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13|07|06

NTS Focus Group – 11th May 2006 – 2.00 pm Ofcom

Meeting Notes & Actions

Agenda item (1) - Introductions

Attendance:

Andrew Wileman	Ntl:Telewest (Chair)
Marcus Rudkin	Band-X
Alex Cheetham	BT
Kath Embleton	BT
Rob Day	BT
Laurant Pariat	Cable & Wireless
Justin Hornby	Cable & Wireless
Richard Anderson	Colt
Toby Higho	Easynet
Andy Martin	IV Response
Debbie Mulloy	Ntl:Telewest
Gareth Davies	Ofcom
Clive Hillier	Ofcom
Geoff Brighton	Ofcom
Nic Green	Ofcom
Liz Greenburg	Ofcom
Ray Copeland	Opera Telecom
Dirmuid Jennings	Reality Telecom
Colin Scott	Thus
Mike Barford	Tiscali

Agenda Item (2): Review of minutes of previous meeting

No comments/concerns were raised. It was therefore agreed that the latest form of the minutes could be published on the Ofcom website.

Agenda (3): Discussion/Update on the recently published NTS Statements (Ofcom/All):

NTS: A Way Forward

Attendees were reminded that the final Statements on NTS: A Way Forward and Modifications to GC 14 for NTS & PRS had been published on 19 th April. The final form of this statement was broadly consistent with the consultation, although there were some differences at the detail level.

Alex Cheetham (BT) sought clarity on the next steps/subsequent activity arising from the publication of the Statements. Gareth Davies said that the first step towards extending PRS regulation to 0871 numbers would be for ICSTIS to consult on the provisions of its code for 0871 numbers. Once the ICSTIS consultation is completed it will be necessary for Ofcom to consult on whether to approve the new ICSTIS code. He anticipated that ICSTIS would issue its consultation towards the end of 2006 or early 2007. Gareth added that Ofcom expected to issue a further consultation on extending PRS regulation to adult services currently provided on 08 numbers in September 2006, with a final statement anticipated in December 2006.

Subsequent consultation activity (e.g. relating to re-instating the geographic linkage for 0870 calls) will take place in 2007.

Andy Martin said that he had evidence of significant migration by SPs from 0870 to 0871 at higher retail rates than currently existed. As a reseller, IV Response had received many requests for number ranges in the higher rated 0871 charge bands. Andy added that he believed the NTS: A Way Forward Statement would result in a more significant migration to higher rated bands than Ofcom had anticipated.

Debbie Mulloy said that the new arrangements would likely add to public confusion (e.g. where one 08 range becomes subject to geographic charging and the rest remain as 'special rate' services). Debbie added that she was disappointed at the portrayal of CPs views in the Statement. She felt that Ofcom had given too little emphasis to the aspects of the proposals that CPs supported, thereby giving an unduly negative picture.

Colin Scott/Mike Barford expressed concern at the potential lack of stability of 0870 charges in the interim period, given that the proposed 'freeze period' (which was to have been facilitated via a voluntary BT undertaking) had been excluded from the final version of the statement. Alex Cheetham said that in the lead up to the publication of the final statement, BT had maintained its willingness to make such a commitment, although the feedback that BT had received indicated that stakeholders attributed little value to such a voluntary undertaking.

Gareth Davies said that two principal factors had lead to Ofcom's decision to remove the provision from the final version of the statement. The first being that respondents to the consultation had assigned little worth to it; the second related to practicalities - such an arrangement would have proved more difficult to implement than Ofcom had originally envisaged. Gareth added that Ofcom was happy to listen to additional feedback on the issue.

The group debated the linkage to the ongoing discussion around PRS bad debt review provisions. In discharging Action Point: #Y3, BT had proposed that a periodic review of all elements of the retail components should occur at the same time (i.e. BT would review the PRS bad debt surcharge at the same time as reviewing average discounts etc). BT suggested that this should coincide with the annual NCC basket review each April. (See also update under summary of outstanding action points).

Colin Scott said that ideally there would be no review of 0870 charges during the interim period, other than the regulated components. Colin asked if BT was still willing to commit to the voluntary undertaking proposed in the draft statement. Alex Cheetham said that BT had never specifically withdrawn the offer, but the final statement seemingly excluded it. Kath Embleton added that the parameters had now changed as a result of the content of the final statement.

New Action May06_1: BT to confirm if it is still willing to commit to the voluntary undertaking to 'freeze' 0870 charges during the interim period.

Modifications to GC 14 for NTS & PRS

Andy Martin asked when the modifications to GC14 would take effect. Geoff Brighton said that these would come into force on 19 June 2006 and the revised Condition requires that all CPs must make the required changes within two months (i.e. by 19 August 2006). Andy asked if Ofcom would be undertaking any formal monitoring of the situation. Geoff said that Ofcom had no plans for pro-active checks of OCPs’ websites etc but would take necessary action in response to any complaints received.

