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06|11|06

NTS Focus Group - 6th July 2006 - 2.00 pm Ofcom

Meeting Notes & Actions

Agenda item (1) - Introductions

Attendance:

Andrew Wileman	Ntl:Telewest (Chair)
Sarah Godfrey	4D Telecom
Kath Embleton	BT
Rob Day	BT
Laurant Pariat	Cable & Wireless
Justin Hornby	Cable & Wireless
Rikard Granberg	Carphone Warehouse
Toby Higho	Easynet
Andy Martin	IV Response
Lesa Green	Kingston Communications
Sandra Reid	Ntl:Telewest
Gareth Davies	Ofcom
Clive Hillier	Ofcom
Geoff Brighton	Ofcom
Colin Scott	Thus
Mike Barford	Tiscali
Paul Brisby	Tower House Consulting (rep. Orange )

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): 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 Ofcom was in the process of writing up its conclusions on the NCCN 500 investigation. He added that the intention was to publish these in draft form in August/September 2006, at which point stakeholders would have the opportunity to comment.

Andrew Wileman asked if this meant that Ofcom had completed its investigation and was simply in the process of compiling the conclusions into a document. Gareth said that some additional consideration was required, but Ofcom was close to concluding the investigation.

Post meeting update: Clive Hillier confirmed that when Ofcom shares its preliminary conclusions with the parties to the investigation, they will have at least 4 weeks to comment. However, the document will only be made available to parties to the dispute at that point.

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

Dispute relating to INCA/ CLI call charges

Ofcom confirmed that the final determination had been published on 21 st June 2006. The final version of the document was broadly consistent with the draft.

Telephone Numbering: Safeguarding the Future of Numbers

Attendees were reminded that the deadline for responses to the consultation had now passed ( 25 th May 2006 ). Clive Hillier confirmed that Ofcom intended to publish its conclusions at the end of July 2006 (in the form of a Statement). Andy Martin said that responses to the document had not been published on Ofcom’s website. Clive said that they should have been and agreed to ensure that the website is updated.

New Action Jul06_1: Clive Hillier to ensure that responses to the ‘Telephoning Numbering: Safeguarding the Future of Numbers’ consultation are uploaded to the Ofcom website.

Clive confirmed that, if appropriate, a statutory consultation on changes to the numbering plan would be contained within the Statement due to be published at the end of July. This subsequent consultation would last for one month, following which Ofcom anticipated that any new numbers culminating from it would become available to order during September 2006.

NTS: A Way Forward – Implementation Update

Andrew Wileman sought clarity on the progress of the implementation steps required by the ‘NTS: A Way Forward’ statement. Gareth Davies said that the steps were progressing to plan. In particular, Ofcom expected to issue a further consultation on the extension of PRS regulation to adult services currently provided on 08 numbers in September 2006, with a corresponding final statement anticipated before the end of the year. ICSTIS was due to consult on the extension of its remit to cover 0871 services by early 2007.

Agenda (4): Update on BT's proposal for call termination payments under new 0870 arrangements

Rob Day said that additional internal discussion had taken place within BT which had identified a number of points for consideration. Key among these was the question of whether 0870 should remain formally classified as an NTS service or be re-classified as a geographic service. This question leads to a number of contingent considerations, for example:

Ownership of interconnect circuits
Responsibility for payment of the transit charge
Routing principles (near end handover verses far end)
Contractual implications of the classification (ACOs, CPL etc…)

Andrew Wileman said that a CP conference call had taken place on 3 rd July and he had in addition received a small amount of feedback on BT’s proposals from the 11 th May meeting. There was no real consensus among CPs as yet, however the conference call had produced a number of questions/concerns and points requiring clarification. These had been summarised as a list of bullet points and were distributed at the meeting (soft copy included with distribution of these minutes). Andrew said that the list was not necessarily aimed exclusively at BT but was intended to form a basis for further discussion. Nonetheless, CPs were keen to understand BT’s thinking against the points and were seeking clarity in a number of areas. Andrew ran through the list briefly and said that there were a number of items that were consistent with the points of consideration mentioned by Rob Day. Rob agreed to provide BT’s thinking against each of the points on the CP list and expand on the BT considerations mentioned at the meeting.

