#TAG Steering Group — Terms of Reference

Connected Services Framework (CSF) — Governance Document — Version 1.0 (Draft)

Maintained by the Telecom Technical Architecture Group (TAG). Companion to the TAG Steering Group Guidelines for Conduct, which is incorporated by reference as Appendix A.

#Document Control

#1. Purpose

The purpose of the Telecom Technical Architecture Group (TAG) Steering Group is to develop, publish, and maintain the Connected Services Framework (CSF) — the open peer-to-peer transport standard for the UK telecommunications industry — and to contribute to other industry-related architectural activities that benefit the wider industry.

The TAG exists to do collective, neutral, technical work for the industry as a whole. Its first delivered application is the CSF and its initial use case is Switching for Business (SforB), but the group's remit is deliberately broader: any industry-architecture topic where shared technical contribution produces a better result for every participant than fragmented individual effort.

The TAG is not:

• A forum for any participant to gain access to another participant's customers (including Communications Providers (CPs) served by another Managed Access Provider (MAP)).
• A forum for any participant to share the commercial methods, sales tactics, or business-acquisition approaches they will use to win or retain business.
• A forum for any participant to gain competitive intelligence — directly, indirectly, or inadvertently — about another participant's commercial position.

These constraints are set out in detail in the Guidelines for Conduct (Appendix A) and apply to every TAG meeting, call, and correspondence.

#2. Status and reporting

The TAG Steering Group is an independent industry technical group. It recognises the role of relevant industry working groups and governance bodies — including Ofcom, OTA2, TOTSCo, FCS, NPESG, NPPCG, NICC, and any other body the steering group identifies — and will flag issues, requirements, or proposed changes to those bodies as appropriate.

The TAG does not replace any of those bodies. Where the work of the TAG produces an output relevant to another body's remit (for example, a JAM-envelope refinement that affects OTS, or an RCPID-management proposal that affects TOTSCo), the TAG packages that output for submission to the receiving body through its existing processes.

The TAG produces an outward-facing record (CSF specification documents, decisions, minutes, and meeting attendance lists) so the wider industry can see what the TAG has done, when, and why. The CSF and supporting documents are published openly under the TAG's open-source publication arrangements.

#3. Scope of work

The TAG Steering Group will:

1. Develop and maintain the CSF. Agree the architectural principles, transport conventions, message envelope use, security model, identity and naming, directory and registry conventions, sponsorship and onboarding rules, and supporting operational practices that constitute the framework. Publish the framework openly.
2. Manage the CSF change-control process. Operate the version-adoption policy, deprecation notice periods, and feature-release cadence. Maintain backwards compatibility commitments to participating MAPs (including HMAPs such as TOTSCo) so existing integrations continue to work.
3. Publish best-practice technical guidance. Produce and submit for peer review high-level best-practice documents for the framework's primary applications — initially Switching for Business (SforB), and any future industry process the TAG agrees to support.
4. Liaise with other industry bodies. Identify requirements that need submission to other industry groups (OTA2, NPESG, TOTSCo, NICC, etc.) and present those submissions to the appropriate group in a timely manner.
5. Champion industry-wide interests at the framework level. Represent the collective interests of MAPs, CPs, Systems Integrators, and the wider industry in the CSF's design. Never represent a single participant's commercial interests through the framework.
6. Stand up focus groups. Identify and, where needed, create focus groups (for example, security working group, directory and registry working group, onboarding and test working group) to work on specific elements of the framework.
7. Engage with the regulator. Where appropriate, brief Ofcom on the progress of the CSF and on any regulatory areas that require guidance from Ofcom. The TAG remains an independent technical body; it does not have, nor does it seek, regulatory authority of its own.
8. Keep the wider industry informed. Publish progress and process proposals through appropriate channels (OTA2, NPESG, NPPCG, TOTSCo, trade associations, industry bodies) so that practitioners, prospective MAPs, prospective CPs, and observers all have visibility of where the framework is going.
9. Operate a support mechanism for adoption. Establish a route for MAPs, CPs, and HMAPs to surface adoption issues, early-life operational issues, and questions about the framework. Address these through the TAG's normal working process.
10. Maintain longer-term governance. Operate a stable governance structure — including the conduct rules in Appendix A — that allows the TAG to outlive any single contributor and any single application of the framework.

#4. Chairing and attendance

#4.1 Chairing

The TAG Steering Group is co-chaired by the OTA2 representative and an industry representative drawn from the contributing organisations on a rotating basis. The co-chair pattern is intentional: it pairs an independent industry-body voice with a participant voice, so neither side is the sole owner of the chair.

