::Welcome to June's edition of Communicate

:: Communications Alliance Pays Tribute to the Late Dr Christopher Newell

:: Communications Alliance Pays Tribute to the Late
   Dr Christopher Newell

Communications Alliance today lamented the passing of Dr Christopher Newell, the long-serving chairman of its Disability Council. As chairman of the Communications Alliance Disability Council for the past ten years, Dr Newell was a tireless advocate of 'universal design'and championing the need to ensure Australian communications products and services meet the needs of people with disabilities. Communications Alliance CEO, Anne Hurley, said Dr Newell’s contribution would be missed but his legacy would remain in the completed initiatives and ongoing work of the Disability Council. “Among the most significant outcomes was the Industry guideline 'Access to Telecommunications For People With Disabilities', which assists industry participants to meet their obligations under legislation ensuring equity of access to communications products and services, as well as to information supplied or requested,” Ms Hurley said. Communications Alliance chairman Neville Stevens added: “Christopher was highly respected throughout our industry and we regret his passing.

Throughout his ten years as chair of the Disability Council, Christopher overlooked his own difficulties by regularly flying up to Sydney to attend our meetings, where he was a forceful proponent of measures benefiting people with disabilities.”

The Communications Alliance Disability Council was established to develop a framework for ensuring adequate and appropriate disability sector input into Communications Alliance codes and standards. Disability Council members also participate in the work of Communications Alliance through membership of Reference Panels, Working Committees and other working groups.

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:: New Members

Communications Alliance is pleased to welcome the following new members:

Symantec
www.symantec.com/en/au

Symantec helps customers protect their infrastructure, information, and interactions by delivering software and services that address risks to security, availability, compliance, and performance.

Australian Communication Exchange
www.aceinfo.net.au

Australian Communication Exchange (ACE) is a not-for-profit, Australian organisation dedicated to empowering those who are Deaf or have a hearing, speech or communication impairment, to obtain access to the telephone and other telecommunication networks.

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:: The ACOMM Awards Shortlist 2008

Communications Alliance and Communications Day today announced the shortlisted nominees for the prestigious 2008 ACOMM Awards. Nominations for this year’s awards which closed at the end of May, have been under consideration by a number of judges for the past three weeks.

Communications Alliance CEO, Anne Hurley, said: ‘The Judges were delighted by the calibre of the nominations. Both corporate and residential users alike are benefiting from increased access to a greater variety of services. In the light of such widespread achievement, it has been difficult to narrow the nominations down to the 24 shortlisted individuals and the organisations being announced today.’

Commenting on the shortlist, Publisher of Communications Day, Grahame Lynch, said: ‘The finalists are all highly deserving of the accolade as their accomplishments have set them apart from their industry peers.’

The task of selecting the final award winners across each of the categories will be undertaken by a number of judges including Malcolm Alder, Head of information Communications and Entertainment Advisory Practice with KPMG, Tony Chan, Co-Founder & Editor of Green Telecom, Kim Denham, CEO of Australian Computer Society, Paul Brooks, Founder of Layer 10 Consulting, Graeme Innes, Federal Disability Discrimination Commissioner of HREOC, Chris Althaus, CEO of AMTA, Karl Mallon, Director of Science and Systems for Climate Risk, Mark McDonnell, Telecommunications, Media & Technology Analyst with BBY, Andrew Parker, Partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Lars K. Rasmussen, Research Professor, Telecommunications at the University of South Australia, Noel Robertson, an experienced industry executive, Grahame Lynch, Publisher of Communications Day and Decisive Publishing and Anne Hurley, CEO of Communications Alliance.

Award winners will be announced at the ACOMMS Annual Dinner on 6 August in Sydney. The dinner has been kindly sponsored by Pipe Networks, Telstra Wholesale and KPMG. Tickets for the event are available from www.commsalliance.com.au/ .

