1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 1
This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents
►B DIRECTIVE98/10/ECOFTHEEUROPEANPARLIAMENTANDOFTHECOUNCIL
of26February1998
ontheapplicationofopennetworkprovision(ONP)tovoicetelephonyandonuniversalservicefor
telecommunicationsinacompetitiveenvironment
(OJ L 101, 1.4.1998, p. 24)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
►M1Commission Decision 2001/22/EC of 22 December 2000 L 5 12 10.1.2001
▼B
DIRECTIVE98/10/ECOFTHEEUROPEANPARLIAMENTAND
OFTHECOUNCIL
of26February1998
on the application of open network provision (ONP) to voice
telephony and on universal service for telecommunications in a
competitiveenvironment
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN
UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and
in particular Article 100a thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),
Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee(2),
Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of
the Treaty(3), in the light of the joint text approved by the Conciliation
Committee on 14 January 1998,
(1)Whereas from 1 January 1998, with transition periods for certain
Member States, the provision of telecommunications services and
infrastructure in the Community will be liberalised; whereas theCouncil(
4), the European Parliament(5), the Economic and Social
Committee(6) and the Committee of the Regions have all
recognised that liberalisation goes hand in hand with parallel
action to create a harmonised regulatory framework which
secures the delivery of universal service; whereas the conceptof universal service must evolve to keep pace with advances intechnology, market developments and changes in user demand;whereas progress has been made in the Community towardsdefining the scope of universal service and laying down rules for
its costing and financing(
7); whereas the Commission has
undertaken to publish a report on the monitoring of the scope,level, quality and affordability of the universal telephone servicein the Community before 1 January 1998, and at regular intervalsthereafter;
(2)Whereas Council Directive 90/387/EEC of 28 June 1990 on theestablishment of the internal market for telecommunicationsservices through the implementation of open network provi-sion(
8), provides a general framework for the application of ONP
principles in specific areas;
(3)Whereas Article 32(1) of European Parliament and CouncilDirective 95/62/EC of 13 December 1995 on the application of1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 2
(1) OJ C 371, 9.12.1996, p. 22 and OJ C 248, 14.8.1997, p. 13.
(2) OJ C 133, 28.4.1997, p. 40.
(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 20 February 1997 (OJ C 85,
17.3.1997, p. 126), Council Common Position of 9 June 1997 (OJ C 234,
1.8.1997, p. 87) and Decision of the European Parliament of 17 September
1997 (OJC 304, 6.10.1997, p. 82). Decision of the European Parliament of 29
January 1998 and Decision of the Council of 12 February 1998.
(4) Council Resolution 94/C48 of 7 February 1994 on Universal Service
principles in the telecommunications sector (OJ C 48, 16.2.1994, p. 1) and
Council Resolution 95/C258 of 18 September 1995 on the implementation of
the future regulatory framework for telecommunications (OJ C 258,
3.10.1995, p. 1).
(5) European Parliament Resolution of 19 May 1995 on the Green Paper on the
liberalisation of telecommunications infrastructure and cable television
networks — Part II A4-0111/95; (OJ C 151, 19.6.1995, p. 27).
(6) Opinion of the Economic and Social Committee of 13 September 1995 on the
Green Paper on the liberalisation of telecommunications infrastructure and
cable television networks — Part II (OJ C 301, 13.11.1995, p. 24).
(7) Directive 97/33/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June
1997 on interconnection in telecommunications with regard to ensuring
universal service and interoperability through application of the principles of
Open Network Provision (ONP) (OJ L 199, 26.7.1997, p. 32).
(8) OJL 192, 24.7.1990, p. 1. Directive as amended by Directive 97/51/EC (OJ L
295, 29.10.1997, p. 23).
