The role of standards [telecommunications]

The Telecommunications Act of 1981 liberalised telecommunications by permitting the Secretary of State to license other telecommunication operators to compete with British Telecom. Mercury was licensed to provide such competition and subsequently two operators (Cellnet and Vodaphone) have been licensed to provide cellular radio systems. The 1981 Act also permitted customers to provide their own terminal apparatus, provided that it is approved to designated standards. The Department of Trade and Industry requested the British Standards Institution (BSI) to prepare the necessary standards for customers´ apparatus. At the same time, the British Approvals Board for Telecommunications (BABT) was formed, to grant approvals on the basis of type-approval tests carried out by independent test houses