::Welcome to September's edition of Communicate

:: New Members

:: New Members

Communications Alliance is pleased to welcome the following new members:

 
Phonak Pty Ltd
www.phonak.com.au
Phonak Australia distributes digital hearing instruments, and state of the art FM communication systems. Phonak also provide training and support to hearing healthcare professionals throughout Australia.

Sagem Australasia
Communications branch (including Broadband Business Group and Network department).
www.sagem.com
SAGEM Australasia is a wholly owned subsidiary of the SAFRAN Group, a global leader in high technology solutions.

Buchanan Law Pty Ltd
www.buchananlaw.com.au
Buchanan Law is a commercial law firm specialising in Intellectual Property, Technology and Innovation law.

 
FaktorTel Pty Ltd
www.faktortel.com.au  
Faktortel is an Australian Internet Telephone Service Provider.

Back to top

:: Priorities for the Year Ahead
By Anne Hurley, CEO, Communications Alliance

With the election now having been called for 24 November and broadband being on the agenda of both the Coalition and the ALP, it is timely to re-state Communication Alliance’s high-level strategic priorities.

Defining the vision for Australia’s broadband future is the overriding priority for Communications Alliance. We will continue to drive strategies that encourage maximum industry input into the planning and deployment of Australia’s future communications infrastructure. By seeking every opportunity for collaboration in achieving the broadband vision for Australia, Communications Alliance will cement its position as the focal point of collective industry thinking and policy development.

A major initiative to engage industry dialogue will be the ‘Broadband and Beyond’ conference to be jointly hosted by Communications Alliance and Telstra in March 2008.  This event will be for Communications Alliance members and will feature prominent Australian and international speakers.  Watch this space and our website for further details.

The review of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) has the potential to create significant changes to the structure and economics of Australia’s telecommunications industry. By helping to shape the outcome of that review, Communications Alliance can offer its members a valuable service by protecting their business interests and supporting the future growth of the industry. Therefore we are seeking expert assistance to help us develop a cogent industry position that takes into account the interests of customers and service providers. 

Promoting industry best practice will remain a high priority. A key focus of our strategy for enhancing customer service is promoting the commercial benefits of providing good customer service rather than its characterisation as a regulatory issue of compliance with code provisions. In pursuit of that objective, we will work with the industry and the TIO to improve complaint handling and other important aspects of customer service. As well as its focus on industry best practice, the strategy contains a number of elements designed to improve compliance and to educate consumers.

These strategic priorities will guide the input which Communications Alliance will provide on policy priorities to the new incoming Government.

Back to top

:: New Satellite customer equipment standards
By Mike Johns, Project Manager, Communications Alliance

Communication Alliance has the responsibility for the ongoing development and maintenance of technical standards for customer equipment that are used on the Australian telecommunications networks.  Included in this suite of Standards are the earlier Standards developed by the precursor to ACMA, the Australian Communications Authority.

One such Standard ACA TS 022 was published in 1997 specifically for terminals and handsets used with the Optus MobileSat® service.  As part of Communications Alliance periodic review of customer equipment Standards, it was brought to our notice that since the publishing of ACA TS 022, the satellite communications market has opened up with many new services being provided with conjunction with a variety of equipment used with those services. For example, satellite handsets are commonly used for emergency communications in remote areas where there is little or no cellular mobile coverage.

In recognition of the increasing prevalence of these devices, it was felt to be an opportune time to review the requirements and broaden out their applicability to cover all satellite customer equipment, not just those for Optus MobileSat®. The challenge for the committee in reviewing these requirements has been to take into account the unique characteristics of satellite networks which operate globally and at the same time meeting the objectives our national telecommunications regulatory framework.

The new requirements for satellite customer equipment are being incorporated into the existing Standard AS/ACIF S042.1 Requirements for connection to an air interface of a Telecommunications Network— Part 1: General. The draft Standard is scheduled to be released for public comment this month.

Back to top

:: Quality of Service for VoIP
By James Duck, Project Manager, Communications Alliance

Last month I wrote about how Communications Alliance has been laying the groundwork to differentiate between competing applications on IP networks.  In summary, this groundwork involves prioritising network traffic that is sensitive to interruption ahead of general, or ‘best efforts’, traffic.  For example, delayed or errored transmission of packets can diminish a caller’s experience of a voice or video service by introducing gaps in the speech, as well as ‘clicks’ or ‘pops’.

In addition to managing the transmission of IP packets, different applications have additional factors that should be managed to ensure a better end user experience.  For example, reliable IP network performance is a prerequisite for voice services but one should manage other factors such as mouth-to-ear delay, echo and the amount of transcoding.