New Action Jul06_2: BT to respond to CP issues list on 0870 charging and to expand on the BT considerations described at the 6 th July meeting before the next focus group.

Lesa Green expressed concern around the potential introduction of the ‘03’ range and its corresponding charging arrangements. Lesa said that the discussions around 0870 had a number of commonalities with the proposed 03 implementation and the same issues would need to be taken into consideration. Attendees agreed that any consideration of 0870 should also take into account the potential introduction of the 03 range.

The chair sought input on how to take the 0870 charging issue forward. Given the desire to reach a timely resolution, it was suggested that a further (tentative) industry conference call be arranged in advance of the next NTSFG meeting. This could go ahead or be postponed depending on the level of input received in the interim. The subject would be included as an agenda item at the next meeting ( 17 th August 2006 ).

New Action Jul06_3: Andrew Wileman to arrange a (tentative) second conference call to discuss future arrangements for 0870 charging.

Discussion turned to Action Point May06_1: ‘ BT to confirm whether it is still willing to commit to the voluntary undertaking to 'freeze' 0870 charges during the interim period’.

Kath Embleton reiterated the BT position from the previous meeting. Kath said that given the extended interim period for 0870, BT did not feel that it could commit to a voluntary undertaking as originally suggested.

Rob Day said that BT intended to review the discount factors for 0870 imminently – which would very likely result in changes to the NTS interconnect payments. Mike Barford said that such a review could disrupt the stability of the interim period. He added that the period leading up to the 0870 re-designation was an exceptional event and one for which stability was preferable. Rob said that the discount factors had not been reviewed for 3 or 4 years and as such BT regarded it as reasonable to review them now.

Paul Brisby asked for clarity around the scope of BT’s planned review. Rob said that the intention was to carry out a general review of the discount factors which would potentially affect all NTS ranges, not just 0870.

Colin Scott sought clarity on the timetable for this initiative. Rob said that OCCNs would likely be issued in mid August 2006, with an effective date 56 days thereafter.

Mike Barford asked if the BT retail data would be consistent with that used in previous reviews. Rob said that he could not confirm this until the data was actually received.

Mike referred to correspondence that had been exchanged between BT and a number of CPs on this subject. Rob Day agreed to forward confirmation of the position taken by BT in this correspondence to the chair for distribution to the wider group.

New Action Jul06_4: Rob Day to forward BT’s position on reviewing the components within the NTS formula.

Mike Barford expressed concern at what he believed could be regarded as selective reviewing of the NTS components. He reminded attendees that Action Point May06_5 (Attendees to feedback on BT's proposal for review of the PRS bad debt surcharge in advance of the next meeting) was also relevant to this discussion.

Rikard Granberg asked when the next review of the PRS bad debt surcharge would take place. Rob Day said that he did not envisage a review prior to April 2007.

In respect of AP May06_05, there was a general consensus among the group that reviews of the PRS bad debt surcharge should occur on an annual basis, coinciding with the NCC review each April. Attendees generally thought that the next review of this component should take place in April 2007.

Given the linkage between the two issues, it was agreed that a new action point would be created seeking feedback on the proposed/intended arrangements for review of the NTS components in general.

New AP Jul06_5: Attendees to comment on BT’s intentions in respect of reviewing the components within the NTS formula (to include an expression of preference in respect of BT’s proposals for reviewing the PRS bad debt surcharge).

The issue will be added to the agenda for the next meeting.

Agenda Item (5) – Change to BT’s retail minimum call fee (BT/All)

Andrew Wileman said that the purpose of this agenda slot was to provide attendees with an opportunity to seek clarity/ask further questions on the explanation of BT’s calculation methodology recently distributed by Colin Annette. Paul Brisby said that Orange had some ongoing issues around the level of payment for 0844 services, but these were being progressed bilaterally with BT. Paul also expressed a concern around the notice periods provided to CPs in advance of rate changes. Rob Day said that BT ultimately needed to comply with regulatory/contractual obligations. Kath Embleton added that BT had conflicting pressures – certain stakeholders wanted longer notice periods, but BT could not contravene its regulatory requirements. Paul added that he was still keen to receive as much notice as possible – in particular he was keen to understand how much notice could be given in a situation where short and long duration distributions changed. Rob said that such an event is driven by retail changes and as such the standard 56 day lead-time applies.

