVR").
S.2 The effect of
the determination under the above-mentioned sub-paragraphs 22.9 and
26.9 will be to determine the amount for the charge of the Call by means
of which the service is obtained and/or the rate according to which
such Call is charged for the purposes of the proposed sub-paragraphs
22.11(a)(iii)(A) of all PTO licences and 26.11(a)(iii)(A) of all TSL
and ISVR licences.
S.3 It should be
noted that the making of the final determination will, of course, be
subject to the outcome of the statutory public consultation, and whether
the proposed modifications are finally made to PTO licences, and the
TSL and ISVR licences successfully revoked and regranted. Accordingly,
the consultation on the draft determination should not be taken to fetter
the Director General’s discretion as to the making of the proposed
modifications themselves, nor the Secretary of State’s discretion
as to the revoking and regranting of the TSL and ISVR licences.
DRAFT DETERMINATION
RELATING TO THE PROVISION OF CONTROLLED PREMIUM RATE SERVICES UNDER
SUB-PARAGRAPH 22.9 OF THE PROPOSED CONDITION 22 OF ALL PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS
OPERATOR ("PTO") LICENCES AND UNDER SUB-PARAGRAPH 26.9 OF
THE PROPOSED CONDITION 26 OF THE CLASS LICENCES TO RUN BRANCH SYSTEMS
TO PROVIDE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES ("TSL") AND TO PROVIDE
INTERNATIONAL SIMPLE VOICE RESALE SERVICES ("ISVR")
WHEREAS:
(A) the Secretary
of State for Trade and Industry (the "Secretary of State")
has granted under section 7 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 as amended
by the Electronic Communications Act 2000 (the "Act") the
following licences:
i. all those licences
granted to particular persons for the running of telecommunications
systems which the Secretary of State has designated by order under
section 9 of the Act as public telecommunications systems, which shall
be taken to include licences granted to British Telecommunications
plc (see S.I. 1999 No. 2453), Kingston Communications (Hull) PLC (see
S.I. 1999 No. 2455) and any other persons operating under the fixed
voice telephony and international facilities operator licences (see
S.I. 1999 No. 2451), the cable and local delivery operator licences
(see S.I. 1999 No. 2454), and the mobile licences (see S.I. 1999 No.
2452), and any other such licences granted after the coming into force
of this Determination and the aforementioned Regulations and subject
to substantially the same terms and conditions as the aforementioned
licences (the "PTO licences");
ii. the Class
Licence to run Branch Systems to provide Telecommunications Services
granted on [note: date of grant to be inserted when known as this
new Class Licence is currently being consulted upon by the Secretary
of State - see notice under section 7(12) and (13) of the Act on 1
October 2001] (the "TSL");
iii. the Class
Licence to run Branch Systems to provide International Simple Voice
Resale Services granted on [note: date of grant to be inserted
when known as this new Class Licence is currently being consulted
upon by the Secretary of State - see notice under section 7(12) and
(13) of the Act on 1 October 2001] (the "ISVR");
(B) Condition 22.9
of the PTO licences provides that, for the purposes of ascertaining
whether a service is a Controlled Premium Rate Service, the Director
General of Telecommunications (the "Director General") shall
determine from time to time, in accordance with the procedure set out
in paragraph 22.10, an amount for the charge of the Call by means of
which the service is obtained or the rate according to which such Call
is charged or both which, when exceeded, means that sub-paragraph 22.11(a)(iii)(A)
of the definition of Controlled Premium Rate Services is satisfied.
(C) Condition 22.9
also provides that in making such a determination, the Director General
shall have regard to the prevailing standard rates for premium rate
calls of the Licensee and other licensed operators providing Controlled
Premium Rate Services from time to time.