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open network provision (ONP) to voice telephony(1) calls for the
European Parliament and the Council to decide by 1 January1998, on the basis of a proposal submitted by the Commission, on
the revision of the Directive to adapt it to the requirements of
market liberalisation; whereas Directive 95/62/EC does not applyto mobile telephony services; whereas in view of the growingdemand for mobile telephony services it isappropriate that certainprovisions of this Directive should apply to mobile telephony
services; whereas this Directive does not prevent Member States,
in conformity with Community law, from extending theapplication of provisions of the Directive to mobile networksand/or services even if they are not explicitly mentioned in itsscope; whereas, in moving to a competitive market, there arecertain obligations which should apply to all organisations
providing telephone services over fixed networks and whereas
there are others which should apply only to organisationsenjoying significant market power or which have been designatedas a universal service operator in accordance with Article 5;whereas full account has been taken of the user and consumer
requirements for affordability, cost control and user facilities as
expressed in the public consultation on universal service fortelecommunications; whereas, since the modifications required toDirective 95/62/EC are substantial, it is convenient for the sake ofclarity to reformulate the said Directive; whereas this Directivedoes not affect the timescale for Member States' implementation
of Directive 95/62/EC, as set out in Annex IV;
(4)Whereas a fundamental requirement of universal service is to
provide users on request with a connection to the fixed publictelephone network at a fixed location, at an affordable price;whereas there should be no constraints on the technical means by
which the connection is provided, allowing for wire or wireless
technologies; whereas fixed public telephone network infrastruc-ture newly installed after 1 January 1998 should be of a qualitywhich supports, in addition to speech, data communications atrates suitable for access to online information services; whereasaffordable price means a price which the Member States define at
national level in the light of specific national conditions,
including town and country planning aspects, after carrying outthe consultation referred to in Article 24; whereas the Commis-sion is to prepare reports on the evolution of tariffs throughout theCommunity on the basis of the rules and criteria for ensuring
affordability published at national level and in doing so may carry
out additional consultation at the European level; whereas theaffordability of telephone service is related to the informationwhich users receive regarding telephone usage expenses as wellas the relative cost of telephone usage compared to other services;whereas, in relation to the provisions for affordable services for
users in rural or high cost areas, Member States may make
exceptions for holiday homes;
(5)Whereas tariff rebalancing is leading to a move away from non-cost oriented tariffs; whereas, until competition is effectivelyestablished, safeguards may be necessary to ensure that priceincreases in remote or rural areas are not used to compensate for
losses in revenue resulting from price decreases elsewhere;
whereas tariff rebalancing is an essential feature of a competitivemarket; whereas price caps or geographical averaging or similarschemes may be used to ensure that the necessary rebalancingdoes not unduly affect users and does not endanger the
affordability of telephone services;
(6)Whereas the importance of the fixed public telephone network
and service is such that the latter should be available to anyonereasonably requesting it; whereas, in accordance with theprinciple of subsidiarity, it is for Member States to decide onthe basis of objective criteria which organisations have the1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 3
(1) OJ L 321, 30.12.1995, p. 6.
▼B
responsibility for providing the universal service for telecommu-
nications as defined in this Directive, taking into account theability and, where appropriate, the willingness of organisations to
provide all or part of it; whereas corresponding obligations could
be included as conditions in authorisations to provide publiclyavailable telephone services; whereas, in accordance with Article5(1) of Directive 97/33/EC of the European Parliament and of theCouncil of 30 June 1997 on interconnection in telecommunica-
tions with regard to ensuring universal service and
interoperability through application of the principles of OpenNetwork Provision (ONP)(
1), Member States may establish
mechanisms for sharing the net cost of the universal serviceobligations with other organisations operating public telecommu-nications networks and/or publicly available voice telephony
services; whereas public telecommunications networks include
both public fixed networks and public mobile networks; whereasnational regulatory authorities should satisfy themselves thatthose organisations benefiting from universal service fundingprovide sufficient level of detail of the specific elements requiring
such funding in order to justify their request; whereas, in
accordance with Community law, Member States' schemes for thecosting and financing of universal service will be communicatedto the Commission for verification of compatibility with theTreaty;
(7)Whereas provision of directory services is a competitive activity;whereas Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and ofthe Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals
with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free
movement of such data regulates the processing of personaldata(
2); whereas Directive 97/66/EC of the European Parliament
and of the Council of 15 December 1997 concerning theprocessing of personal data and the protection of 2privacy in