Rob added that he saw little scope to alter the current arrangements, but agreed to consider the issue further.

New Action Jul06_06: BT to consider the issue of notice periods for pricing changes.

Agenda Item (6) – Update on Porting Differential Issue

Andrew Wileman reported that a conference call had been held on 5 th July. Mike Barford had provided an overview of the phenomenon and participants had discussed the issue. While a small number of CPs had provided feedback, it was generally accepted that this is a complex and industry-wide issue and that each CP would need to quantify the impact of the issue on its business before expressing a preference on how/if the matter should be taken forward. The point was made that the effect could be positive or negative, depending on a number of variable factors specific to each individual CP.

It was suggested that an action point be raised at the NTSFG for attendees to consider the impact and materiality of the phenomenon on their businesses and indicate if they would wish to pursue a resolution to the issue. The NTSFG would then decide how/if to progress.

New Action Jul06_7: CPs to consider the effect of the porting differential issue on their businesses and indicate to the chair their desire (or not) to seek a resolution.

Agenda item (7) – Review of remaining outstanding actions

Action #Y/1: At tendees to feed back initial comments on the BT 0870 charging proposal to Mark Amoss. Discharged – see new Action Jul06_3.

Action #Z/3: Andrew Wileman to arrange a conference call to discuss the porting differential issue. Discharged – See agenda item 6.

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. Discharged – See agenda item 4 and AP Jul06_04.

Action May06_2: Ofcom to confirm likely date of availability of acceptance of orders for the new number ranges. Discharged – see agenda item 3.

Action May06_3: BT to formalise its proposals for 0870 charging under the new arrangements. Discharged – see new Action Jul06_2.

Action May06_4: Andrew Wileman to arrange a conference call for non-BT focus group members to discuss BT's 0870 charging proposals. Discharged – see update under agenda item 4.

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). Discharged – See agenda item 4 and AP Jul06_5.

Agenda item (8) – Any Other Business

Update on availability of £1.50 per minute Adult Ranges

Clive Hillier said that a consultation on the availability of Adult Ranges had been issued on 11 th May and Ofcom was in the process of considering responses. In the meantime, Ofcom had been able to retrieve a number of unused, previously allocated number blocks which would be used to try to alleviate any immediate shortfall. Andrew Wileman asked when the final statement would be published. Clive Hillier agreed to confirm the date.

New Action Jul06_8: Ofcom to confirm the date of publication of the final statement on availability of Adult Ranges .

Post meeting update: The following response has been received from Clive Hillier : “ We hope to publish the statement and final direction introducing the new number range to alleviate the shortage in the next few weeks. Once published, Ofcom's numbering unit will be able to process new allocations immediately.”

OCCN Format

Rob Day advised attendees that BT was intending to begin issuing OCCNs in electronic format in the near future (replacing paper copies). Rob said that he did not have a definitive date for this initiative, but electronic OCCNs may be utilised for the next batch of price changes.

Andrew Wileman advised attendees that following his departure from Opal Telecom, Ray Copeland would no longer be attending the NTSFG. In his absence, attendees thanked Ray for his contribution to the forum and wished him well for the future.

Date of Next Meeting:

Thursday 17th August 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:

Jul06_01	Clive Hillier to ensure that responses to the ‘Telephoning Numbering: Safeguarding the Future of Numbers’ consultation are uploaded to the Ofcom website.
Jul06_02	BT to respond to CP issues list on 0870 charging and to expand on the BT considerations described at the 6 th July meeting before the next focus group.
Jul06_03	Andrew Wileman to arrange a (tentative) second conference call to discuss future arrangements for 0870 charging.
Jul06_04	Rob Day to forward BT’s position on reviewing the components within the NTS formula.
Jul06_05	Attendees to comment on BT’s intentions in respect of reviewing the components within the NTS formula (to include an expression of preference in respect of BT’s proposals on reviewing the PRS bad debt surcharge).
Jul06_06	BT to consider the issue of notice periods for pricing changes.
Jul06_07	CPs to consider the effect of the porting differential issue on their businesses and indicate to the chair their desire (or not) to seek a resolution.
Jul06_08	Ofcom to confirm the date of publication of the final statement on availability of Adult Ranges.