Alex Cheetham asked when the document relating to 0871 diallers was due to be published. Gareth Davies said that Ofcom was aiming to release this within the next few weeks. Alex expressed concern that the proposed safeguards/additional regulation for 0871 in the 'Way Forward' statement would not be implemented soon enough and that measures were needed now.

Agenda (4): Update/progress report on the current 'live' NTS related consultations/investigations: (Ofcom/All)

NTS call termination market review/NCCN 500 investigation

Gareth Davies said that a decision had not yet been reached, but the investigation remained ongoing. Ofcom was in the process of gathering additional information for consideration - related in particular to the implications for number portability. As a result, timing had been impacted, but Ofcom was intending to decide how to proceed in June.

Mike Barford commented that the issue of the impact of NGNP on NCCN500 termination rates had been on the agenda of the FG for some considerable time.

The call termination market review remains on hold, pending the outcome of the NCCN 500 investigation.

Toby Higho asked Ofcom to confirm the name of the case leader for this workstream. This was confirmed as Loiuse Marriage.

Dispute relating to INCA/ CLI call charges

Clive Hillier said that a draft determination would be published soon. (Post meeting update: Draft published 25 th May 2006).

Telephone Numbering: Safeguarding the Future of Numbers

Nic Green said that the consultation remained ongoing. Response to date had in the main come from individuals who were not content with the current NTS arrangements.

Attendees were reminded that the deadline for responses had been extended to 25 th May 2006.

Nic explained that Ofcom's intention to publish a statement in July 2006 remained. The scope of the statement may be varied slightly, to prioritise consideration of the 03 and 08 ranges and geographic numbering. While Ofcom still regarded the other issues such as charging for numbers and consumer protection tests as important, the statement would likely apply a longer term, strategic focus to these.

Andrew Wileman sought clarity on the timing of applications for new 03 (and potentially 08) number ranges (assuming Ofcom's plans for 03 & 08 come to fruition). Given the linkage to the timetable for the 0870 interim period, several CPs had expressed concern around a potential time lag between the date of publication of the numbering statement and the date from which applications for new numbers would be accepted. It was the understanding of CPs that the introduction of the 03 range & potential amendments to the structure of the 08 range would require a formal statutory consultation - it was not clear if this would form a part of the general numbering consultation, or if it would take place as a stand alone consultation once the numbering statement had been published. In the case of the latter, CPs were concerned that they would not have the benefit of the full 18 month interim period for 0870 numbers. Several attendees suggested that the interim period for 0870 should not commence until the new 03/08 numbers were available for allocation.

Gareth Davies said that the potential time lag had been factored into Ofcom's consideration of the issue and had contributed to the decision to increase the 0870 interim period from 12 months to 18. Gareth added that there were conflicting pressures from other stakeholders that wanted 03 to be in service sooner. Nic Green confirmed that the intention was to issue a statutory consultation as part of the July document. Colin Scott said that even an 18 month lead time could be regarded as challenging, given that DMAs had to be planned and implemented, customers' lead times for publication of numbers had to be taken into account, etc.

New Action May06_2: Ofcom to confirm likely date of availability of acceptance of orders for the new number ranges.

Agenda Item (5) – Update on BT's proposal for call termination payments under prospective new NTS regime (BT)

Rob Day said that BT had received no feedback on its proposal for 0870 charging arrangements under the new regime. Rob said that although BT remained willing to discuss the charging proposals, it had, in the absence of responses, decided to revert to the default position of the 'standard' geographic model. BT believed that Single Tandem would be the fairest rate to use.

Several attendees said that they had been awaiting the outcome of the 'Way Forward' consultation before responding to BT's proposal. Concern was also raised around the fact that while BT had summarised its suggestions in a briefing note, it had made no formal proposal to industry.

Debbie Mulloy asked if the same arrangements would apply to the proposed '03' code. Rob said that it was too early to say, but there would likely be similarities.

Rob said that BT was due to hold a further internal discussion on the subject in the next few weeks. BT was asked to formalise its position once this discussion had taken place.

New Action May06_3: BT to formalise its proposals for 0870 charging under the new arrangements.

It was suggested that a non-BT conference call be arranged to discuss the original BT proposal and subsequent suggestion of the use of Single Tandem. This would take place prior to the next NTSFG meeting. The chair encouraged attendees to provide feedback in addition to the planned call.

New Action May06_4: Andrew Wileman to arrange a conference call for non-BT focus group members to discuss BT's 0870 charging proposals.

Colin Scott said that any new charges for 0870 would need to be agreed prior to the new arrangements taking effect. If this was not the case, originators of 0870 traffic could experience a detrimental effect (i.e. a higher, legacy interconnect outpayment would remain in force, against the new, lower, geographically aligned retail charge - assuming that the OCP chose not to charge a higher rate under the provision of pre-announcements). The problem would be beyond the control of OCPs. If only one TCP remained in dispute or had not agreed charges by January 2008, the detrimental effect would arise.