the telecommunications sector(
3), in particular in the Integrated
Services Digital Network (ISDN) and in digital mobile networks,will give the subscriber the right to be omitted, or to have certaindata omitted, from a printed or electronic directory at his or herrequest; whereas users and consumers desire comprehensivedirectories and directory enquiry service covering all listed
telephone subscribers and their numbers (including fixed, mobile
and personal telephone numbers); whereas the situation wherebycertain telephone directories and directory services are providedin a manner which is perceived to be free of charge to the user isnot affected by this Directive;
(8)Whereas Member States shall, where appropriate, take suitablemeasures in order to guarantee access to and affordability of all
fixed public telephone services for disabled users and users with
special social needs; whereas specific measures for disabled userscould include, as appropriate, making available public texttelephones or equivalent measures for deaf or speech impairedpeople, providing services such as directory enquiry services freeof charge or equivalent measures for blind or partially sighted
people, and providing itemised bills in alternative format on
request for blind or partially sighted people;
(9)Whereas Council Decision 91/396/EEC of 29 July 1991 on theintroduction of a single European emergency call number (
3)
called for Member States to ensure that no later than 31December 1996 the number ‘112’ is introduced in publictelephone networks as the single European emergency call
number; whereas it is important that users are able to call
emergency telephone numbers and, in particular, the singleEuropean emergency call number ‘112’ free of charge from any1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 4
(1) OJ L 199, 26.7.1997, p. 32.
(2) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31.
2 OJ L 217, 6.8.1991, p. 31.
(3) OJ L 24, 30.1.1998, p. 1.
▼B
telephone, including public pay-telephones, without the use of
coins or cards;
(10)Whereas transparency of network interface specifications is aprerequisite for a competitive market in terminal equipment;whereas the national regulatory authority may consult theinterested parties and especially terminal equipment suppliersand the representatives of the users and consumers on the changes
in existing network interface specifications;
(11)Whereas Directive 97/13/EC(1) provides for a common frame-
work for general authorisations and individual licences in thefield of telecommunications services; whereas quality and price
are key factors in a competitive market and whereas national
regulatory authorities should be able to monitor achieved qualityof service for organisations with significant market power orwhich have been designated in accordance with Article 5;whereas national regulatory authorities should also be able to
monitor the achieved quality of services by other organisations
providing fixed public telephone networks and/or fixed publictelephone services where the latter have been operating for morethan 18 months and where the national regulatory authority deemsit necessary; whereas, in relation to the quality of service attainedby both types of organisations, national regulatory authorities
shall be able to take appropriate corrective measures where they
deem it necessary; whereas the Commission will report by 1January 1998, and at regular intervals thereafter, on the quality,level and scope of universal service in the European Community,as indicated in its Communication of 13 March 1996 on UniversalService for Telecommunications in the perspective of a fully
liberalised environment; whereas these powers are without
prejudice to the application of competition law by national andCommunity authorities;
(12)Whereas conditions on access to and use of fixed public telephone
networks or publicly available telephone services may be imposed
exceptionally by a Member State on the grounds of essentialrequirements; whereas national regulatory authorities should haveprocedures to address at least those situations where anorganisation providing voice telephony services which has
significant market power or has been designated in accordance
with Article 5 and has significant market power interrupts,reduces or varies the availability of services to organisationsproviding telecommunications networks and/or services; whereas,except in cases of persistent late payment or non-payment of bills,consumers should be protected from immediate disconnection
from the network on the grounds of an unpaid bill and,
particularly in the case of disputes over high bills for premiumrate services, should continue to have access to essentialtelephone services pending resolution of the dispute; whereas insome Member States such access may continue to be provided
only if the subscriber continues to pay line rental charges;
whereas the provisions of this Directive do not prevent a MemberState from taking measures justified on grounds set out in Articles36 and 56 of the Treaty, in particular on grounds of publicsecurity, public policy and public morality;
(13)Whereas tone dialling and itemised billing facilities are normallyavailable on modern telephone exchanges and can therefore beprovided inexpensively once old exchanges are modernised ornew exchanges installed; whereas tone dialling is increasinglybeing used for interaction with special services and facilities,
including value added services, and whereas lack of this facility
can prevent users from accessing certain services; whereasitemised billing and selective call barring are valuable meansfor users to control and monitor their usage of telephonenetworks; whereas Directive 97/66/EC on the processing ofpersonal data and the protection of privacy in the telecommunica-1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 5
(1) OJ L 117, 7.5.1997, p. 15.
