GRAPA: Decision Time

Decision time is here. GRAPA has thrown down the gauntlet and put its standards and certification program to a vote. There are only two hitches. First, you have to already be registered with GRAPA to vote. There is no way to vote ‘no’ unless you are first added to the list of members – a list which is itself used to legitimize GRAPA to the unwary. Second, no minimum threshold has been announced for the vote. No matter how few votes there are, the result will be final. That means that if only four people vote for the program, and none vote against, we can assume the program will still be ‘ratified’, even though such a ratification would be meaningless.

It is no surprise that GRAPA has once again failed to follow best practice. This time, they have done so by holding a public vote without any transparency or oversight. Even if the ballot is only taken by GRAPA members, they could have easily have improved its credibility by involving an independent body in the management or supervision of the vote. Add to that the fact that, whichever way people vote, it is inevitable that Papa Rob will keep asking the question until he gets the ‘yes’ he is looking for. With an approach like that, perhaps the EU should draft GRAPA in to help run future referendums…

That leaves only two questions for you. First, will you register with GRAPA and vote? And if so, will you vote for, or against?

Eric Priezkalns
Eric Priezkalnshttp://revenueprotect.com

Eric is the Editor of Commsrisk. Look here for more about the history of Commsrisk and the role played by Eric.

Eric is also the Chief Executive of the Risk & Assurance Group (RAG), an association of professionals working in risk management and business assurance for communications providers. RAG was founded in 2003 and Eric was appointed CEO in 2016.

Previously Eric was Director of Risk Management for Qatar Telecom and he has worked with Cable & Wireless, T‑Mobile, Sky, Worldcom and other telcos. He was lead author of Revenue Assurance: Expert Opinions for Communications Providers, published by CRC Press.

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