Oftel

NOTICE UNDER SECTION 12(6A) OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT 1984

MODIFICATION TO ALL PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS OPERATOR LICENCES

1. During the period beginning on 22 June 1984 and ending on 28 January 2002, the Secretary of State granted licences under section 7 of the Telecommunications Act 1984 (the “Act”) to particular persons which the Secretary of State has designated by order under section 9 of the Act as having public telecommunications systems, collectively referred to hereinafter as the “PTO licences”. 2. On 23 April 2002, the Director General of Telecommunications (the “Director”), in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 12 of the Act, made modifications to Condition 15 and its equivalent in Schedule 1 of the PTO licences. The modification condition is set out in the attached annex to this Notice. 3. In part the modification implements the Customer Interface publication requirements set out in Article 11(2) of the Revised Voice Telephony Directive—RVTD (98/10/EC) and Article 4(2) of the Radio Equipment and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment Directive—R&TTE (99/5/EC). But the Director hereby gives notice that his reason for making the modification was deregulatory and in line with Oftel’s long-term strategy of ensuring that regulation is kept to the minimum necessary to obtain the appropriate outcome. 4. The modification is considered to be deregulatory for the following reasons: The proposed modifications will reduce the burden on Operators by placing into the Licence a general authorisation that will allow Operators to act immediately under Condition 15 or its equivalent as circumstances dictate. The proposed amendments will benefit suppliers and customers by shortening the gap between the development of new services and equipment and the ability of their providers to make them publicly available. The modification will not unduly disadvantage any person holding a licence granted under section 7 of the Act or a particular person as the proposed modification will apply to all licence holders which have been designated under section 9 of the Act as having telecommunication systems. The modifications are considered to be deregulatory because current requirements require the Operators to obtain prior authorisation on a case by case basis before acting to prevent harm being caused to the network. At the same time the protection extended to the users of such apparatus is maintained by requiring that both the Director General of Oftel and the Secretary of State are notified as soon as practicable where a refusal to connect, a disconnection or a withdrawal of service has taken place. Annex Condition 15 or its equivalent shall read as follows: “Condition 15 PUBLICATION OF INTERFACES Publication of Commonly Provided Interfaces 15.1 (a) the Licensee shall, in relation to all commonly provided Customer Interfaces in use by the Licensee at the time this Condition comes into force, notify such Interfaces to the Director and publish within 90 days of this Condition coming into force, in an accurate and adequate manner and in accordance with paragraph 15.6 below the Interface Specifications; (b) The Licensee shall, in relation to Network Interconnection Interfaces relating to any service described in sub-paragraph (i) or (ii) in the definition of Network Services, in use by the Licensee at the time this Condition comes into force, notify such Interfaces to the Director and publish Interface Specifications relating to such Interfaces within 90 days of this Condition coming into force, in accordance with paragraph 15.6 (a), (d) and (e) below. Publication of New Commonly Provided Interfaces 15.2 Where the Director has determined that the Licensee has Interface Control in relation to any new commonly provided Interface Specification relating to any service described in sub-paragraph (i) or (ii) of the definition of Network Services, which the Licensee intends to use and which is not published under paragraph 15.1: (a) the Licensee shall notify such Interface Specification to the Director at the commencement of the Relevant Consulting Period; (b) the Licensee shall, if so directed by the Director, consult with Interested Parties during the Relevant Consulting Period; (c) the Licensee may, during and after the Relevant Consulting Period, modify any such Interface Specification in line with representations made and any advice offered by the Director to the Licensee relating to such representations; (d) the Licensee shall, after the end of the Relevant Consulting Period, publish the Interface in accordance with sub-paragraph 15.6 below; and (e) the Licensee shall not make any modifications to the Applicable Systems conforming to the new Interface Specification until a sufficient period has elapsed after publication of the Interface Specification to enable any Relevant Party to have a reasonable period in which to make any appropriate modifications to apparatus connected to the Applicable Systems. Such period shall be not less than 12 months, except where the Director has consented to a shorter period following the written application of the Licensee. 