Ofcom's Independent Consumer Panel has Kahunas

damien

Ofcom’s independent Consumer Panel says BT access review puts consumer issues in second place

The Ofcom Consumer Panel today expressed concern that consumer issues are not being tackled in the latest phase of the regulator’s review of how the telecoms market operates. The Panel – the independent body set up to advise Ofcom on consumer interests – said that Ofcom’s plans to announce its consumer strategy separately later this year demonstrates that consumers are not being put at the heart of Ofcom’s work on telecoms.

More here.

Nice that the Ofcom Consumer Panel isn't afraid to say how it is. The ComReg consumer panel has been strangely quiet the past few months haven't they?

Tom Young

There are three aspects to regulatory policy or three stools.

Competition Stool
Consumer Protection Stool
Regulatory Stool

Competition Stool

1. Antitrust is the consumers enemy.
2. That's too cheap, predatory pricing is illegal in Ireland.
3. Economics informs competition, sometimes called the dismal science.

Consumer Protection Stool

1. Only recent shift to use of economics to evaluate consumer issues.
2. Sometimes consumer issues can be invalid or invalidated by fine print.
3. [Caveat: Many] Consumers have knowledge over and above use of equipment or consumption of services.

Regulatory Stool

1. Can be trashy, unwieldy and complex/specialist.
2. Can be misguided e.g. airline regulation (Make airlines insurers against travel risk) don't solve issues of low fare demand!
3. Consumers maybe no better off.


Role for economics:

The cure for bad competition policy is the injection of sound micro economic analysis.
Same cure for consumer protection. Mario Monti brought economics to competition, now his former collecgues need to bring economics to consumer protection.

So what about OFCOM:

OFCOM has realised that running its operation in the veins of the past leads to stagnation of industry and poorer conditions for consumers. Having the consumer panel in on every decision and bun fight may not in fact be good for the market and the status of competition. So in my mind OFCOM are using co-regulation and compeition minus the consumer protection aspects/stool to leap forward.

Control of a bear such as BT is not easy, and ultimately which BT are giving the impression of being highly strategic and forward looking, they are a business and the retail defense/win back mechanics are built in, this we can depend on.

I say so what!? leave the consumer panel out when not required.

ednwireland

this is a quote form a vnu newsletter i receive



"Only time will tell whether BT's deal with Ofcom will be effective at freeing up the local loop, but it's a feather in the cap of the regulatory agency and shows that it has teeth.

It would be impossible to imagine Oftel, the previous regulatory body, even suggesting something like this to BT. Its approach was to ask nicely and hope that BT would do the right thing for the country and open a level playing field for all. Instead BT did the right thing by its shareholders.

The fact that BT is prepared to go this far shows that it is scared.
It has been playing chicken with the regulators for so long now, that it's a relief to see that this time it was telecoms giant that blinked."


News:

BT creates 'independent' access unit
Deal with Ofcom should help rivals connect to the local loop http://mail.vnunet.com/cgi-bin1/flo/y/eiFK0CB1re0Mu30CnBQ0El

just goes to show how a regulator can scare an encumbent - eventually

Sponge Bob

ednwireland wrote:

just goes to show how a regulator can scare an encumbent - eventually

Not in Ireland they can't. We have wood pigeons cooing in the window at Eircom HQ where BT has a regulator

Funny how the same EU legal framework means two completely different things in the UK and Ireland ....the way the UK interprets the word 'universal' as meaning all for example.