2008 Shortlist

Industry Leadership Innovation - Large Company

Industry Leadership Innovation – SME

Environmental Responsibility

Services to Industry – Professional Services

Partnerships for Growth

Commitment to Customer Service - Large

Commitment to Customer Service – SME

2008 Telecommunications Ambassador
Ravi Bhatia	Simon Hackett	Phil Burgess

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:: Sustainable Prosperity for Australia’s ICT Industry
By Anne Hurley, CEO, Communications Alliance

As explained by that pioneer eco-warrior Kermit the Frog, “it’s not easy being green”.
This fact was underlined by the findings of the latest KPMG/Communications Alliance ICT Industry Pulse Survey.

The survey found that Australian ICT decision makers strongly agreed that “greenness” would become an important technology feature in the next 2 – 5 years. However they remained neutral when it came to their own companies’ current use of “green” products and services. They were even more ambivalent on the question of whether the benefits of “green” technology outweighed the costs.
Nevertheless, most survey respondents agreed that their customers would increasingly demand “green” products and services in the next five to 10 years and that their own organisations would both use and sell such products and services.

Segmentation analysis indicates that telecom service providers and hardware vendors are the most active in using “green ICT” solutions today. They also showed the strongest intentions to sell “green” products in the future.

One of the questions posed was willingness to pay a premium for “green” products and services. On average, respondents expressed a willingness to pay an extra 8 per cent. Nevertheless one in six would not pay any premium whatsoever while a similar number would pay over 10 per cent and some went as high as 50 per cent.

What this survey highlights is the inevitability of the need to incorporate “green” features in future products and services. It also shows that this will not only offer opportunities but also challenges in managing the extra costs of initiatives that have a positive impact on the environment and combat climate change.

The recently retired CEO of Westpac, Dr David Morgan, gave a speech at an event with the theme “Alternative Thinking about Business, Technology and Sustainability”. In his speech he talked about “the need to run our businesses for sustainable prosperity”.

“The way ahead, I believe, is for corporations to adopt a form of rational self-interested business behaviour that looks beyond the narrow focus on shareholders and short-term profits to something more enlightened – or what we could call enlightened shareholder value,” he said.

“When we talk about meeting the needs of the corporation, we’re talking about meeting the needs of both the economic machine and also the social system which is inseparable from it.”

In this context, our industry can play a significant role in climate change adaptation and mitigation while taking advantage of the significant growth opportunities this represents.
 
Because the threats and opportunities from climate change will be relevant across the whole ICT industry, it may be appropriate to develop an industry-wide position on “green” issues.

For example, we should accept that climate change has direct and indirect consequences for our industry as a whole as well as the wider community. In so doing, we should recognize that we have an important role to play in managing some of those impacts and also in helping the community to adapt to climate change.

In addition, we should agree that, like other Australian business sectors, the ICT industry has a responsibility to consider how to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, both within our own operations and in the products and services we provide.

We must then back up our words with actions by implementing programs that make a positive contribution to our environment and assist Australia to prosper in a “green” world.

Such an approach would be the very embodiment of sustainable prosperity for our industry..

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:: Consultation on Industry Issues
By Mike Johns, Project Manager, Communications Alliance

Communications Alliance is participating in several ACMA advisory bodies which have been established to assist ACMA in performing their functions in telecommunication and radiocommunications regulation and their involvement in international Standardisation. In fulfilling this role, Communications Alliance is in the process of establishing appropriate channels for our members and industry participants to be able to contribute to these activities. In addition to seeking input from our Network and our Customer Equipment and Cable Reference Panels, we are establishing a new member’s area to provide the opportunity for Communications Alliance members to be involved. Initially, the two following activities are underway:

Radiocommunications Consultative Committee (RCC)

Communications Alliance sits on the Radiocommunications Consultative Committee representing the fixed telecommunications industry. The RCC has been established by ACMA and meets periodically to assist ACMA in performing its spectrum management functions, including to provide advice on international and domestic radiocommunications issues and to identify other important interests that should be considered as part of a broader consultative approach.

World Telecommunications Standards Assembly (WTSA 2008)

ACMA is making preparations for the International Telecommunications Union, World Telecommunications Standardization Assembly (WTSA) 2008, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa in October. ACMA is conducting a national consultation with industry participants and other stakeholders known to have a likely interest in WTSA activities. Communications Alliance is participating in a number of preparatory meetings during the year leading up to the WTSA.
In the coming months Communications Alliance will be using this approach to broaden its consultative process in a number of areas of interest to the communications industry.

