Jim Holmes

Jim HolmesJim Holmes is a Director of Incyte Consulting Limited, a telecommunications policy and regulatory consulting firm which he co-founded in 2007.  The firm provides a wide range of consultancy services to international bodies, governments, regulators, operators and investors globally, including on telecommunications law, legal frameworks and related strategies.  Mr Holmes has a Master of Laws degree from Monash University (Melbourne, Australia) which included a thesis on telecommunications law.  He has been in the telecommunications industry for over 40 years with the last 30 at senior management level in public utility regulation.  He is fluent in English.

Prior to establish Incyte Consulting, Mr Holmes was Principal Consultant and later joint-head of Ovum’s Global Telecommunications Regulatory and Policy Practice from 1997 to 2007.  Between 1994 and 1997 he was Director of Corporate Strategy in the liberalising energy sector in Victoria.  From 1969 to 1994 he worked in Telstra, the Australian incumbent carrier, and its predecessor organisations where he held senior management positions.  In the later part of his career with Telstra he was Director of Legal and Policy and Company Secretary.

Since 2007 Mr Holmes’ consultancy assignments have been focussed on or have a large component of capacity building within regulatory agencies, particularly in developing economies where sector-specific and multi-sector agencies are of recent standing.

Mr Holmes has focussed his consulting work to assist regulators develop capabilities in relation to cost modelling, economic policy and general regulation, facilitating new and innovative services such as broadband, and developing corporate and national plans and activity programs.  A number of agencies are multi-sector and have required assistance across the full range of responsibilities.  Mr Holmes has been able to leverage his experience with the liberalising electricity industry in Australia for three years from 1994 to 1997 in these assignments. 

All of Mr Holmes’ projects have addressed issues and problems for clients, often relating to access and pricing disputes at wholesale level in ICT markets.

In the past three years he has:

  • Assisted the Ministry and Regulator in Samoa to develop its corporate and sectoral plans, and to improve its plan development and management capacities.  The Regulator is currently using Mr Holmes to take this work further.  The Samoan Regulator is responsible for telecommunications, postal, broadcasting, electricity and water regulation;
  • Undertaken market analysis for the regulator (CITC) in Saudi Arabia and development of a related Regulatory Framework and determinations.  A significant aspect of this work was the conduct of Training and Knowledge Transfer workshops and other forums to ensure that the capacity of CITC staff has been developed sufficiently to undertake the required new analyses after a suitable interval;
  • Undertaken market analysis for the regulator (TRA) in Oman and development of related Dominance and Competition Regulations and Guidelines.  This project also had a major focus on the provision of capacity-building through training and small team working with TRA staff;
  • Developed detailed processes and overseen the implementation of the Universal Service Scheme for the regulator (TAF) in Fiji.  An important part of the project was to ensure that TAF and Ministerial staff have the capacity to manage the remainder of the program and to effectively manage universal service provider contracts and service delivery;
  • Developed for the Ministry and regulator (ZICTA) in Zambia a National ICT Strategic Implementation Plan (NISIP) to more effectively manage the implementation of the approved National ICT Policy.  The  NISIP has been structured around SMART (specific, measurable, achievable,  relevant and time-bound) objectives to reinforce the capacity of these organisations for effective plan management;
  • Assisted the relevant Ministries and regulators in Fiji, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Lesotho, Pakistan, Cambodia and PNG to prepare national broadband policies and related strategic action plans.  In all cases capacity building was an explicit element of the project, but some national organisations such as in Bhutan, Lesotho and PNG particularly focussed on this aspect;  and
  • Provided the regulators in Vanuatu, PNG and Tonga with a comprehensive range of support to develop their respective effectiveness as regulators.  In all three cases the commitment is over an extended period in excess of 12 months to develop capacity and regulatory aids and processes that will be more manageable for the staff resources available. 

Mr Holmes has provided advice relating to the full gamut of telecommunications policy and regulatory issues, and his approach to legal issues and strategy reflects the experience of over 40 years that he has in the sector.

Jim holds a BA degree from the University of Sydney, a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) from the University of Melbourne, and a Master of Laws from Monash University.  He is a past-Chairman of the Telecommunications Society of Australia, a member of the Telecommunications Association of Australia and a member of the Editorial Board of the Australian Journal of telecommunications and the Digital Economy.