Commentary on provisions of the Act Section 3: Objective of a smart meter communication licensee administration
Subsection (1) establishes that the objective of the smart meter communication administrator in performing his duties is (1) to ensure that the functions that a smart meter communication licensee performs under its licences are provided efficiently and economically and (2) to render the continuation of the smart meter communication licensee administration unnecessary for this purpose by rescuing the company or making a transfer in accordance with subsection (2).
	Subsection (2) sets out the means by which the continuation of the smart meter communication licensee administration may be made unnecessary. These are either the rescue of the company as a going concern, or transfers which fall within subsection (3). Subsection (3) provides for the transfer of the undertaking, or part of it, as a going concern to a single company or different parts of the undertaking to multiple companies. Subsection (4) provides for how such transfers may take place.
	Subsection (5) provides that rescue is to be preferred to transfer in achieving the objective of smart meter communication licensee administration. Transfers are only to be effected when rescue is not reasonably practicable without a transfer, where the objective of the smart meter communication licensee administration cannot be achieved through rescue without a transfer or where such a transfer would produce a better result for the creditors or members of the company.
	Subsections (6)and (7) allow the Secretary of State to make regulations by statutory instrument subject to a negative resolution procedure specifying the activities carried out by the company that the smart meter communication administrator must give priority to, and how this should be done.