Dave wrote:
Putting telephone outlets in a number of rooms thoughout the house. Can I
run the telephone cabling which links these outlets right next to Mains
electric cabling? Thinking here about any rules and regs that may apply and
also possible interference.

As a Regs matter, you're not supposed to run it in the same compartment
of trunking or similar extended-close-proximity as mains cable, nor
through the same joist-holes, and so on; separation of at least 2 inches
is considered a Good Idea. Crossing at 90 degrees (or near offer) is not
a problem - the OSG opines that "where LV and telecoms circuits are
obliged to cross, additional insulation should be provided at the
crossing point", generously conceding that this is not necessary if
either cable is armoured. So if you want to be utterly compliant, you
could play with add-on sleeving, taping on a scrap of plastic conduit,
or whatever else is to hand and consistent with Good Workmanship; but
frankly, you're not protecting against anything useful by doing so in
halfway normal circumstances.

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As a matter of good sense, running mains and phone cable next to each
other for a long run is likely to cause you some interference, both
continuous hum and the odd crackle as thermostats or similar switch on
and off. Such interference won't help your modem or ADSL connection be
error-free, though it'll merely affect performance as the glitchy bits
will end up being retransmitted.

HTH - Stefek