We explain the regulatory responsibilities Oftel hold over the telecommunications industry and how they can help you.
Oftel (the Office of Telecommunications) regulates the whole of Britain's telecoms industry. Set up under the Telecommunications Act 1984, Oftel comprises of three directorates:
- The Regulatory Policy directorate develops new policies on telecoms.
- Compliance - the consumer end of Oftel, this directorate ensures that phone companies meet relevant obligations under the Telecoms and Competition laws and regulations.
- Business Support is the department that supports the entire industry.
- Research and Information Unit - Oftel keeps copies of consultation documents, annual reports, licenses and priced publications. The RIU is the contact point if you wish to access these or make a general enquiry.
- Consumer Representation Section - If you have a complaint or enquiry relating to a phone supplier and have already tried to sort it out with the supplier, contacting this unit should be the next step. The complaints procedure involves completing a form on the Oftel website if your supplier and the Oftel FAQ section are both ineffective.
- SMS junk mail - mobile messages inviting customers to call premium rate numbers.
- Enquiries about new 118 Directory Enquiries numbers.
The current Director General, David Edmonds, is responsible for promoting the interests of consumers, maintaining and promoting competition within the industry, and ensuring all reasonable consumer demands are met, including emergency numbers, public phones and services in rural areas.
Oftel includes two main units you can contact:
Popular topics for customer complaints at the moment are:
The Oftel Price Assurance Standard (PASS)
This scheme has been implemented to give consumers a hand in choosing phone companies. Oftel is trying to promote clearly explained price comparison services with this strict code of practice.
Oftel's PASS is only awarded to websites that comply with the PASS Code. To earn the PASS, websites must be:
1. Accurate and up-to-date.
2. Independent of telecoms suppliers.
3. Free to use.
4. Interactive - the service must provide information relevant to the consumer's needs.
5. Private - websites must comply with data protection legislation.
6. Clear - switching services must be fully explained.
7. The layout and design must cater for disabled users.
8. Easy to use - users must be able to browse the site with MS Explorer 4 or above, or Netscape Navigator 4 or above.
9. Thorough - Home telephone comparisons must compare at least 10 suppliers including BT. Mobile comparisons must include at least O2, Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange.
10. Websites must advise taking other factors into account besides price.
11. Any "bundled" offers should be clearly explained.
12. The service must comply with appropriate regulations including relevant consumer protection legislation.
Oftel's Achievements
Oftel has recently been instrumental in plugging a loophole in Britain's telecom regulations - until now it has been possible for telemarketers to make nuisance calls as long as they didn't commit a criminal offence.Oftel can now take action against companies that cause inconvenience, anxiety or annoyance. Firms that persist can be fined up to £5,000 and be forced to pay compensation.
BT must now give other companies access to its high-speed broadband connections, thanks to new regulations brought about by Oftel. Competitors have complained that the old system gave BT an unfair advantage over smaller companies.
It is now easier to switch your calls to another provider, thanks to Oftel's effective regulation of the new CPS method (Carrier Pre-Selection). CPS allows you to ask for your calls to be automatically routed through a new supplier without the need to dial a prefix number or install an auto-dialler. This service is only available for BT customers. Your phone number will not change and BT still own and run your line rental and send you bills. You will get a separate bill for the cheaper calls re-routed through your new supplier.
The only home telephone comparison service that has earned the Oftel PASS so far is the uSwitch.com calculator. To use it, just type in your details and the calculator will provide you with a list of the cheapest tariffs available to you. uSwitch.com meets all the requirements for Oftel's PASS scheme, ensuring that if you use the uSwitch.com calculator you will be making the most of the offers available to you and saving money on your phone bills.
