British Telecommunications Act 1981

16 Approval of apparatus which is to be connected to a telecommunication system run by the Corporation

(1) Standards to which subscriber's apparatus of a description specified therein must conform if it is, or is to be, connected (either directly or indirectly) to a telecommunication system run by the Corporation, being a system so specified or of a description so specified, may be approved—

(a) after consultation with the Corporation, by the Secretary of State; or

(b) after such consultation as aforesaid, by a person or body appointed for the purpose by the Secretary of State;

and an approval under this subsection may specify conditions which must be complied with in relation to any apparatus or its connection or use if it is to be regarded as conforming to the standard to which the approval relates.

(2) Where, in the case of any subscriber's apparatus, a standard is not for the time being approved under subsection (1) in relation to any telecommunication system run by the Corporation, the apparatus must be approved—

(a) after consultation with the Corporation, by the Secretary of State;

(b) after such consultation as aforesaid, by a person or body appointed for the purpose by the Secretary of State; or

(c) with the consent of, or in accordance with a general authorisation given by, the Secretary of State, by the Corporation,

if it is, or is to be, connected (either directly or indirectly) to that system; and an approval under this subsection may be subject to compliance with any conditions as to the apparatus or its connection or use specified in the approval.

(3) Any power conferred by subsection (1) or (2) to issue an approval includes power, exercisable in the like manner and subject to the like conditions or limitations, to vary or withdraw any approval issued in the exercise of that power.

(4) If it appears to the Secretary of State that the Corporation is showing undue preference to, or is exercising undue discrimination against, any person or persons of any class or description as respects—

(a) the connection to any telecommunication system run by the Corporation of subscriber's apparatus which is approved for the purposes of this section; or

(b) the charges or other terms and conditions applicable to the connection to any such system of any such apparatus,

he may, after consultation with the Corporation, give it such directions as appear to him to be requisite to secure that it ceases to do so.

(5) Notice of an approval or the variation or withdrawal of an approval under subsection (1) shall be published in such manner as appears to the Secretary of State to be appropriate.

(6) For the purposes of a standard approved under subsection (1), the definition of a description of subscriber's apparatus may be framed by reference to any circumstances whatever.

(7) In this section and section 21 " subscriber's apparatus " means apparatus owned by or supplied to a person other than the Corporation; and references to subscriber's apparatus which, in relation to any telecommunication system run by the Corporation, is approved for the purposes of this section are references to such apparatus which either—

(a) conforms to a standard approved under subsection (1); or

(b) is itself approved under subsection (2),

in relation to that system.

(8) For the purposes of this Part, any apparatus a function of which is—

(a) to emit sounds or signals with a view to their being conveyed by a telecommunication system; or

(b) to receive sounds or signals which have been so conveyed,

shall be treated as connected to a telecommunication system at any time if, at that time, sounds or signals emitted by it are being conveyed by that system or, as the case may be, it is receiving sounds or signals which have been so conveyed; and references to apparatus which is to be, or is capable of being, connected to a telecommunication system shall be construed accordingly.