Colin added that this problem could be particularly acute in a transit scenario, given the general historical exclusion of transit charges from retrospective activity. Several attendees said that BT would have no incentive to resolve the situation as it was able to apply full retrospection to its direct relationships.

Gareth Davies said that Ofcom would encourage CPs to make progress on agreement of charges - and this issue had contributed to the decision to extend the interim period to 18 months. Gareth added that Ofcom could consider involvement if necessary.

Agenda Item (6) – Review of remaining outstanding actions

Action #Y/1 : Attendees to feed back initial comments on the BT 0870 charging proposal to Mark Amoss. See agenda item 5 above - action ongoing.

Action #Y/2 : Attendees wishing to be involved in an NTS FG working group to address the porting differential issue to confirm their interest to the Chair. Discharged - See AP #Z3 below.

Action #Y/3 : BT to confirm if it believes there should be a review of the PRS Bad Debt Surcharge level, and if so to what time frame/frequency. Discharged - BT response distributed to NTSFG members on 6 th May 2006 (reproduced below for reference).

BT Response: "In order to minimise the number of pricing disruptions during any given year and to minimise administration for all parties, we propose a periodic review of all elements of the retail components to occur at the same time. That is, we would review the PRS bad debt surcharge at the same time as reviewing average discounts. This will require industry to accept the data sources and methodology for reviewing the elements of the calculation.

In terms of timing/frequency, we agree with the suggestion at the 2 March meeting for an annual review to line up with the annual price changes in April that are driven by the NCC component changes. However, as this opportunity has now passed for changes this April, the first review might take place before next April."

Colin Scott said that he believed an annual review each April was a sensible approach. Colin added that he believed that this should commence from April 2007 (i.e. no adjustment for April 2006 should be introduced). It was agreed that the group should aim to finalise arrangements for review of the PRS bad debt surcharge at the next focus meeting. (See also agenda item 5 above).

New Action May06_5: Attendees to feedback on BT's proposal for review of the PRS bad debt surcharge in advance of the next meeting (6 th July 2006).

Action #Z/1: Gareth Davies to confirm if it would be possible for NTSFG attendees to receive an advance copy of any press release relating to the publication of the 'NTS: A Way Forward' statement. Discharged - Statement now published.

Action #Z/2: BT to provide written details of its proposal for call termination payments under the prospective new NTS regime (by 17 th March 2006). Discharged (See new Action Point May06_3).

Action #Z/3: Andrew Wileman to arrange a conference call to discuss the porting differential issue. Ongoing

Action #Z/4: Colin Annette to confirm the date/arrangements for the next meeting of the SCR AIT sub-group. Discharged - Meeting date of 12 th May 2006 confirmed.

Agenda item (7) – Any Other Business

Ray Copeland advised attendees that Ofcom had recently run out of blocks of 09 numbers for Sexual Entertainment Services ( SES) tariffed at £1.50pm for allocation to CPs. Liz Greenberg said that Ofcom was currently investigating options for making additional numbers available with the aim of meeting all providers’ requests for SES numbers. These included the following:

The prospect of surplus numbers being handed back by original allocatees for re-allocation
The potential opening up of the 09099 block (previously held back for mis-dials)
The potential opening up of new, previously unused 09 sub-ranges

In the case of the latter, Liz explained that this would require a change to the National Telephone Numbering Plan and that Ofcom was required to follow a one month statutory procedure to make such a change To this end, a consultation document had been issued (11 th May 2006) seeking input on the subject.

Alex Cheetham asked if the consultation took into account the issue of preventing fraud on new ranges. Liz said that it did not consider this specifically, but existing (ICSTIS) regulations relating to SES on the 0908 / 0909 range would apply to any new range.

Debbie Mulloy advised that this would be her last NTSFG as she had taken a new job. The group thanked Debbie for her contribution and wished her well in her new role.

Date of Next Meeting:

Thursday 6 th July 2006– 2.00pm, Ofcom – Riverside House, London

Note: Start time of September 2006 meeting (28/9) amended to 2:30.

Summary of New and Outstanding Actions:

# Y/1:	Attendees to feed back initial comments on the BT 0870 charging proposal to Mark Amoss
# Z/3:	Andrew Wileman to arrange a conference call to discuss the porting differential issue
May06_1	BT to confirm if it is still willing to commit to the voluntary undertaking to 'freeze' 0870 charges during the interim period
May06_2	Ofcom to confirm likely date of availability of acceptance of orders for the new number ranges
May06_3	BT to formalise its proposals for 0870 charging under the new arrangements
May06_4	Andrew Wileman to arrange a conference call for non-BT focus group members to discuss BT's 0870 charging proposals
May06_5	Attendees to feedback on BT's proposal for review of the PRS bad debt surcharge in advance of the next meeting (6 th July 2006)