NOTICE UNDER SECTION 12(6A) OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT 1984 (AS AMENDED BY THE ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS ACT 2000)

MODIFICATION TO PUBLIC TELECOMMUNICATIONS OPERATOR LICENCES

During the period beginning on 26th April 1985 and ending on 23rd June 2000 the Secretary of State granted 315 licences under section 9 of the Act as having public telecommunications systems, collectively referred to herinafter as the “PTO licences”. On 12th September 2000, the Director General of Telecommunications (the “Director”), in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 12 of the Act, made the following modification in Condition 31 in Schedule 1 of all PTO licences which were valid and subsisting on that day; Condition 31 was deleted in its entirety. In accordance with section 12(6A) of the Act the Director hereby gives notice that his reasons for making the modification were to simplify the licence and avoid confusion following the coming into force of the Competition Act 1998 (the “Competition Act”) on 1st March 2000. The Competition Act now prohibits anti-competitive agreements and conduct formerly covered by Condition 31. Condition 31.9(a) provided that the condition should cease to apply to any behaviour prohibited by new legislation that: “(i) contains a prohibition enforceable by the Director . . . of any behaviour prohibited (under Condition 31); (ii) gives to third parties in respect of a breach of that probibition at least the rights they have under section 18 of the (Telecommunications Act 1984) in respect of a breach of a provisional or final order; and (iii) permits the imposition on the Licensee of monetary penalties in respect of the breach of that prohibition” The Director has concluded that the Competition Act meets these criteria and that therefore Condition 31 would not have applied to agreements and conduct that would otherwise be in breach of both Condition 31 and the Competition Act. The deletion of Condition 31 therefore will help to avoid any potential ambiguity, whilst also serving to shorten and simplify these PTO licences.