ure that the profiles submitted to ISO are har- all being companies, such as banks, publishers, accountants, phar- monised. maceutical companies and professional practices, although there is a special category of membership for domestic subscribers. Some the TUA's objectives are the following: 22.4.7.4 The EUCATEL and ECTUA 1. To ensure that the UK telecommunications network matches The European Conference of Associations of Telecommunication the best of that available overseas. Industries (EUCATEL) is an organisation of European national 2. To ensure that the telecommunication operators, the Office of trade associations of telecommunication equipment manufacturers. Telecommunications (OFTEL) and suppliers become more re- Its prime aim is to provide a forum for members to co-ordinate their sponsive to user needs, particularly in the areas of pricing, views on standards being developed by other standards making installation, maintenance and attachment policy. bodies. It does not produce standards of its own. To provide expert advice to members and ensure that they are The European Council of Telecommunication Users Association represented on all key strategy and regulatory committees. (ECTUA) was set up in 1986 with a similar purpose to that of the To encourage competition in the supply of telecommunications EUCATEL, but to represent users' views on standards. Its members services, nationally and overseas. are primarily national telecommunication user groups, but individ- ual companies operating within Europe, who are telecommunica- tion users, can also join as associated members. 22.5 USA standards organisations ECTUA organises round table meetings of experts, at which all members can participate. This formulates the view of the organisa- There are about six hundred organisations in the USA who are tion, which is then put to standards bodies and to governments. engaged in standardisation activities. Although this has resulted in some 90000 standards which are currently in use in the USA, only a handful have been 