#4.2 Attendance — full members

Attendees are drawn from industry representatives able to contribute expertise and carry out work relevant to the TAG's activity. Specialisms anticipated include:

• Regulatory — understanding of Ofcom's switching framework, the General Conditions, and any obligations imposed on participating CPs and MAPs.
• Operational switching — practical experience of running OTS, SforB, or similar industry message-exchange operations.
• Process design — designing repeatable cross-organisation processes that work across many MAPs and CPs.
• Technical architecture — protocol design, identity, transport, security, distributed systems, and API design.
• MAP operations — running a MAP day-to-day and the operational concerns that come with it.
• Systems integration — building and integrating MAPs and CPs into the framework.

Every attending member represents their organisation, but their contribution to TAG work is on behalf of the industry, not on behalf of their employer's commercial interests. This is the central distinction that protects the TAG's neutrality.

#4.3 Observer attendees

Invitations to attend the TAG Steering Group may be extended to additional parties as Observers — for example representatives from TOTSCo, MAPs, CPs, regulators, trade associations, or aligned industry bodies. Invitations are extended in a non-discriminatory manner, with equal access to all eligible parties.

• Observers may be invited to comment or contribute on specific discussions or reviews but are not formally part of the decision-making structure of the TAG Steering Group.
• The TAG Steering Group reserves the right to hold meetings or portions of meetings without observers, or to ask observers to leave for specific agenda items where the steering group considers it appropriate.
• Observers will only have access to documents in the public domain unless express agreement is reached for a specific contribution or review.
• Focus groups (for example, the process group) may extend invitations to observers at the focus-group lead's discretion; the same attendance conditions apply.

#4.4 Invited specialists and subject-matter experts

In addition to standing members and observers, the TAG may invite key industry representatives or specialised technical representatives from MAPs, CPs, and the wider industry to assist with specific challenges, deliverables, or responsibilities the TAG is working on at the time. These are termed Invited Specialists (or, where the contribution is principally technical, Subject-Matter Experts). The mechanism exists so the TAG can draw on the right expertise at the right moment without having to extend full membership for what is sometimes a single agenda item.

Who may be invited

Anyone whose expertise is relevant to a TAG challenge — for example:

• Senior technical staff from a MAP or a CP with deep knowledge of an area under discussion (security, identity, routing, telemetry, operational resilience, billing interfaces, regulatory mapping, and so on).
• Representatives of industry bodies, standards organisations, or aligned working groups (OTA2, NPESG, NPPCG, NICC, FCS, IETF working groups, and others) whose context informs a TAG decision.
• Representatives of TOTSCo where a specific HMAP-related question is on the agenda.
• Regulatory representatives (for example, Ofcom officials) where a regulatory question needs a direct answer.
• Independent specialists, academics, vendors, or consultants whose expertise the TAG considers relevant.

How invitations work

• Invitations are issued by the co-chairs in consultation with the steering group, either on the co-chairs' initiative or on the request of any TAG member who has identified a need.
• An invitation is topic-bounded by default: the specialist is invited for a named challenge, deliverable, focus-group cycle, or finite period. The agenda entry that requires the specialist's input records why they are present.
• Invitations are extended in a non-discriminatory manner. Where two or more parties hold the same expertise, the TAG considers fairness across the industry when choosing whom to invite, and the meeting record explains the choice.

Status and access

• Invited specialists are not standing members of the TAG Steering Group and do not carry voting or decision-making rights unless the steering group later upgrades them to member status through the membership process in §9.
• Invited specialists may be granted access to non-public TAG working materials only to the extent required for the specific challenge they have been invited to address. Where the working material concerns areas outside the scope of their invitation, access is not granted.
• The co-chairs may ask invited specialists to leave for specific agenda items where the steering group considers it appropriate.

Conduct binding

• Every invited specialist must read and accept the Guidelines for Conduct (Appendix A) before joining. Acceptance is recorded in the meeting notes. The competition-law and TAG-specific guardrails (no customer-base intelligence, no business-acquisition methods, collective benefit over individual advantage) apply to invited specialists exactly as they apply to full members.
• Where the invited specialist is from a MAP or a CP, the invitation makes clear that their TAG contribution is on behalf of the industry challenge under discussion, not on behalf of their employer's commercial interests. This is the same standard that applies to full members.

Conflict of interest

• An invited specialist must declare any conflict of interest at the start of the session, in the same terms as a full member (see §4.5). The co-chairs decide whether to proceed, restrict participation, or excuse the specialist for the affected item.

Recording and reporting

• The meeting notes record the specialist's identity, the organisation they represent, the agenda item or challenge they were invited to address, and the substantive contribution they made.
• The steering group reviews the use of invited specialists periodically to ensure the mechanism is being used proportionately and in line with these Terms of Reference.

#4.5 Conflicts of interest

Every attendee — full member, observer, or invited specialist — must declare any conflict of interest in any discussion in which they participate, and must clearly indicate which organisation they are representing in that discussion. A standing item at the top of every agenda invites declarations.

A declared conflict does not automatically prevent participation; it is recorded so that the rest of the group can weigh contributions in context, and so the co-chairs can manage the discussion appropriately.

