Consultants in process development and telecommunications technology, standards and regulations
Since leaving OFTEL in 1990, where he was Deputy Technical Director, John Horrocks has been consulting in telecommunications technology, standards and regulations and specialising in future Trends, VoIP, Internet and Next Generation Networks (NGN), Numbering and Number Portability, Interconnection, Quality of Service (QoS).
He frequently provided support and expertise transfer to regulators outside UK and prepared consultation documents, regulations and specifications for them. He focused on solutions that are both theoretically sound and work effectively in practice, because many regulatory approaches can fail if they do not fit the technical and operational scenarios properly.
He also ran in-house training courses in VoIP and Number Portability.
John is now mostly retired but remains available for small amounts of consulting on interesting and needed projects that do not involve foreign travel or writing long reports.
Publications on technology, standards and liberalisation
In the period 1990-1995 John wrote and published loose-leaf Guides on technology, standards and liberalisation, which were sold around the world and distributed to Governments and Regulators in Eastern European countries under the EC Phare Programme.
These Guides will be of interest to anyone who is studying how telecommunications in Europe changed during the 1990s and they are available as hyperlinked PDF files from the following links:
European Guide to Telecommunications Liberalisation (1995)
European Guide to Telecommunications Standards (1995)
European Guide to Telecommunications Technology (1995)
Each link is to a folder of hyperlinked PDF files. Copy the files to the same folder on your hard disc (separate folders for each Guide. Each folder contains a file CONTENTS.pdf from which you can access the separate chapters. When you have selected the document that you want to read, open the chapters by double clicking on the blue chapter title. Return to CONTENTS using the blue text at the start of the chapters.
In addition there is a file called by the blue text “Long Contents“. Long Contents contains all the subheadings of the main chapters and you should be able to find almost any item of information by searching Long Contents.
Access to the Guides is free of charge and parts of the Guides may be quoted provided that the source is acknowledged and that you inform John by email to john@horrocks.co.uk.
New Focus on Process Development and cloud solutions
In 2014 John developed jointly with Jeremy Rochot a “cloud based” number portability database for the regulator in Bermuda using the Fujitsu RunMyProcess platform. John and Jeremy used the “Interactive Development” method, which they are pioneering, and developed the database in record time and and with very low development and running costs. The running costs are at least a factor of 10 lower than those of the more traditional number portability databases.
Early in 2021, John and Jeremy developed their own Python software to replace the use of the Fujitsu RunMyProcess platform, and the Bermuda Number Portability system continues to run with this software.
John and Jeremy offer to undertake specialist bespoke process developments for clients using their method and Python software. You can read the Case Study on the Bermuda development HERE and you can read about the Iterative Development method HERE. These methods provide cost effective and reliable solutions for all processes involving multiple parties such as local loop unbundling and many applications outside telecommunications.
If you would like to discuss your requirements for bespoke process developments please contact John: john@horrocks.co.uk and +44 1483 474286.