The European Information Industry Association develops guidelines for cross-border control of audiotex and videotex services in Europe
Under the chairmanship of David Wiseman, a working group of the European Information Industry Association (EIIA) has developed a "code of practice" for the provision of pan-European premium rate or kiosk-billed telecommunication services. In collaboration with the European Commission, detailed discussions have taken place between members of the working group, on the one hand, and, on the other, between network operators, service providers and regulators across Europe. In its present form, the code has been presented to, and discussed with, all major European PTTs, a number of whom are understood to have accepted the code for adoption to cover a series of bilateral inter-connect agreements which, it is hoped, will be the precursor of full pan European audiotex services. EIIA will now discuss the guidelines further with the responsible European Commission officials (from DG XIII) and its Legal Advisory Board (LAB) seeking Commission approval so that the guidelines can serve as a basis for developing pan-European services and so they may be incorporated into the necessary agreements, both between network operators themselves and between network operators and service providers. A meeting with the LAB is scheduled for end October 1993 and a joint meeting between the Commission, LAB, industry representatives and the network operators is scheduled for 1 December 1993. Finally, the Commission will arrange a meeting with the regulatory bodies for the beginning of 1994.