Communications Alliance, the peak body for the Australian communications industry, today named the Steering Group for the scheduled review of the Telecommunications Consumer Protections (TCP) Code.
The TCP Code regulates the behaviour of telecommunications service providers in areas including billing, credit management, complaint handling, customer contracts and the information contained in advertising.
The Steering Group includes both voting and non-voting members and was established following a stakeholder meeting hosted by Communications Alliance last month.
The members of the TCP Code Review Steering Group are as follows:
- Fay Holthuyzen, Independent Chair
- Allan Asher, CEO, Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN)
- Brenton Philp, General Manager Compliance Strategies Branch, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC)
- Kath Silleri, Executive Manager Content and Consumer, Australian Communications & Media Authority (ACMA)
- John Stanton, CEO, Communications Alliance
- Keith Besgrove, First Assistant Secretary, Digital Economy Services, Department of Broadband, Communications & Digital Economy (DBCDE)
- John Horan, General Counsel, Primus
- David Quilty, Group Managing Director, Public Policy & Communications, Telstra
A second consumer representative will be appointed to the Group soon.
Communications Alliance CEO John Stanton welcomed the appointment of Fay Holthuyzen, a former Deputy Secretary of the Federal Department of Communications and a widely respected figure in the telecommunications industry, as the independent Chair of the Steering Group.
“The review of the TCP code is key to realising the ambition of the industry and other stakeholders to ensure that telecommunications consumer protections and customer management in Australia are robust, up to date and capable of delivering beneficial outcomes for customers now and into the future,” Mr Stanton said.
The Steering Group is responsible for considering public comment on the issues paper, making a recommendation (via its voting members) on whether to revise the Code and setting the terms of reference of the revision
Ms Holthuyzen said the review was timely and important, particularly given the significant changes taking place in the industry.
“I look forward to working with the industry, consumer groups and all stakeholders to ensure that Australia can benefit from a world-class approach to consumer protection in the telecommunications sector,” Ms Holthuyzen said
The Steering Group will release an issues paper for public comment in the coming days. The paper will outline key areas of focus for the TCP Code review as well as initial contributions by regulators, consumer groups and the industry in relation to the Code.
Ms Holthuyzen said that if it was decided that the Code required revision, several working committees would also be established, reporting to the Steering Group. The revision would be expected to extend throughout the remainder of the calendar year, with the aim of delivering a revised code to the ACMA for registration early on 2011.
The TCP Code can be downloaded from the Communications Alliance website: http://www.commsalliance.com.au/Documents/consumers
ABOUT COMMUNICATIONS ALLIANCE
Communications Alliance is the peak body for the Australian communications industry. It presents a unified voice for its members in public policy, facilitates industry solutions to industry issues, and provides up-to-date information on industry issues. Communications Alliance is also leading the industry's response to the National Broadband Network implementation. For further information see www.commsalliance.com.au