Oftel
Encyclopedia
Oftel has been superseded as the British telecommunications regulator by Ofcom
(the Office of Communications).
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The Office of Telecommunications (Oftel) (the telecommunications regulator) was a department in the United Kingdom
government, under civil service
control, charged with promoting competition and maintaining the interests of consumers in the UK telecommunications market. It was set up under the Telecommunications Act 1984 after privatisation of the nationalised operator BT.
Oftel was accused by its critics of having been "captured
" by BT, and of giving the dominant operator too much freedom to leverage its monopoly
status in fixed line telephony into other markets such as ADSL
.
On 28 December 2003 the duties of Oftel were inherited by Ofcom
, which is the result of a consolidation of the British telecommunication and broadcasting regulators.
There are allegations of anti-competitive practice in marketing ADSL by BT
made by Freeserve
being overlooked by Oftel.
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
(the Office of Communications).
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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
government, under civil service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
control, charged with promoting competition and maintaining the interests of consumers in the UK telecommunications market. It was set up under the Telecommunications Act 1984 after privatisation of the nationalised operator BT.
Oftel was accused by its critics of having been "captured
Regulatory capture
In economics, regulatory capture occurs when a state regulatory agency created to act in the public interest instead advances the commercial or special interests that dominate the industry or sector it is charged with regulating. Regulatory capture is a form of government failure, as it can act as...
" by BT, and of giving the dominant operator too much freedom to leverage its monopoly
Monopoly
A monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
status in fixed line telephony into other markets such as ADSL
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
Asymmetric digital subscriber line is a type of digital subscriber line technology, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional voiceband modem can provide. It does this by utilizing frequencies that are not used by a voice...
.
On 28 December 2003 the duties of Oftel were inherited by Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
, which is the result of a consolidation of the British telecommunication and broadcasting regulators.
There are allegations of anti-competitive practice in marketing ADSL by BT
BT Group
BT Group plc is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries. Through its BT Global Services division it is a major supplier of...
made by Freeserve
Freeserve
Freeserve was a British Internet Service Provider, founded in 1998. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but merged into the Wanadoo group in 2000, itself a subsidiary of France Telecom...
being overlooked by Oftel.