Opinion of the Advocate General — ECLI:EU:C:2004:437
Date: 2004-07-14
Language of the case: Dutch
Based on: Treaty establishing the European Economic Community (1957)
Subject matter: Telecommunications
Procedure: Reference for a preliminary ruling
Origin: Netherlands

Summary of the Judgment 1. Approximation of laws – Telecommunications sector – Application of open network provision (ONP) to voice telephony and establishment of a universal service for telecommunications – Directive 98/10 – Directory services – Obligations of a universal service provider – Supply of relevant information on subscribers – Concept of ‘relevant information’ (European Parliament and Council Directive 98/10, Art. 6(3)) 2. Approximation of laws – Telecommunications sector – Application of open network provision (ONP) to voice telephony and establishment of a universal service for telecommunications – Directive 98/10 – Directory services – Obligations of a universal service provider – Supply of relevant information on subscribers – Invoicing of costs – Limits (European Parliament and Council Directive 98/10, Art. 6(3)) 1. Article 6(3) of Directive 98/10 on the application of open network provision (ONP) to voice telephony and on universal service for telecommunications in a competitive environment must be interpreted as meaning that the words ‘relevant information’, with regard to information on subscribers that the universal service provider must supply, refer only to data relating to subscribers who have not expressly objected to being listed in a published directory and which are sufficient to enable users of a directory to identify the subscribers they are looking for. Those data include in principle the name and address, including postcode, of subscribers, together with any telephone numbers allocated to them by the entity concerned. However, it is open to the Member States to provide that other data are to be made available to users where, in light of specific national circumstances, they appear to be necessary in order to identify subscribers. (see para. 36, operative part 1) 2. The obligation on universal service providers to provide to third parties on terms which are fair, cost orientated and non-discriminatory the relevant information on subscribers laid down by Article 6(3) of Directive 98/10 on the application of open network provision (ONP) to voice telephony and on universal service for telecommunications in a competitive environment must be interpreted as meaning that, with regard to data such as the name and address of the persons and the telephone number allocated to them, only the costs of actually making those data available to third parties may be invoiced by the supplier of the universal service. Conversely, with regard to additional data which such a supplier is not bound to make available to third parties, the supplier is entitled to invoice, apart from the costs of making that provision, the additional costs which he has had to bear himself in obtaining the data provided that those third parties are treated in a non-discriminatory manner. (see para. 42, operative part 2)