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:: ULLS Migration Processes Progress – Part 1
By James Duck, Project Manager, Communications Alliance

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission wrote to Communications Alliance earlier this year 2008 with a request to review processes for migrating between the Line Sharing Service (LSS)* and the Unconditioned Local Lop Service (ULLS)** and in particular migrations from LSS to ULLS. The ACCC also expressed interest in mass network migrations.

In response to the letter, Communications Alliance formed a Roundtable from its membership, with an independent chair, to examine the matters raised by the ACCC. The Roundtable conducted a detailed examination of the matters raised by the ACCC. As requested, a progress report has been forwarded to the ACCC.

An initial finding by the Roundtable was that there were few, if any, instances of a migration from ULLS to LSS, and the industry trend was to either use ULLS as first choice, or to migrate from LSS to ULLS. Therefore there was no requirement to develop a process to migrate from ULLS to LSS.

Another initial finding was there is no pressing requirement to develop additional processes for mass network migration from LSS to ULLS. It noted mass network migrations had been of concern to some parties but these concerns have diminished with the impending completion of much of the planned large scale network migrations. The Roundtable identified some potential improvements but agreed not to develop new processes for mass network migration. The industry has considerable experience in conducting mass migrations, and can, if and when required, co-operatively create such processes to meet any particular requirement.

Therefore the work has focused on the migration from LSS to ULLS. The original development of systems for ordering, transferring or cancelling a LSS or a ULLS occurred for different times and for different reasons so at present there are multiple, serial processes involved in migrating from a LSS to a ULLS. In addition, the complexity arising from the range of telecommunications services that can be on one line, plus the required coordination in a migration is hidden from the end user. This had led to some concerns about the timeframes for migration and the industry continues to look at ways of improving them.

For example, some of the activity related to improving processes is underway in complementary Communications Alliance activity – a scheduled review of the ULLS Ordering, Provisioning and Customer Transfer Code (ACIF C569:2005). As well, the Roundtable considered possible improvements to existing processes – more details in next month’s article.

*The LSS Service Description is available from: www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/802543

**The ULLS Service Description is available from: www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/764827

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:: Consumer Guiding the Broadband Regulatory 
   Landscape
By Josh Faulks, Manager, Policy and Government Relations, Communications Alliance

“Communications has absolutely revolutionised the way we live our lives and absolutely transformed productivity at the global as well as local level and fundamental to that is broadband.”
Sir Rod Eddington

Almost everyone agrees that broadband is essential for Australia to reach its economic and social potential. Therefore, it is important that we get the regulatory framework for the National Broadband Network right. Failure to do so could have huge ramifications including stifling competition and impeding Australia’s economic growth.

Last week Communications Alliance lodged a submission with the Federal Government on regulatory issues associated with the National Broadband Network. This is an important achievement because it demonstrates that the telecommunications industry is willing to work together towards the common goal of fast, ubiquitous and open broadband infrastructure in Australia.

Throughout the tender process, much commentary has characterised the atmosphere within the telecommunications industry as combative. Cooperative and collaborative initiatives undertaken by the industry are rarely ‘worth’ reporting. However, the fact that Communications Alliance’s members came together to agree on high-level regulatory principles is a significant achievement that needs to be acknowledged.

The Federal Government will not be able to effectively regulate the National Broadband Network on its own. It will require a partnership with industry to implement a combination of regulatory measures. With the explosion of new technologies, content and platforms, governments everywhere are increasingly struggling with effective regulation in the communications space. More and more it will require close cooperation between industry, governments and the consumer to get the regulation balance right.

Regulation increasingly requires innovative and flexible approaches. We welcome comments made by the Chairman of ACMA, Chris Chapman, endorsing the co-regulatory model as the best tool now and into the future to deal with a fast-changing technology driven world.

For over a decade, the telecommunications industry has demonstrated its strong commitment to a successful co-regulatory model by working collaboratively with government, taking responsibility and listening. It will continue to do so with the roll-out of broadband across the country.