#4.6 Conduct

All attendees — full members, observers, invited specialists, focus-group attendees, and corresponding parties — must adhere to the TAG Steering Group Guidelines for Conduct (Appendix A). The guidelines apply to every meeting, every call, every side conversation, and every piece of correspondence touching TAG work.

The conduct guidelines explicitly prohibit:

• Using TAG meetings to gain access to another MAP's CPs, customer base, or commercial relationships with those CPs.
• Sharing or soliciting the methods, processes, sales motions, or commercial tactics any MAP or CP intends to use to win, retain, or migrate business.
• Discussing, agreeing, or recommending action on competitively sensitive topics — even in jest.

These guardrails are the central condition of TAG membership. Persistent or material breach is grounds for the co-chairs to ask a member or observer to leave the group.

#5. Meeting scheduling and planning

• Meetings are scheduled on a weekly basis as default (currently Wednesdays), with ad-hoc additional meetings as required and agreed by the co-chairs. The frequency may be adjusted by agreement when the volume of work, the availability of attendees, or industry urgency justifies a different pattern.
• A standing agenda is circulated in advance of each meeting. The agenda includes any standing items, the topics for discussion, and the indicative time allowed for each. Amendments to incorporate new items are accepted before the meeting at the co-chairs' discretion.
• A copy of the Guidelines for Conduct is attached to every meeting invite and noted in every agenda, as required by §5 of the guidelines themselves.
• The opening item of every meeting is a competition-law reminder acknowledging the conduct constraints on discussion.

#6. Decision-making

The TAG operates by consensus wherever consensus is achievable. Where consensus cannot be reached on a substantive technical question, the co-chairs may:

1. Defer the decision to allow further offline work, peer review, or focus-group input.
2. Escalate the decision to a named working group or external industry body where the decision properly belongs.
3. Record a majority view along with the dissenting view in the meeting record, so the decision is explicit and the dissent is preserved.

Decisions of the steering group are recorded in the meeting notes. Where a decision changes a published artefact (for example, the CSF specification or a published best-practice document), the change-control process for that artefact is followed in addition to the meeting record.

#7. Meeting notes

Meeting notes and actions are recorded for every meeting, so a record of activity and progress is in place. The notes may be in a simple bullet-point format and must include, at minimum:

1. The date and time of the meeting or call.
2. The individuals who attended — full members, observers, and any invited specialists — and the organisation each represented. For invited specialists, the agenda item or challenge they were invited to address is also recorded.
3. The subject of the discussion (matching the agenda).
4. Any decisions adopted, including any recorded dissent.
5. Any actions raised, with named owners and target dates.
6. The competition-law reminder confirmation (a single line acknowledging that the reminder was given at the opening of the meeting).

Notes are circulated to all attendees within a working week of the meeting and are archived as part of the TAG's open governance record.

#8. Working artefacts

The TAG produces and maintains the following artefacts as part of its work. The list is indicative; further artefacts may be added by agreement.

• The CSF specification — the open peer-to-peer transport standard, published openly under the TAG's open-source arrangements.
• CSF supporting documents — onboarding and test process, TOTSCo HMAP integration guide, CP Rights Charter, definitions, and similar companion documents.
• Best-practice publications — high-level technical best-practice for the framework's primary applications (initially SforB).
• Industry submissions — papers and proposals submitted to other industry bodies on behalf of the TAG.
• Meeting record — agendas, minutes, attendance, and decisions, as set out in §7 above.

All TAG artefacts are produced collectively. No individual contributor or single organisation owns any TAG artefact for commercial purposes.

#9. Membership changes

Membership is by invitation of the co-chairs in consultation with the existing steering group. The TAG welcomes contributions from any organisation able to contribute technical expertise consistent with §3 (scope of work) and willing to operate within Appendix A (guidelines for conduct).

A member or observer may resign at any time by notifying the co-chairs. The co-chairs may ask a member or observer to leave the group where the conduct rules in Appendix A are persistently or materially breached, where a declared conflict of interest cannot be managed, or where the participant is no longer contributing.

Changes in membership are recorded in the meeting record and reflected in the participant list.

#10. Glossary

#11. Document Control

#Appendix A — Guidelines for Conduct of TAG Steering Group meetings

The conduct rules that govern every TAG meeting, call, and exchange are published as a separate companion document so they can be cited and attached individually:

TAG Steering Group — Guidelines for Conduct

Every TAG meeting invite must attach a copy of, or cite a link to, that document. Every TAG agenda must note it. Every TAG meeting must open with a verbal reminder of its central tests:

• Is what I am about to discuss strictly necessary to design or develop the CSF, or another industry architecture topic in the TAG's scope?
• Does it touch any participant's customer base, supplier relationships, pricing, plans, methods of gaining business, or any other competitively sensitive information?
• Would a competition lawyer, if present, raise an objection?

If the answer to the first question is "no", or to the second or third is "yes", the topic does not belong in a TAG meeting. Pause; consult; redirect.