15.3 Where the Licensee does not have Interface Control in relation to any new commonly provided Interface Specification relating to any service described in sub-paragraph (i) or (ii) of the definition of Network Service, which the Licensee intends to use, and which is not published under paragraph 15.1 above: (a) the Licensee shall notify such Interface Specification to the Director; (b) the Licensee shall publish the Interface Specification in accordance with paragraph 15.6 below; and (c) the Licensee shall not make any modifications to the Applicable Systems conforming to the new Interface Specification to enable any Relevant Party to have a reasonable period in which to make any appropriate modifications to apparatus connected to the Applicable Systems. Such period shall be not less than 90 days, except where the Director has consented to a shorter period following the written application of the Licensee. Modifications of Commonly Provided Interface Specifications 15.4 Where any Interface Specification to which paragraph 15.1, 15.2 or 15.3 apply is modified by the Licensee: (a) the Licensee shall notify such modification to the Director and publish such modification in accordance with paragraph 15.6 below; (b) the Licensee shall not make any modifications to the Applicable Systems conforming to the New Interface Specification until a sufficient period has elapsed after publication of the Interface Specification to enable any Relevant Party to have a reasonable period in which to make any appropriate modifications to apparatus connected to the Applicable Systems. Such period shall be not less than 90 days, except where the Director has consented to a shorter period following the written application of the Licensee; and (c) the modification shall include any change in the description of any Interface which may affect the maintenance of effective interoperability of services by means of the Interface described in the relevant Interface Specification. Withdrawals of Commonly Provided Interfaces 15.5 Where any interface described in any Interface Specification to which paragraph 15.1, 15.2 or 15.3 apply is withdrawn by the Licensee: (a) the Licensee shall notify such withdrawal to the Director and publish such withdrawal in accordance with paragraph 15.6 below; and (b) the Licensee shall not make any modifications to the Applicable Systems conforming to the new Interface Specification until a sufficient period has elapsed after publication of the Interface Specification to enable any Relevant Party to have a reasonable period in which to make any appropriate modifications to apparatus connected to the Applicable Systems. Such period shall not be less than 12 months, except where the Director had consented to a shorter period following application of the Licensee. Publication Requirements 15.6 The requirements as to publication are that: (a) the description of the Technical Characteristics must be such as to assist in securing the effective interoperability of telecommunication systems and apparatus, and, in particular, (although without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing) the correct operation of Terminal Equipment; (b) the Interface Specification published shall: (i) be in sufficient detail to permit the design of telecommunications terminal equipment capable of utilising all services provided through the corresponding interface; (ii) detail any changes in existing Interface Specifications; and (iii) include, inter alia, all the information necessary to allow manufacturers to carry out, at their choice, the relevant tests for the essential requirements applicable to the telecommunications terminal equipment; (c) the Interface Specifications shall be made readily available by the Licensee; (d) the Licensee shall ensure that each Interface Specification is published in a manner appropriate for bringing the matters to which the Interface Specification relates to the attention of: (i) the Secretary of State, the British Standards Institution, all persons to whom functions have been delegated pursuant to section 25 of the Act, all Operators with whom the Licensee is obliged to negotiate Interconnection under Condition 9, or offer to enter into Interconnection agreements with, as the case may be, under Part C of this Licence, appropriate representatives of suppliers, and manufacturers of Telecommunication apparatus and systems and appropriate representatives of users or consumer interests and; (ii) any person whom the Director considers likely to be affected by or to have an interest in such matters and whom the Director has determinend for the purpose of this sub-paragraph; and (iii) any other person likely to be affected by or to have an interest in such matters; and (e) where the Director considers it necessary to enable Interested Parties to obtain easy access to the information contained in Interface Specifications, he may direct the Licensee to send copies of any Interface Specifications, or any class of Interface Specification, to any person specified by him for the purposes of this sub-paragraph. Amendments of Interface Specifications directed by the Director 15.7 If, following any representation made to him, the Director concludes that any Interface Specification contains insufficient information for its purpose he may direct the Licensee to: (a) amend the Interface Specification in order to remedy the defect; and (b) publish the amended Interface Specification in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 15.6 and in relation to any period specified by the Director which takes into account the need to ensure a sufficient period has elapsed after publication of the amended Interface Specification to enable any Relevant Party to have a reasonable period in which to make any appropriate modifications to apparatus connected to the Applicable Systems. 15.8 To the extent that the Licensee is running a Fixed Telephone System by means of which it provides Fixed Publicly Available Telephone Services, the Licensee shall inform the Director in writing, without undue delay, of any particular network characteristics which are found to affect the correct operation of apparatus. Such information shall be made available to Terminal Equipment suppliers at their request by the Director pursuant to Regulation 17(4)(c) of the Revised Voice Telephony Regulations. 15.9 Nothing in this Condition shall require the Licensee to publish or send to the Director information which it has already published or sent to the Director.”