The short-lived Telecommunications Industry Group, an organisation of industry chief executives, has been disbanded and is now part of a CEO forum within the Telecommunications Carriers Forum.
The TIG was formed in May 2009 to lobby for issues on behalf of the telecommunications industry. It was chaired by Vodafone chief executive Russell Stanners and at its formation there were 11 members, with notable exceptions being TelstraClear and 2degrees. Within a year of its formation CallPlus and Compass had left and many companies soon followed. TIG's first CEO Rob Spray resigned in October last year after 14 months in the role. He was not replaced.
In a press statement released today, Stanners says the TIG will merge into the Telecommunications Carriers Forum “to extend the reach of the group and provide a single forum for the industry”.
The chief executives of 14 members of the TCF met two weeks ago to discuss the formation of a CEO forum within the organisation. It was decided a meeting of chief executives is to take place periodically. No chair was formally appointed within the group. ICT Minister Steven Joyce attended for part of the meeting.
“It is an opportunity for CEOs to come together and discuss issues of mutual concern while being conscious to the constraints of what’s appropriate to be talked about under the Commerce Act,” TCF chief executive David Stone told Computerworld.
“The reason it comes within the TCF is there is a desire to streamline the representation of the industry into a single representative body. If there is a consensus of opinion, then those issues can be very powerfully represented to government. If there is no consensus then there is no ability to represent the TCF view.”
On its website TCF states that “in consultation with our working parties, the Telecommunications Carriers’ Forum prepares telecommunications access codes for approval by the Commerce Commission, in accordance with the Telecommunications Act 2001. We also prepare other telecommunications codes, and facilitate dialogue on industry issues of common interest.”
It also notes on the TCF website that: “Unless agreed by our Board, we do not take a representational role in any public or policy debate.”
Meanwhile, the home page of TIG website shows the chief executives of the foundation members at the time it was formed. The companies represented were in the above partial screenshot are: Orcon, FX Networks, Woosh, Vodafone, Compass, Telecom, CityLink, WorldxChange, Farmside and CallPlus.