Comms Council UK (CCUK), the trade association for telecommunications companies that provide services to business and residential customers in the UK, has announced Tracey Wright has been elected as its new chair.
Wright succeeds Eli Katz, who, after 20 years of service, has been appointed lifetime president of CCUK. Wright was selected by CCUK’s Council in light of her significant contributions to the association and industry.
In recent years, she has led CCUK’s Industry Developments Working Group and co-founded the Women in Telecoms group, which now supports 188 members.
Wright will act as chair in a voluntary capacity, leading CCUK in acting as the voice of advanced communications in the UK, alongside her role as managing director of Magrathea, a long-standing CCUK member.
She discussed how she initially became involved in CCUK. “20 years ago, the market was brand new so those of us that were in it were typically smaller businesses run by tech entrepreneurs with relatively low budgets. It was a very technical market back then.
“A community of us got together and recognised quite early on that this was going to become a big thing. It had the potential to become mainstream. But the support structure, the regulations and all the bits that keep the telecoms world moving smoothly, just weren’t there.”
Magrathea was one of the founding members of the Internet Telephony Service Providers Association (ITSPA), as CCUK was then known, with members finding they could have more impact, in evolving both the technical side of the burgeoning technology and the regulations that would support the development of the industry around it, if they worked together.
Wright reflected on what that heritage means for the organisation today. She said, “One of the real strengths of CCUK is that community feel. Everyone genuinely wants to build this industry into something that works. That what makes this special and unique.
Wright reflected on Katz’s leadership as she takes over from him as chair. She said, “Eli has always had an international outlook. He can see what’s coming and what the impact might be. For me personally, I’ve worked in this business for a long time and it’s easy to become quite inward-looking.
“So, that’s the inspiration I will take from Eli: keeping that broader outlook and seeing what’s coming down the road. If we can anticipate challenges that are coming, that benefits our members in the long run.”
Tackling fraud and scams
Looking ahead to 2025, Wright is excited about what is coming up for CCUK. This year marks the organisation’s 20th year, so it has plenty of activities planned. CCUK will continue to push for the regulatory and industry changes that are needed, with fraud and scams a big focus.
“Fraud and scams are a massive topic at the moment, and it’s getting hotter all the time,” explained Wright. “There’s a lot of pressure right from the top to deal with the problem. Nowadays we don’t see scammers making money out of phone calls, but using telephone calls as a conduit to contact people is still a massive problem.
“We’re hosting our first ever Fraud Summit in March, where we’ll have representation from government, Ofcom, and all other stakeholders involved in that. Information sharing [will be vital] as there’s lots of different organisations that deal with scams and fraud, but oftentimes they don’t talk to each other, even within our industry.
“We’re trying to look at how we can proactively help with a problem that has a negative impact on telecoms in terms of reputation and cost.”
Wright emphasised that fraud and scams are unfortunately “a problem that’s not going to go away until we do something about it”.
Relevant and productive
Other key activities will centre on preparations for Ofcom’s upcoming Fixed Telecom Market Review and furthering the work of the Women in Telecoms group.
There are plans for a mentoring programme, outreach to schools, and tackling the lack of talent coming through the pipeline. Then all of CCUK’s usual activities around awards, events and working groups will continue.
CCUK will also continue to ensure it is amplifying the voice of members. Wright said, “In my first year in the role, I am certainly going to be encouraging more member participation and engagement, because we are run by members for members. The more we can get members involved, the more relevant we can be to them, but also the more work we can do.”
The future looks bright for CCUK with a new chair in place, and Katz continuing to support the organisation in his new role as lifetime president. Wright commented, “I’m going to take this opportunity to do a refresh and remind people what they can get from the CCUK.”
CCUK will host its inaugural Fraud Summit on 5th March 2025 at One Birdcage Walk in London. The event will explore effective sharing of data and information, with telecoms providers able to attend a range of panel discussions and expert presentations.
This interview was included in our February 2025 print issue. You can read the magazine in full here.