http://www.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/groups/nts_focus/notes/nts_231008NTS Focus Group - 23 October 2008 - 2.00 pm OfcomAgenda item (1) - IntroductionsAttendance:
Mike Barford Tiscali
Geoff Brighton Ofcom
Kath Embleton BT
Catherine Gerosa Invomo
Will Goodall Flextel
Sean Hartley BT
Justin Hornby C&W (Chair)
Jo Leese BT
John Lockyer Teamphone
Steve McGeary Via-Vox
Andy Martin IV Response
Andrew Monk CPW
Laurent Pariat C&W
Sandra Reid VirginMedia
By telephone
Colin Scott Thus
Warren Berdo SkyCom
Andrew Wileman VirginMedia
Apologies:
Lesa Green KCom
Clive Hillier Ofcom
Agenda (2): Update / progress report on the current 'live' NTS related consultations / investigations: (Ofcom/All)Review of Regulation of Premium Rate Services
Geoff Brighton (Ofcom) gave an update. Ofcom hope to issue a document in December setting out options for changing the PRS condition. Andrew Monk (CPW) suggested that it made sense to link this document in with the recent PhonepayPlus questionnaire relating to the initial stages in consulting upon a 12th Code of Practice.
General Condition 14 Enforcement Programme
Ofcom has written to each operator where issues were found in relation to compliance with GC14. The majority of operators contacted are now compliant, but several had asked for an extension in timescales. These primarily related to the difficulty in changing publications outside of the standard printing cycle. Ofcom is considering each of these requests.
Agenda Item (3): 0870 Statement and DisputeGeoff indicated that the 0870 statement was still being written and publication was expected in December.
The 0870 dispute was restarted at the beginning of October and further information requests will be issued to the parties to the dispute in the next few days. These will elicit further comments on the dispute and the rates in particular.
Will Goodall (Flextel) asked if the cost benefit analysis from the original consultation was being revisited. Will maintained that the original consumer protection measures had been lost with the withdrawal of pre-call announcements and as a result a new cost benefit analysis was required. Will claimed that speculative costs had been an issue in both the Number Portability and Mobile Termination disputes and there was a risk that current proposals shared the same weakness. Geoff noted the comments.
Agenda Item (4): 0871 StatementGeoff indicated that this document is going through the final stages of legal scrutiny and that it was expected to be published by the end of the year.
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