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Telecommunications Regulation

In 1984 the Telecommunications Act set the framework for a competitive market for telecoms services by abolishing BT's exclusive right to provide services.  In the early 1990s the market was opened up and a number of new national Public Telecommunications Operators (PTOs) were given licences.  This ended the duopoly that had existed in the 1980s when only BT and Mercury were licensed to provide fixed line telecom networks in the UK. 

Four new EU Directives covering Framework, Authorisation, Access and Interconnection, and universal services were agreed in March 2002 with the aim of further developing a pro-competitive regulatory framework.  They were implemented on 25 July 2003.  The emphasis of these Directives is on light touch regulation, technology neutrality and greater consistency across Europe.  Provisions to implement these Directives were included in the Communications Act. This move towards deregulation will shift the UK away from the current licensing regime to a new regime where companies will operate under general conditions of entitlement.

Oftel is currently the regulator - or "watchdog" - for the UK telecommunications industry. Broadcast transmission is also part of Oftel's remit.  Oftel is a government department but is independent of ministerial control.  It is headed by the Director General of Telecommunications, who is appointed by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.  Further information is available on the Oftel website (see Related external sites).

Ofcom will be the UK’s new communications industry regulator with wide-ranging responsibilities across the UK’s communications markets when it assumes its powers at the end of 2003.  Ofcom will inherit the duties of all the five existing regulators it will replace – the Broadcasting Standards Commission, the Independent Television Commission, Oftel, the Radio Authority and the Radiocommunications Agency.  Until Ofcom is fully operational, any queries about current regulatory issues should be addressed to the relevant regulator (see Related external sites).

An independent regulatory body, Ofcom will also fulfil the additional duties enacted in the provisions laid down in the Communications Act 2003.

Internet Regulation

The Government recognises that the Internet has enormous potential for education, entertainment and business and wants everybody to be able to have access to it and to use it confidently.  Consumers and business in the UK benefit from low Internet access prices, cheaper than most places in Europe and the USA. 

However, unsolicited e-mail (spam) and offensive websites are an unwelcome side effect of Internet use.  The law in the UK applies on-line in the same way as it does off-line, and the Government strongly supports the measures being taken by the industry to tackle illegal material on the Internet and develop content rating and filtering systems for harmful or offensive content.