Telecommunications Act 1984
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Telecommunications Act 1984
An Act to provide for the appointment and functions of a Director General of Telecommunications; to abolish British Telecommunications' exclusive privilege with respect to telecommunications and to make new provision with respect to the provision of telecommunication services and certain related services; to make provision, in substitution for the Telegraph Acts 1863 to 1916 and Part IV of the Post Office Act 1969 , for the matters there dealt with and related matters; to provide for the vesting of property, rights and liabilities of British Telecommunications in a company nominated by the Secretary of State and the subsequent dissolution of* British Telecommunications; to make provision with respect to the finances of that company; to amend the Wireless Telegraphy Acts 1949 to 1967 , to make further provision for facilitating enforcement of those Acts and otherwise to make provision with respect to wireless telegraphy apparatus and certain related apparatus; to give statutory authority for the payment out of money provided by Parliament of expenses incurred by the Secretary of State in providing a radio interference service; to increase the maximum number of members of British Telecommunications pending its dissolution; and for connected purposes.[12 th April 1984]Be it enactedby the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—Part IIntroductory1 The Director General of Telecommunications(1) The Secretary of State shall appoint an officer to be known as the Director General of Telecommunications (in this Act referred to as " the Director ") for the purpose of performing the functions assigned or transferred to the Director by or under this Act(2) An appointment of a person to hold office as the Director shall not be for a term exceeding five years ; but previous appointment to that office shall not affect eligibility for re-appointment.(3) The Director may at any time resign his office as the Director by notice in writing addressed to the Secretary of State ; and the Secretary of State may remove any person from that office on the ground of incapacity or misbehaviour.(4) Subject to subsections (2) and (3) above, the Director shall hold and vacate office as such in accordance with the terms of his appointment.(5) The Director may appoint such staff as he may think fit, subject to the approval of the Treasury as to numbers and as to terms and conditions of service.(6) There shall be paid out of money provided by Parliament the remuneration of, and any travelling or other allowances payable under this Act to, the Director and any staff of the Director, any sums payable under this Act to or in respect of the Director and any expenses duly incurred by the Director or by any of his staff in consequence of the provisions of this Act.(7) The provisions of Schedule 1 to this Act shall have effect with respect to the Director.2 Abolition of British Telecommunications' exclusive privilegeAs from such day as the Secretary of State may by order appoint for the purposes of Parts II to IV of this Act (in this Act referred to as " the appointed day") , the exclusive privilege of running telecommunication systems conferred on British Telecommunications by section 12 of the British Telecommunications Act 1981 (in this Act referred to as " the 1981 Act ") shall cease to exist.3 General duties of Secretary of State and Director(1) The Secretary of State and the Director shall each have a duty to exercise the functions assigned or transferred to him by or under Part II or Part III of this Act in the manner which he considers is best calculated—(a) to secure that there are provided throughout the United Kingdom, save in so far as the provision thereof is impracticable or not reasonably practicable, such telecommunication services as satisfy all reasonable demands for them including, in particular, emergency services, public call box services, directory information services, maritime services and services in rural areas; and(b) without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a) above, to secure that any person by whom any such services fall to be provided is able to finance the provision of those services.(2) Subject to subsection (1) above, the Secretary of State and the Director shall each have a duty to exercise the functions assigned or transferred to him by or under Part II or Part III of this Act in the manner which he considers is best calculated—(a) to promote the interests of consumers, purchasers and other users in the United Kingdom (including, in particular, those who are disabled or of pensionable age) in respect of the prices charged for, and the quality and variety of, telecommunication services provided and telecommunication apparatus supplied ;(b) to maintain and promote effective competition between per...See the full content of this document
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