▼B
tions sector safeguards the privacy of users with regard to
itemised billing, gives them the means to protect their right toprivacy when calling line identification is implemented and
safeguards them against nuisance which may be caused by call
forwarding; whereas ‘number portability’ is a facility wherebyend users who so request can retain their number(s) on the fixedpublic telephone network at a specific location independently ofthe organisation providing service; whereas harmonised technical
interface standards have been drawn up by the European
standardisation organisations for access to the Integrated ServicesDigital Network (ISDN) at what is known as the S/T referencepoint;
(14)Whereas price transparency should ensure that residentialsubscribers do not subsidise discounts to business customers;
whereas certain obligations concerning tariffs and cost accounting
systems will no longer be appropriate once competition isintroduced and whereas others can be relaxed by the competentnational regulatory authority as soon as competition achieves thedesired objectives; whereas in all cases the non-discrimination
requirements of the competition rules of Community law apply;
whereas the requirement for unbundling does not preventfacilities from being combined in a tariff package, provided thispractice is not used to unduly restrict the users' freedom ofchoosing their suppliers for the different services they may wishto use;
(15)Whereas issues related to the level of affordability, quality ofservice and future scope of the universal service should be thesubject of consultation at national level with all interested parties;whereas this requires that adequate information on the level,quality and affordability of universal service is available; whereasdisabled users should, wherever possible, receive a broadly
similar level of services compared to other users in terms of their
access to or use of telephone services;
(16)Whereas the Commission has to be able to monitor effectively theapplication of this Directive and whereas European users need toknow where to find published information on telephone servicesin other Member States; whereas, in accordance with Directive
97/13/EC on licensing, national regulatory authorities shall not
disclose information covered by the obligation of professionalsecrecy, except where such disclosure is essential for the purposeof fulfilling their duties;
(17)Whereas, in view of the forecast convergence of fixed and mobiletelephone services, the extent to which this Directive applies to
mobile services should be re-examined when the Directive is
reviewed; whereas the review date of 31 December 1999 willallow for a coordinated review of all the ONP Directives in thelight of experience with the liberalisation of public telecommu-nications networks and voice telephony services; whereas the
review should also examine the removal of obligations no longer
needed in a market where there is effective competition;
(18)Whereas the essential goals of ensuring universal service fortelecommunications for all European users and of harmonisingconditions for access to and use of fixed public telephonenetworks and publicly available telephone services cannot be
realised satisfactorily at Member State level;
(19)Whereas a modus vivendi was concluded on 20 December 1994
between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commis-sion concerning the implementing measures for acts adopted inaccordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of theTreaty,1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 6
▼B
HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
CHAPTER I
SCOPE,AIMANDDEFINITIONS
Article 1
ScopeandAim
1. This Directive concerns the harmonisation of conditions for open
and efficient access to and use of fixed public telephone networks andfixed public telephone services in an environment of open andcompetitive markets, in accordance with the principles of open networkprovision (ONP).
The aims are to ensure the availability throughout the Community of
good quality fixed public telephone services and to define the set ofservices to which all users, including consumers, should have access inthe context of universal service in the light of specific national
conditions, at an affordable price.
2. This Directive does not apply to public mobile telephone networks
and public mobile telephone services, with the exception of Articles 6,
9(b) and (c), 10 and 11(1).
