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New voice privacy facility for private mobile radio
JLit. - AUG
THE COMPUTER LAW AND SECURITY REPORT
[ t996] 12 CLSR
not exceeding 15 m in height without planning permission (other than in certain sensitive areas).These permitted development rights are granted to telecommunications operators and are the General Permitted Development Order 1995. However, before locating such a mast, the telecommunications operator must ask the local planning authority if it wishes to approve the look and situation of the mast. The planning authorities have 28 days in which to indicate whether they approve and to give or refuse their approval. The main operators who currently need to carry out this sort of development are the mobile telephone operators (like Cellnet) and wireless local loop operators (like Ionica) who are licensed to provide radio-telecommunications systems. At the end of March, the Planning Minister, Robert Jones, announced a new Code of Best Practice for the installation of certain types of telecommunication development. The code was drawn up by a joint working party of operators, local authority representatives and government departments. The Code is designed to help telecommunications operators and local authorities to work more closely together in applying the prior approval procedure. The intention is that installations should meet the needs of consumers and, at the same time, minimize any adverse effects on the environment. For those installing masts under 15 m high in conservation areas, national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty will still have to submit for full planning permission (as does anyone, at present, installing a mast over 15 m high). Heather Rowe, Report Correspondent, Lovell White Durrant
Because the Director General of Telecommunications has a statutory duty to maintain and promote competition in the UK telecommunications market, he felt that he should put in a submission which outlined his concerns regarding the "pre-eminent" role that BSkyB's position in the market for the supply of programming might have on competition. One of the areas to be looked at was whether BSkyB's position and its pricing and terms and conditions might have an adverse effect on the development of the cable companies. If this was the case, this would have a knock-on effect for the UK telecoms market generally, in terms of competition. The submission of Oftel suggested a number of areas which needed to be looked at by the OFTand also suggested a number of remedies that might make ongoing action unnecessary by the OFT Heather Rowe, Report Correspondent, Lovell White Durrant
they might be able to offer on this additional spectrum, if they were to be allocated some of it. The government has said it regards its proposals as offering "the necessary firm base" for medium-term planning and investment decisions. Heather Rowe, Report Correspondent, Lovell White Durrant
NEW VOICE PRIVACY FACILITY FOR PRIVATE MOBILE RADIO The Radio Communications Agency has announced the introduction of a Voice Privacy facility for on-site users of private mobile radio, with effect from 15 May 1996.Voice Privacy enables the speech of the radio signal to be altered in a way that makes it difficult for others to understand the contents of transmission. Various methods for producing Voice Privacy will be accepted and are detailed in the Agency's information sheet - 'Voice Privacy and Private Mobile Radio (Standard) Licences with On-Site Conditions'. It is anticipated that theVoice Privacy facility will have a number of applications in large industrial centres, shopping precincts, exhibitions, sporting arenas. Voice Privacy in these case will make it difficult for third parties to gain access to the content of the message. However, theAgency stress that Voice Privacy does NOTguarantee the security of the transmission; it merely makes the interception and understanding of the message more difficult. Editor's Note: A Private Mobile Radio (Standard) Licence, with on-site conditions, allows the user of either single frequency equipment, with or without a base station, or dual frequency equipment, with a base station, at a given point and within a radius of up to 3 Km. Voice Privacy is available only to on-site users. TELECOMMUNICATIONS MASTS AND PLANNING LAW There has been some press/television coverage in recent months indicating that the rights of telecommunications operators to instal masts was perhaps being used indiscriminantly. Under existing planning legislation, telecommunications operators can instal, alter, or replace masts
OFTEL'S SUBMISSION TO AN ENQUIRY BY THE OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING AS PART OF THE OFT'S REVIEW OF THE PAY-TV MARKET At the end of March, the Director General of Telecommunications presented his submission to the Office of FairTrading as part of the OFT's review of the Pay-TV market. Oftel was effectively welcoming the decision of the OFT to look more closely at the Pay-TV market.
