Consumer Panel launches 2010/11 Work Plan after public consultation
30 April 2010
The Communications Consumer Panel has launched its Work Plan for 2010/11 following a public consultation with issues such as mobile coverage and illegal file sharing high on the agenda.
Consumer Panel Chair Anna Bradley thanked the people who responded to the consultation, which she said had played a “significant part in how the Panel has targeted its work programme and action for the coming year”.
The Work Plan has identified six areas that it will focus on, but Anna Bradley said that she would be “keeping under review key consumer concerns that might need Panel intervention such as broadband speeds”.
The six areas the Panel will be working on are:
- Digital participation and inclusion
- Mobile coverage
- Processes for making and evaluating regulation
- Consumer protection and empowerment
- Consumer engagement with the internet
- Universal service
“We’ll be looking at issues across all these areas through the eyes of consumers to protect and promote their interests”, Anna Bradley said, adding: “Research is already underway into digital participation exploring what more needs to be done to help people get online - and we’ll be publishing those findings in May. We’ve also planned more work on mobile coverage and research to test the usability of mobile phones,” she said.
The Consumer Panel is a panel of independent experts that looks at issues in the communications sector from the perspective of consumers and small businesses, and advises the regulator Ofcom, government and industry.