Mouth-to-ear delay includes not only the time to transmit packets through a network but also the time needed to encode the speech and decode the digital signals into audible sounds.

Echo is reasonably straightforward concept to understand – hearing one’s speech reflected back after a short delay.  Managing it can be complex.  Fortunately there are devices to do the job and one can optimize a caller’s experience by locating them appropriately.

Transcoding occurs when the encoding and decoding processes use different algorithms.  For example, one user might prefer to encode using a low loss codec to maintain speech quality while the other user on the call prefers to use compression to reduce bandwidth demands.  Both can be valid choices but the translation between the two choices can lead to degradation in call quality.

To help manage these factors that affect Voice over IP (VoIP) services, a group of industry experts in a Working Committee at Communications Alliance is finalising a guideline for VoIP Quality of Service (QoS).  It complements the underlying network performance guideline referred to in my article last month.  So contact Communications Alliance if you want to be notified of publication of the guideline.

Back to top

:: Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code
By Jeni Floyd, Compliance Manager, Communications Alliance

It is a very exciting time as September 2007 saw the final drafting of the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code (TCP) Code which consolidates 6 registered Consumer codes into one document.

The TCP Code received a successful ballot by the Steering Committee which comprised of industry and consumer representatives who were tasked with providing high level oversight of the drafting of the code.  Baker and McKenzie were the legal drafters of the code.

Following the successful ballot, the TCP Code received unanimous approval for publication by the Communications Alliance Board.

We are now in the process of finalising all documentation for submission to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), for registration.

Once registered by ACMA, the TCP Code will replace the following registered ACIF Codes:
1. Customer Information on Prices, Terms and Conditions Industry Code [ACIF C521:2004],
2. Credit Management Industry Code [ACIF C541:2006],
3. Billing Industry Code [ACIF C542:2003],
4. Customer Transfer Industry Code [ACIF C546:2006],
5. Complaint Handling Industry Code [ACIF C547:2004], and
6. Consumer Contracts Industry Code [ACIF C620:2005].

The development of the TCP Code is a major strategic initiative for Communications Alliance and can be seen as a demonstrable outcome of a mature industry in the 10th anniversary of the Telecommunications Act 1997 (Cth).

We would like to thank members of the Steering Committee for their hard work during this project, Baker and McKenzie for their drafting expertise, and Ms Deirdre O’Connor for her role as Chair of the Steering Committee.

Further information about the formal publication and registration of the Code will be available on the Communications Alliance website over the coming weeks.

Back to top

:: Industry Milestone for Communications Alliance
By Elizabeth Harland, Information and Office Manager, Communications Alliance

Communications Alliance recently acknowledged two people who have been instrumental in the organisation's success over the past 10 years. Helen Bailey - Commercial Manager and Mike Johns - Project Manager celebrated their 10 years of service with Communications Alliance in September. They both joined the organisation at it's inception in September 1997. Their length of service equates to 20 years of industry knowledge just between the two of them!

Helen’s responsibilities include financial management, company secretary, membership, human resources and legal assistance.  Prior to joining Communications Alliance, Helen was the inaugural Business Manager of the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) for 4 years and was actively involved in the set-up phase of the TIO.

Mike is the Project Manager for Customer Equipment and Cable Reference Panel and also manages the many VoIP projects at Communications Alliance.  Mike’s past involvement in the industry included 7 years as an electrical engineer with a communications manufacturing and installation company followed by 6 years in standards development with Standards Australia in the electrical and communications divisions.

Back to top

:: Regional Telecommunications Review

The Australian Government has established an independent committee to review the adequacy of telecommunications services in regional, rural and remote parts of Australia. 

Chaired by Dr William Glasson, the Committee will be conducting public consultations and has called for written submissions to be made by 31 October 2007. 

Copies of the Discussion Paper, submission cover sheet and further information may be found at www.rtirc.gov.au , by emailing secretariat@rtirc.gov.au or by telephoning 1800 064 851(freecall).

Back to top

:: Events Calendar

Back to top

:: About Communications Alliance

Communications Alliance was formed to provide a unified voice for the Australian communications industry and to lead it into the next generation of converging networks, technologies and services.

Communications Alliance offers a forum for the industry to make coherent and constructive contributions to policy development and debate.

By providing leadership on new trends and directions, Communications Alliance fulfils a vital unifying role on behalf of the industry and its members, particularly in areas of competition, innovation and industry development.

The prime mission of Communications Alliance is to promote the growth of the Australian communications industry and the protection of consumer interests by fostering the highest standards of business ethics and behaviour through industry self-governance.

Back to top