256
OFTEL'S 1995 ANNUAL REPORT 1995 was a busy year for Don Cruickshank (the Director General of Oftel) and Oftel's 1995 Annual Report reflects this. The Annual Report analyses progress made in 1995 and goes on to set out Oftel's aims for 1996 and beyond. The second stage of the Interconnection and Accounting Separation (ICAS) proposals were implemented at the end of March and led in September to the publication of the first set of independently audited regulatory accounts for British Telecom (BT). These formed the basis of the Director General's determination of network charges for 1995/6. The Director General uses the Annual Report to put forward, in brief terms, his arguments for increased and more effective powers under theTelecommunications Act 1984 to deal with the competitive behaviour, particularly by dominant operators. Oftel has proposed an amendment to BT's licence in order to deal with this. This was the subject of Oftel's first public hearing in November 1995 and resulted in a statement entitled "FairTrading in Telecommunications" published in December and requesting comments on the proposals. It is intended that the new condition should prohibit any abuse of a dominant position by telecommunications opera-
THE COMPUTER LAW AND SECURITY REPORT
[ t996] 12 CLSR
not exceeding 15 m in height without planning permission (other than in certain sensitive areas).These permitted development rights are granted to telecommunications operators and are the General Permitted Development Order 1995. However, before locating such a mast, the telecommunications operator must ask the local planning authority if it wishes to approve the look and situation of the mast. The planning authorities have 28 days in which to indicate whether they approve and to give or refuse their approval. The main operators who currently need to carry out this sort of development are the mobile telephone operators (like Cellnet) and wireless local loop operators (like Ionica) who are licensed to provide radio-telecommunications systems. At the end of March, the Planning Minister, Robert Jones, announced a new Code of Best Practice for the installation of certain types of telecommunication development. The code was drawn up by a joint working party of operators, local authority representatives and government departments. The Code is designed to help telecommunications operators and local authorities to work more closely together in applying the prior approval procedure. The intention is that installations should meet the needs of consumers and, at the same time, minimize any adverse effects on the environment. For those installing masts under 15 m high in conservation areas, national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty will still have to submit for full planning permission (as does anyone, at present, installing a mast over 15 m high). Heather Rowe, Report Correspondent, Lovell White Durrant
Because the Director General of Telecommunications has a statutory duty to maintain and promote competition in the UK telecommunications market, he felt that he should put in a submission which outlined his concerns regarding the "pre-eminent" role that BSkyB's position in the market for the supply of programming might have on competition. One of the areas to be looked at was whether BSkyB's position and its pricing and terms and conditions might have an adverse effect on the development of the cable companies. If this was the case, this would have a knock-on effect for the UK telecoms market generally, in terms of competition. The submission of Oftel suggested a number of areas which needed to be looked at by the OFTand also suggested a number of remedies that might make ongoing action unnecessary by the OFT Heather Rowe, Report Correspondent, Lovell White Durrant
they might be able to offer on this additional spectrum, if they were to be allocated some of it. The government has said it regards its proposals as offering "the necessary firm base" for medium-term planning and investment decisions. Heather Rowe, Report Correspondent, Lovell White Durrant
NEW VOICE PRIVACY FACILITY FOR PRIVATE MOBILE RADIO The Radio Communications Agency has announced the introduction of a Voice Privacy facility for on-site users of private mobile radio, with effect from 15 May 1996.Voice Privacy enables the speech of the radio signal to be altered in a way that makes it difficult for others to understand the contents of transmission. Various methods for producing Voice Privacy will be accepted and are detailed in the Agency's information sheet - 'Voice Privacy and Private Mobile Radio (Standard) Licences with On-Site Conditions'. It is anticipated that theVoice Privacy facility will have a number of applications in large industrial centres, shopping precincts, exhibitions, sporting arenas. Voice Privacy in these case will make it difficult for third parties to gain access to the content of the message. However, theAgency stress that Voice Privacy does NOTguarantee the security of the transmission; it merely makes the interception and understanding of the message more difficult. Editor's Note: A Private Mobile Radio (Standard) Licence, with on-site conditions, allows the user of either single frequency equipment, with or without a base station, or dual frequency equipment, with a base station, at a given point and within a radius of up to 3 Km. Voice Privacy is available only to on-site users. TELECOMMUNICATIONS MASTS AND PLANNING LAW There has been some press/television coverage in recent months indicating that the rights of telecommunications operators to instal masts was perhaps being used indiscriminantly. Under existing planning legislation, telecommunications operators can instal, alter, or replace masts
OFTEL'S SUBMISSION TO AN ENQUIRY BY THE OFFICE OF FAIR TRADING AS PART OF THE OFT'S REVIEW OF THE PAY-TV MARKET At the end of March, the Director General of Telecommunications presented his submission to the Office of FairTrading as part of the OFT's review of the Pay-TV market. Oftel was effectively welcoming the decision of the OFT to look more closely at the Pay-TV market.
256
OFTEL'S 1995 ANNUAL REPORT 1995 was a busy year for Don Cruickshank (the Director General of Oftel) and Oftel's 1995 Annual Report reflects this. The Annual Report analyses progress made in 1995 and goes on to set out Oftel's aims for 1996 and beyond. The second stage of the Interconnection and Accounting Separation (ICAS) proposals were implemented at the end of March and led in September to the publication of the first set of independently audited regulatory accounts for British Telecom (BT). These formed the basis of the Director General's determination of network charges for 1995/6. The Director General uses the Annual Report to put forward, in brief terms, his arguments for increased and more effective powers under theTelecommunications Act 1984 to deal with the competitive behaviour, particularly by dominant operators. Oftel has proposed an amendment to BT's licence in order to deal with this. This was the subject of Oftel's first public hearing in November 1995 and resulted in a statement entitled "FairTrading in Telecommunications" published in December and requesting comments on the proposals. It is intended that the new condition should prohibit any abuse of a dominant position by telecommunications opera-