WHITAKER ASSOCIATES
Washington, DC
10 January 2001

 

Impact of UK Oftel proposal for Directory Enquiry access code changes will be major topic of discussion at European Directory Marketplace conference to be held in London in February

A consultation document recently released by the United Kingdom’s Office of Telecommunications (UK Oftel), calling for comments on proposed changes to the Directory Enquiry (DQ) access code, will be a major subject of debate at the upcoming European Directory Marketplace to be held in London on 12-13 February 2001.

Stuart M. Whitaker, conference organizer and president of Whitaker Associates (USA), said today that Oftel is considering ways to make DQ services more open to competition.

"Oftel’s consultation document recognizes that independent providers can offer these services under current market conditions, however, they are unable to use the 192 dialing code. That privilege belongs solely to the PTO and represents a very strong disadvantage to any potential competitors," Whitaker said.

The deadline for respondents’ comments to the Oftel proposal is just two weeks following the European Directory Marketplace conference. Whitaker noted the EDM conference "will provide a very timely forum to explore issues surrounding the debate on this topic."

Several key questions concerning the Oftel proposal open for discussion at the EDM conference include the following:

• What effect will the spread of competitive dialing patterns such as 118XX throughout Europe have on the marketplace?

• Who will succeed in offering services via these new dialing patterns?

• What potential new services will be offered?

• How will these services relate to the services delivered through other channels?

In addition, according to a Net Present Value (NPV) analysis performed for Oftel, there may be as much as a 207 £M public benefit from making the changes under consideration. However, there may be as much as a 136 £M public harm from the changes under consideration. Given this uncertainty, Oftel is proceeding with caution.

IBM, Nortel, telegate AG and Conduit are Gold Sponsors for the conference. Silver sponsors are INFONXX, Philips Speech Processing, varetis AG, VoltDelta, and LSSi. The Association for the European Interworking of Directory Inquiry Services (EIDQ) is a partner in this program.

Details regarding the London conference, including cost and registration forms, can be obtained by contacting Whitaker Associates by phone, mail or email, or via the Internet at www.whitaker.com.

Whitaker Associates
7700 Leesburg Pike
Suite 109
Falls Church, VA 22043-2615
1.703.506.1220 (USA)
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www.whitaker.com