(D) by way of a
Notice which was published on 12 October 2001, and in accordance with
the procedure detailed in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of Condition 22.10,
the Director General notified all Licensees, together with all interested
parties and the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards
of Telephone Information Services (‘ICSTIS’), that he was
minded to set the amount for the charge of the Call by means of which
the service is obtained at 10 pence and the rate according to which
such Call is charged at 10 pence per minute. In other words, the amount
for the charge of the Call by means of which the service is obtained
must exceed 10 pence or the rate according to which the such Call is
charged must exceed 10 pence per minute in order to satisfy the definition
of Controlled Premium Rate Services as detailed in sub-paragraph 22.11(a)(iii)(A)
of the PTO licences and sub-paragraph 26.11(a) (iii)(A) of the TSL and
ISVR licences, respectively;
(E) in accordance
with sub-paragraphs (c), (d) and (e) of paragraph 22.10, the Director
allowed a period of 28 days in which representations on the proposals
set out in the above-mentioned Notice could be made, published those
representations (except where a representation was confidential) and
allowed a further period of 14 days in which any observations on the
representations could be made;
(F) Condition 26
of Schedule 1 to the TSL and ISVR licences makes provision in terms
identical for the purposes of this determination to those made by Condition
22 of the PTO licences, as set out above.
(G) the Director
General is now minded to set the amount for the charge of the Call by
means of which the service is obtained at 10 pence and the rate according
to which such Call is charged at 10 pence per minute. The Director General
has had regard to the prevailing standard rates for premium rate calls
of the licensee and other licensed operators providing controlled premium
rate services from time to time;
(H) in making this
determination, the Director General has taken into account representations
and observations received as part of the consultation process referred
to in paragraph E above, and the matters described in the Explanatory
Memorandum to this draft Determination; and
NOW, THEREFORE,
THE DIRECTOR GENERAL, PURSUANT TO CONDITION 22.9 OF THE PTO LICENCES
AND CONDITION 26.9 OF THE TSL AND ISVR LICENCES, HEREBY DETERMINES THAT:
the amount for the
charge of the Call by means of which the service is obtained must exceed
10 pence or the rate according to which such Call is charged must exceed
10 pence per minute in order to satisfy the definition of Controlled
Premium Rate Services as detailed in sub-paragraph 22.11(a)(iii)(A)
of the PTO licences and sub-paragraph 26.11(a) (iii)(A) of the TSL and
ISVR licences, respectively, with effect from [time] today, [date].
DAVID EDMONDS
DIRECTOR GENERAL
OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS
11 JANUARY 2002
EXPLANATORY
MEMORANDUM
E1. On 14 September
2001 the Director General of Telecommunications (the "Director
General") issued a Notice commencing a statutory public consultation
on proposed modifications to the PTO licences in accordance with section
12(2) of the Telecommunications Act 1984 as amended by the Electronic
Communications Act 2000 (the ‘Act’). The proposed modifications
were to insert a new Condition 22 into the PTO licences and to make
minor drafting changes to Condition 23.
E2. On 1 October
2001, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (the "Secretary
of State") issued a Notice commencing a statutory public consultation
on the proposed revocation and re-grant of the class licences to run
branch systems to provide Telecommunications Services ("TSL")
and International Simple Voice Resale Services ("ISVR") to
insert a new Condition 26 in identical terms to that of Condition 22
of the PTO licences (and to make minor drafting changes to Condition
27 of the TSL and ISVR licences).
E3. The new Condition
22 would widen the definition of what type of premium rate services
("PRS") might be caught by replacing the current definition
of ‘Controlled Services’ with the definition of ‘Controlled
Premium Rate Services’. In broad terms, only live PRS are currently
caught by the former definition. As a result, there is no code of practice
governing the provision of PRS other than live PRS (such as recorded
PRS) that can be recognised by the Director General.
E4. The reason why
the Director General is making the above-mentioned proposal is to strengthen
the regulatory regime in the PRS industry, so that the provision of
a potentially larger category of PRS (other than simply live PRS) could
be governed by a code of practice recognised by the Director. In this
way, the Director General will have more ‘backstop’ powers
to require network operators to cut off such services that are not complying
with the code of practice administered by the Independent Committee
for the Supervision of Standard of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS)
following it making such a request to the Director General, if the Director
General considers it appropriate to make such a direction.
E5. The text of
the proposed modifications and their effects are set out in full in
the Oftel Statement entitled ‘Regulation
of Premium Rate Services: Licence Modification’, which was
published on 24 July 2001.