3. This Directive replaces Directive 95/62/EC.
Article 2
Definitions
1. The definitions given in Directive 90/387/EEC shall apply, where
relevant to this Directive.
2. For the purposes of this Directive:
(a) ‘users’ means individuals, including consumers, or organisations
using or requesting publicly available telecommunications services;
(b) ‘consumer’ means any natural person who uses a publicly available
telecommunications service for purposes which are outside his orher trade, business or profession;
(c) ‘subscriber’ shall mean any natural or legal person who or which is
party to a contract with the provider of publicly available
telecommunications services for the supply of such services;
(d) ‘public pay-telephone’ means a telephone available to the general
public, for the use of which the means of payment are coins and/orcredit/debit cards and/or pre-payment cards;
(e) ‘voice telephony service’ means a service available to the public for
the commercial provision of direct transport of real-time speech via
the public switched network or networks such that any user can use
equipment connected to a network termination point at a fixedlocation to communicate with another user of equipment connectedto another termination point;
(f) ‘universal service’ means a defined minimum set of services of
specified quality which is available to all users independent of their
geographical location and, in the light of specific national
conditions, at an affordable price;
(g) ‘national regulatory authority’ means the body or bodies in each
Member State entrusted by that Member State with, inter alia , the
regulatory functions addressed in this Directive;
(h) ‘ONP Committee’ means the Committee created by Article 9(1) of
Directive 90/387/EEC;
(i) ‘organisation with significant market power’ means an organisation
authorised to provide fixed public telephone networks and/or voicetelephony services in a Member State which, for the purpose of thisDirective, has been designated by the national regulatory authorityin that Member State as having significant market power andnotified to the Commission.1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 7
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An organisation shall be presumed to have significant market power
when it has a share of 25 % or more of the relevant market in thegeographical area in a Member State within which it is authorised to
operate.
National regulatory authorities may determine that an organisation
with a market share of less than 25 % in the relevant market hassignificant market power. They may also determine that anorganisation with a market share of more than 25 % in the relevant
market does not have significant market power. In either case, the
determination shall take into account the organisation's ability toinfluence market conditions, its turnover relative to the size of themarket, its control of the means of access to end-users, its access tofinancial resources and its experience in providing products andservices in the market.
3. For the purposes of this Directive:
(a) The terms ‘fixed public telephone network’ and ‘public mobile
telephone network’ are described in Annex I of Directive 97/33/ECon Interconnection.
(b) The term ‘publicly available telephone services’ includes both fixed
public telephone services and public mobile telephone services.
Fixed public telephone services, as indicated in Annex I part I of
Directive 97/33/EC on Interconnection, may include — in additionto voice telephony service — access to emergency ‘112’ services,the provision of operator assistance, directory services, provision of
public pay phones, provision of service under special terms and/or
provision of special facilities for customers with disabilities or withspecial social needs, as set out in this Directive, but does not includevalue added services provided over the public telephone network.
CHAPTER II
PROVISIONOFADEFINEDSETOFSERVICESWHICHMAY
BEFUNDEDINTHECONTEXTOFUNIVERSALSERVICE
Article 3
Availabilityofservices
1. Member States shall ensure that the services set out in this Chapter
are made available to all users in their territory, independent ofgeographical location, and, in light of specific national conditions, at an
affordable price.
Taking into account the progressive adjustment of tariffs towards costs,
Member States shall in particular maintain the affordability of the
services set out in this Chapter for users in rural or high cost areas andfor vulnerable groups of users such as the elderly, those with disabilitiesor those with special social needs.
To this end, Member States shall remove obligations which prevent or
restrict the use of special or targeted tariff schemes for the provision ofthe services specified in this Directive and may, in accordance withCommunity law, implement price caps or geographical averaging or
other similar schemes for some or all of the specified services until such
time as competition provides effective price control.
Schemes designed to ensure affordability shall follow the principles of
transparency and non-discrimination. Member States shall publish therules and criteria for ensuring affordability at the national level, takinginto account Article 24.
