Telecommunications Forum Creates New Compliance Framework

New Zealand Telecommunications Forum

MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE USE

13 March 2012

Telecommunications Forum Creates New Compliance Framework

The New Zealand Telecommunications Forum (TCF), which has all of New Zealand’s largest telecommunications companies as its members, has announced today that it has approved a new compliance framework to reinforce its existing self regulatory regime for the telecommunications industry.

The Code Compliance Framework (CCF) has been introduced to reinforce the benefits of self-regulation as a workable and important part of the New Zealand telecommunications industry. It provides an extra layer of assurance to Government, telecommunications users and other industry participants that TCF members are serious about complying with their obligations under the TCF's voluntary codes.

The CCF involves an annual self certification process where parties who are signatories to TCF codes of practice will certify that they comply with the key metrics in each code they are a signatory to. The key metrics in each code will be identified as part of the CCF’s implementation programme in the coming months.

The CCF also includes a compliance management process whereby a code signatory may submit an allegation of a code breach by another signatory to the TCF Compliance Officer for further investigation. This process includes an appeals mechanism and the application of sanctions to parties in breach through a "name and shame" approach. The sanctions range from publishing details on the TCF website through to media announcements to inform the public of a party in breach.

The CCF was created by a working party that included representatives of both the Ministry of Economic Development and the Commerce Commission.

“This compliance framework represents a significant step for the industry” says TCF CEO, David Stone. “The CCF will encourage ongoing compliance with the TCF’s codes of practice and give greater credibility to the industry's self regulatory regime. It is an acknowledgement that if a telco is willing to sign up to a code, the TCF will ensure they remain compliant with their obligations. This is good not just for the telco but also for their customer, who can rest assured that if their provider has said they will comply with industry best practice, the TCF has a regime to ensure that is the case.”

Mr Stone says that while the CCF allows other code signatories and selected third parties to make complaints about telco behaviour, the TCF’s Telecommunications Dispute Resolution Scheme is “specifically set up to assist with the resolution of disputes about individual services for consumers and small businesses.”

The implementation of the CCF is expected to take at least a year and will begin next month with the Emergency Services Calling Code and Customer Complaints Code being the first two codes to be aligned with the CCF.

ENDS

More About the Code Compliance Framework

The focus on the CCF is to encourage compliance first and foremost. The Compliance Officer will provide assistance to TCF members with their compliance obligations under TCF codes.

The CCF has a four stage process for managing complaints - Registration, Notification, Investigation, and Resolution & Sanctions. In addition, decisions can be appealed. Both parties to a complaint are encouraged to discuss the issue early on to seek a quick resolution to the matter.

The Compliance Officer is the default person to investigate complaints. Complex complaints, and those made under regulated codes, will be investigated by an Enforcement Agent, being an expert appointed by the TCF at the time.

The CCF will not apply to TCF codes until those codes are amended to make use of the CCF. Codes will be examined one by one and amended by the working parties that created them in accordance with an implementation plan.

About the TCF

The New Zealand Telecommunications Forum (TCF) plays a vital role in the New Zealand telecommunications industry, collaboratively developing key industry standards and codes of practice that underpin the country’s digital economy.

Established in 2002 as the Telecommunications Carriers’ Forum, the TCF is a registered incorporated society. It changed its name in 2011 to the New Zealand Telecommunications Forum. Our objective is to actively foster cooperation among the telecommunications industry’s participants, to enable the efficient provision of regulated and non-regulated telecommunications services.

We work with both industry participants and government agencies to achieve our objectives. We work within the telecommunications industry to efficiently resolve regulatory, technical and policy issues, and provide a bridge to government with the results. We offer an expert, informed, and commercially-focused forum to debate problems, and to devise and implement practical, efficient, consensual solutions that enable competition to flourish.

For more information visit: http://www.tcf.org.nz

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