It is an exciting time of new technology and convergence. We must try to take full advantage of the opportunities that broadband offers - and that will require a regulatory landscape that is fair, flexible and promotes competition.

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:: Mobile Premium Services Code
By Visu Thangavelu, Project Manager, Communications Alliance

he existing Mobile Premium Services Scheme and associated Guideline of Standard Industry Arrangements, the Industry developed signatory scheme which provided the essential framework for all activity in the Australian Mobile Premium Services space, was first released for distribution in October of 2006, itself being pursuant to the original Telecommunications Service Provider (Mobile Premium Services) Determination 2005, which existed under Subsection 99(1) of the Telecommunications Act 1997. Included in the Scheme’s terms of reference was a requirement for a review after a period of 12 months.

Following the review, the industry recognised the need for a formal document of mandatory obligations upon which MPSI enforcement and compliance could be based. Thus a proposal to convert the Scheme into a registered Communications Alliance Code was developed. A Scheme Review group began meeting from October 2007 with the outcome being a decision in favor of converting the Scheme to a Mobile Premium Services Code. A wider audience of the various external stakeholder organisations (DBCDE, ACCC, TIO, ACMA, OPC) and consumer representative groups (CHOICE, CTN) were briefed on the progress of the Scheme revision process in a Mobile Premium Services Industry Scheme Stakeholder Consultation on 19th March 2008.

To facilitate the development of a Code to replace the Scheme, the Mobile Premium Services Code Working Group, under the coordination of Communications Alliance, was chartered with creating a relevant enforceable document that addressed all activity within the Industry, with powers of enforcement for non-compliance falling within the scope of existing ACMA. This group comprised representation from the carrier, aggregator and content provider sectors. The first formal meeting of this group was convened in April 2008. Regular meetings were conducted under Communications Alliance coordination and the first draft of the MPS Code was produced for internal analysis on Friday 2nd May 2008. The first draft of the new Guideline was produced on Friday 16th May 2008.

Central to the development of both documents was the requirement to address particular issues pertaining to industry best practice in the areas of advertising, customer care and consumer education. In creating enforceable rules for activity in these areas the group utilized inputs and feedback from numerous channels. Industry feedback was paramount, and the outputs from a Communications Alliance coordinated Mobile Premium Services Customer Care and Compliance Workshop, held on 27th May 2008 at Communications Alliance, comprising an large industry wide representation of carriers, aggregators and content providers, provided valuable feedback from an industry perspective in regards to highlighting current issues and potential solutions for addressing them. These solutions are being developed under the auspices of Communications Alliance parallel to the Code development process. Similarly, input from the DBCDE, ACMA, TIO, ACCC and public submissions were also crucial to the development of the Code and Guideline’s framework of obligations.

The Pre-Public Comment Drafts of the Mobile Premium Services Code and Guideline were submitted to ACMA for consideration on 4th June 2007. It is anticipated that the Code and Guideline will be released for a 30 day Public Comment period. Parallel to this, a second Informal Stakeholder Consultation will be conducted before the same stakeholder audience on 15th July 2008. A third Consultation will be scheduled for September 2008 following considerations of Public Comments.

:: Events Calendar

Events 2008
• Australian Communications and Media Authority & Communications Alliance
  Consumer Dialogue 2008: Sydney – 22 July 2008
• The ACOMMS 2008 : Sydney – 6 August 2008

Codes/Guidelines published in June 2008
• Local Number Portability – IT Specifications And Operations Manual Part 1
  – General, Give Back And Ported Local Number Register Processing: G602.1:2008

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:: About Communications Alliance

Communications Alliance was formed to provide a unified voice for the Australian communications industry and to lead it into the next generation of converging networks, technologies and services.

Communications Alliance offers a forum for the industry to make coherent and constructive contributions to policy development and debate.

By providing leadership on new trends and directions, Communications Alliance fulfils a vital unifying role on behalf of the industry and its members, particularly in areas of competition, innovation and industry development.

The prime mission of Communications Alliance is to promote the growth of the Australian communications industry and the protection of consumer interests by fostering the highest standards of business ethics and behaviour through industry self-governance.

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