About NICC

NICC is a technical forum for the UK communications sector that develops interoperability standards for public communications networks and services in the UK. NICC is an independent organisation owned and run by its members.

NICC relies on its members and the wider UK industry to define its work programme and to contribute the resources to develop standards. NICC itself has neither technical staff nor contracts with consultants to undertake technical work.

Board of Directors

Current composition of the Board of Directors.

Howard Benn
Howard Benn
NICC Chairman
Andy Rawnsley
Andy Rawnsley
Gamma Telecom
Trevor Linney
Trevor Linney
Openreach
Justin Orde
Justin Orde
Independent
Paul Rosbotham
Paul Rosbotham
Vodafone
Ian Hindle
Ian Hindle
Independent
Chris Croot
Chris Croot
Independent
Andy Cook
Andy Cook
Independent
Amar Dhillon
Amar Dhillon
Telent

Observer Members

Ofcom
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)
The Information Commissioners Office
National Trading Standards

Board meetings

The NICC Board last met on the 14th July 2026.

A list of scheduled meetings is as follows:

Board Date
Board 74 20 October 2026
board 75 27 January 2027
Board 76 21 April 2027
Board 77 12 July 2027

UK Government Organisations

UK Trade Associations

International Standards Organisations

Get in touch

For more information, contact the secretary: secretary@niccstandards.org.uk

Contact
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Howard Benn
Howard Benn
NICC Chairman

Prof. Howard Benn FIET, FITP

Samsung Electronics R&D Institute, United Kingdom

Howard started his career in the fixed telecommunication sector (Plessey) back in 1982, did his degree and PhD at Bradford University, moving into radio based communications in 1989. He started working in ETSI GSM standards committees in 1993, helping create 3GPP and chairing 3GPP RAN 4 from 1998 to 2007. He has been a board member of ETSI since 2008, is currently advising the ICANN board on mobile technology, and a member of a number of advisory boards for UK universities and research programs. His current role is ‘Vice President Communications Research’ for Samsung Electronics R&D Institute in the UK, managing a team of engineers covering ETSI, 3GPP, and GSMA. Recently has become a visiting Professor at Bristol University, and an honorary Professor at Queens University Belfast. He also sits on the UK5G government advisory committee looking at the future of communications technology in the UK, and an advisor to the UK government on international free trade agreements.

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Andy Rawnsley
Andy Rawnsley
Gamma Telecom

Andy has over 30 years’ experience across the telecommunications industry having worked in AT&T, Global Crossing and Gamma. Currently Andy is Gamma’s Chief Architect with technical leadership responsibility across the business including network and system architecture, design, technology standardisation and the strategic technical direction for the business.

Andy’s tenure as an NICC Director began in 2010 and was appointed Company Secretary in 2016. Andy is an Engineering Graduate of Aston University, a Chartered Engineer and a member of the Institution of Engineering & Technology.

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Trevor Linney
Trevor Linney
Openreach
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Justin Orde
Justin Orde
Independent

‘Justin Orde has served in the UK telecommunications industry since leaving the Armed Forces.  Justin is FD of NICC Standards Limited and MD of Bletchley Networks Limited, a small ISP in the NE of England.

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Paul Rosbotham
Paul Rosbotham
Vodafone

Paul Rosbotham has worked in the telecoms industry for over 30 years, specialising in Technology Regulation, Radio Spectrum and Network Interconnection. He formed part of the team that pioneered number portability in the UK in the mid-1990s, and managed the pan-industry implementation of the year 2000 number changes that saw the introduction of the 020 area code for London and 07 number range for mobile services. More recently, Paul has led initiatives to streamline network interconnection in an IP era, and now manages Vodafone’s radio spectrum strategy.

Paul acts as vice chairman of NICC TSG, which agrees interconnect arrangements for UK networks, having previously chaired this group.  He holds a Master of Engineering and Master’s in Business Administration, and is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Institution of Engineering & Technology.

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Ian Hindle
Ian Hindle
Independent

Ian has worked in the Telecommunication Industry for 40 years, initially working in cutting edge design and manufacturing, both in the UK and overseas. Ian made a conscious change and moved from design and manufacturing to network operations. He has developed architecture for both legacy TDM switching, IP networks, and the complex transformation from TDM to All-IP.   Ian is a Chartered Engineer and a member of the Institution of Engineering & Technology.

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Chris Croot
Chris Croot
Independent

Chris joined KCOM in early 2020 and is currently their Head of Architecture. He has been helping KCOM with their digital transformation, closure of legacy networks and expansion of their full fibre network from their home area where they are the incumbent out into the competitive surrounding areas. Prior to KCOM he spent 17 years at BT in various roles. These have included positions focussed on the convergence of fixed and mobile networks, programmable networks through SDN and NFV, access network architecture and technology consultancy. Before BT, he worked for a business and technology consultancy, a telecommunications equipment vendor and ran his own IT and Telecoms consultancy. Chris has been active in standards attending the Broadband Forum (BBF), IETF, ATIS & NICC. He was awarded the Broadband Forum’s Leadership Award for chairing several of the work areas. He is a Director at the NICC, Subject Matter Expert for Architecture & Requirements and chair of the Access Technology Task Group.

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Andy Cook
Andy Cook
Independent

Andy is an independent director having recently retired after a career of 39 years in the Telecommunications industry, initially working for Plessey and continuing through many changes to latterly working for Telent Communications Services Limited.  Andy was involved with design and development of the System X TDM PSTN switch and has been involved in UK standards activities since the mid 1990’s.  Andy is an Engineering Graduate of Birmingham University, a Chartered Engineer and a member of the Institution of Engineering & Technology.

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Amar Dhillon
Amar Dhillon
Telent

Amardeep worked across various companies in the defence sector before joining the Telecoms/CNI sector in 2019 as Head of Engineering Assurance at Telent Technology Services (part of M Group).

He has a Masters in Electronics & Satellite Engineering and an MBA, both from the University of Surrey where he currently sits on the MBA Advisory Board. He is also a Member and Chartered Engineer with the IET, as well as being a Member of the Institute for Systems Engineering where he is a member of the Architectures Working Group.