There's more than one way to skin a cat of course but for what it's worth here's my first go at extracting "the key questions" from Ofcom's neverending story:
Question 1:What are your views on the strategic principles that Ofcom proposes to apply to its numbering policy decisions?
Question 2:What do you think are consumers’ key current views on numbering
, how do you think those views will change, and how should Ofcom’s current decisions take those changes into account?
Question 8: Do you agree with Ofcom’s proposal to open a new ‘03’ number range for non-geographic, non-revenue sharing services?
Question 9:How should the ‘03’ range be structured, in terms of tariffs and services ?
Question 10:How should the ‘08’ range be structured, in terms of tariffs and services?
Question 11:Which broad approach should Ofcom take to structuring the ‘09’ range, and if a re-structured ‘09’ range is preferred how would you arrange the different types of ‘09’ services (e.g., according to price per minute, price per call, inclusion of adult content)?
Question 14: Do you agree that personal numbers should have a tariff ceiling (or recorded message) to restore trust in those numbers? If so, what level, and should that ceiling include the cost of recorded messages?
Question 15: Do you agree with Ofcom’s proposals to move personal numbers (with the same consumer protection provisions) to the ‘06’ range and to pursue the direct allocation of numbers to end users as proposed at some point in the future?
Question 16: Do you have any comments on the use of the 05 number range?
Question 17: Do you agree that Ofcom’s overall proposals for a future Numbering Plan are coherent and comprehensive, and do you have any comments on the timescales in which the changes should be implemented ?
Question 19: Do you support the proposal to extend the tariffing provisions of the Numbering Plan so that they apply to customers of all providers on all types of network?
Question 20:How do you think the new Numbering Plan could be effectively communicated to consumers?
Question 34: Do you agree with Ofcom’s assessment of the problems with current 08 and 09 in terms of information clarity and consumer perceptions?
Question 35:Which of these options for current 08 services do you think is best in terms of a) increasing consumer transparency and b) minimising the costs of re-structuring the 08 range?
Question 36:How might early migration to the ‘03’ range be encouraged?
This reduces the questionnaire to 15 questions and at least makes the task more manageable and could provide a more acheivable focus for making a consultation response.
Now I'm not suggesting of course that other questions can't be answered, I'm just trying to avoid feeling put-off by the whole thing! (Surely Ofcom wouldn't wish to deter a large public response by having a unnecessarily complicated questionnaire - of course not!
Any feedback on this appreciated - thanks in advance...