What happened to division 61, telecommunication?

Division 61, telecommunication, was simplified in NACE Rev. 2.1. The distinction at group level between wired, wireless and satellite telecommunication activities was removed. Groups 61.1, 61.2 and 61.3 were merged into a single group 61.1, containing a single class 61.10. Paragraph 167 of the manual states the change. It is a restructuring, not a split, and it does not determine a code for a specific reader.

What was the old group structure?

Under NACE Rev. 2, division 61 divided telecommunication by transmission technology at group level. Group 61.1 covered wired telecommunication, group 61.2 covered wireless telecommunication, and group 61.3 covered satellite telecommunication, in the structure the manual summary presupposes when it states that the distinction was removed. The technology distinction was the organising principle of the division. A unit’s group depended on the technology its transmission facilities used, rather than on the character of the transmission service as such.

The manual does not state, in paragraph 167, that the technology distinction was unimportant. It states that the distinction at group level was removed. The removal is a statement about the level at which the distinction is recorded, not a statement that technology no longer matters for any purpose. The explanatory note for the division and the class states what the division includes, and the note for class 61.10 is the place where the current content of the division is set out. This guide does not reproduce the note, because the note must be read beside its neighbouring classes, where its exclusions point.

What is the new group and class?

Paragraph 167 states the result in full. Groups 61.1, 61.2 and 61.3 were merged into a single group 61.1, wired, wireless and satellite telecommunication activities, containing a single class 61.10, wired, wireless and satellite telecommunication activities. The group title and the class title are the same, because the group contains only that class. The division therefore has a single group and a single class, and the hierarchy from division to class carries no further branching. A code in the division is always 61.10 at class level, whatever the transmission technology, under the structure as adopted.

The explanatory note for the division states the common feature of the activities in the division: the transmission of content, without being involved in its creation or alteration. The note adds that, in the case of transmission of television signals, the division may include complete bundled and programmed channels, produced in division 60, into programme packages. That sentence is part of the note as the manual prints it, and it shows the boundary working in practice: the channels are produced in Section J, and the transmission package sits in Section K. The boundary between production and transmission is the boundary between the two new sections.

How does the merger appear in a correspondence table?

| NACE Rev. 2 group | NACE Rev. 2.1 group | NACE Rev. 2.1 class |

|---|---|---|

| 61.1 | 61.1 | 61.10 |

| 61.2 | 61.1 | 61.10 |

| 61.3 | 61.1 | 61.10 |

The table shows the merger in the form a correspondence table uses: several source categories pointing to one target category. The manual calls that pattern a many to one correspondence, in paragraph 207, where it records 25 Rev. 2 classes merged into one Rev. 2.1 class across the whole classification. The table here is an illustration of the pattern for division 61, built from paragraph 167. It does not state the class level correspondence for every old class in the division, because paragraph 167 states the change at group level. The full class level record is in the correspondence table itself, which must be consulted for a class by class reading.

What does the split not decide?

On its own, a section letter never decides a code for a specific unit, and the letter J warns of that limit more clearly than any other. In NACE Rev. 2 the letter J meant information and communication. In NACE Rev. 2.1 the same letter means publishing, broadcasting and content production and distribution activities, and the letter K carries the other half of the old section. A code must therefore always be read with its version stated. The classification is statistical only. A code settles none of the tax, licensing, social security, collective agreement or funding questions, and a unit’s entry is confirmed by the institute or register holding the record.

Where is a moved code confirmed?

From the manual to the table to the register runs the check for this subject. New structure, recorded move, and entry actually held are stated by the manual, the correspondence table, and the institute or register respectively. No step in that sequence can be skipped by quoting a section letter.

Treat division 61 as one group and one class in Rev. 2.1, read the transmission note for the boundary with Section J, and confirm the entry with the institute or register that holds it.