E6. By way of a
Notice which was published on 12 October 2001, and in accordance with
the procedure detailed in the proposed Condition 22.10 sub-paragraphs
(a) and (b) of the PTO licences and the proposed Condition 26.10 sub-paragraphs
(a) and (b) of the TSL and ISVR licences, the Director General notified
all licensees operating under those licences, together with all interested
parties and the Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards
of Telephone Information Services (ICSTIS), that he was minded to set
the amount for the charge of the Call by means of which the service
is obtained at 10 pence and the rate according to which such Call is
charged at 10 pence per minute. In other words the amount for the charge
of the Call by means of which the service is obtained must exceed 10
pence or the rate according to which such Call is charged must exceed
10 pence per minute in order to satisfy the definition of Controlled
Premium Rate Services as detailed in sub-paragraph 22.11(a)(iii)(A)
of the PTO licences and sub-paragraph 26.11(a)(iii)(A) of the TSL and
ISVR licences, respectively.
E7. In proposing
that amount, the Director General has had regard to the current prevailing
standard rates for premium rate calls of the licensees operating under
the PTO licences. The Director General notes that while premium rate
calls are available at a rate of less than 10 pence or 10 pence per
minute, this is not standard practice, and that the vast majority of
premium rate calls would be offered at a price in excess of 10 pence
or 10 pence per minute.
E.8. The Director
General has also taken into account representations and observations
received as part of the consultation process specified under proposed
Conditions 22.10 and 26.10 sub-paragraphs (c) to (e) and outlined in
the above-mentioned Notice of 12th October 2001.
E.9. The making
of the final determination will, of course, be subject to the outcome
of the respective statutory public consultations and whether the proposed
modifications are finally made to the PTO licences, and the TSL and
ISVR licences successfully revoked and re-granted. The consultation
on this draft determination shall not be taken to fetter the Director
General’s discretion as to the making of the proposed modifications
themselves, nor the Secretary of State’s discretion as to the revoking
and regranting of the TSL and ISVR licences.
Consultation
C1 This draft determination
relating to the provision of Controlled Premium Rate Services under
sub-paragraph 22.9 of the proposed Condition 22 of the PTO licences,
and sub-paragraph 26.9 of the proposed Condition 26 of the TSL and ISVR
licences is being made available in this document, together with the
Director General’s reasons, to all licensees, ICSTIS and all interested
parties who have submitted representations and observations on the proposals
set out in the above-mentioned Notice of 12th October 2001.
In accordance with sub-paragraph (f) of proposed Conditions 22.10 and
26.10, a period of 14 days is being allowed for comment on the draft
determination (see below). Having considered any such comments, the
Director General will, if appropriate, make the determination and will
publish the determination and his reasons for making it in the same
way as he published representations and observations made following
the publication of the above-mentioned Notice of 12th October
2001. Any comments should
be sent to:
Gavin Daykin
Oftel
50 Ludgate Hill
London EC4M 7JJ
Telephone: 020 7634 5338
Fax: 020 7634 8784
e-mail:
gavin.daykin@oftel.gov.uk
C2 Further copies
of this document can be printed from Oftel’s website. Paper copies
may also be obtained from Oftel’s Research and Intelligence Unit.
Oftel has arrangements in place with organisations providing transcription
services, and large print, Braille and audio cassettes can be made available
on request. Copies are also available on computer disc so that stakeholders
without Internet access may create their own large print copies.
C3 Comments on the
draft determination must arrive at Oftel no later than 28 January 2002.
In the interests of transparency, all non-confidential comments will
be published. If any part of your comments is confidential, and not
for publication, please include this in a separate annex and ensure
that it is clearly marked as confidential. In the interests of transparency,
please avoid confidentiality markings wherever possible. It would be
helpful if comments could be delivered by e-mail. However, copies may
also be posted or faxed to the address above. If any stakeholders are
unable to supply their comments in one of these ways they should contact
Gavin Daykin to discuss alternatives.
C4 Comments on the
draft determination, and the copies of the final determination if made,
will be 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 comments and of the final determination if
made 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).
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