2. Member States shall publish regular reports on the evolution of
tariffs which should be made available to the public. The Commissionshall publish regular reports on the evolution of tariffs throughout theCommunity.1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 8
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Article 4
Financingschemes
Where the services set out in this Chapter cannot be commercially
provided on the basis of conditions laid down by the Member State,Member States may set up universal service funding schemes for theshared financing of those services, in conformity with Community law
and, in particular, with Directive 97/33/EC on Interconnection.
National regulatory authorities shall ensure that organisations benefiting
from such a shared financing scheme make a declaration to their
national regulatory authority indicating the specific elements for whichfunding is requested, the information referred to in Article 5 of Directive97/33/EC on Interconnection being made available to interested partieson request, in accordance with Article 11(4).
Member States may impose additional requirements concerning the
provision of telecommunication services in accordance with existingCommunity law. Such additional requirements may not have an impact
on the costing of universal service provision as laid down at Community
level and may not be financed from a mandatory contribution by marketplayers.
Article 5
Provisionofnetworkconnectionsandaccesstotelephoneservices
1. Member States shall ensure that all reasonable requests for
connection to the fixed public telephone network at a fixed location
and access to fixed public telephone services are met by at least oneoperator and may, if necessary to this end, designate one or moreoperators so that the whole of their territory is covered.
2. The connection provided shall be capable of allowing users to
make and receive national and international calls, supporting speech,facsimile and/or data communications.
Article 6
Directoryservices
1. The provisions of this Article are subject to the requirements of
relevant legislation on the protection of personal data and privacy, suchas Directive 95/46/EC and Directive 97/66/EC.
2. Member States shall ensure that:
(a) subscribers have the right to have an entry in publicly available
directories and to verify and, if necessary, correct or request removalof that entry;
(b) directories of all subscribers who have not expressed opposition to
being listed, including fixed, mobile and personal numbers, are
available to users in a form approved by the national regulatory
authority, whether printed or electronic, or both, and are updated ona regular basis;
(c) at least one telephone directory enquiry service covering all listed
subscribers numbers is available to all users, including users of
public pay telephones;
3. In order to ensure provision of the services referred to in paragraph
2(b) and 2(c), Member States shall ensure that all organisations which
assign telephone numbers to subscribers meet all reasonable requests tomake available the relevant information in an agreed format on termswhich are fair, cost oriented and non-discriminatory.
4. Member States shall ensure that organisations providing the
service referred to in paragraph 2(b) and 2(c) follow the principle ofnon-discrimination in their treatment and presentation of informationprovided to them.1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 9
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Article 7
Publicpaytelephones
1. Member States shall ensure that public pay telephones are
provided to meet the reasonable needs of users in terms of both
numbers and geographical coverage.
A Member State may authorise its national regulatory authority not to
apply the requirements of this paragraph in all or part of its territory if itis satisfied that these facilities are widely available.
2. Member States shall ensure that it is possible to make emergency
calls from public pay telephones using the single European emergency
call number ‘112’ referred to in Decision 91/396/EEC and other nationalemergency numbers, all free of charge and without having to use coinsor cards.
Article 8
Specific measures for disabled users and users with special social
needs
Member States shall, where appropriate, take specific measures to
ensure equal access to and affordability of fixed public telephoneservices, including directory services for disabled users and users withspecial social needs.
CHAPTER III
SPECIFIC PROVISIONS CONCERNING ORGANISATIONS
PROVIDING FIXED AND/OR MOBILE PUBLIC TELEPHONE
NETWORKS AND/OR PUBLICLY AVAILABLE TELEPHONE
SERVICES
Article 9
Connectionofterminalequipmentanduseofthenetwork
Member States shall ensure that all users provided with a connection to
the fixed public telephone network can:
(a) connect and use terminal equipment suitable for the connection
provided, in accordance with national and Community law;
(b) access operator assistance services and directory enquiry services in
accordance with Article 6.2(c), unless the subscriber decides
otherwise;
(c) access Emergency Services at no charge, using the dialling code
‘112’ and any other dialling codes specified by national regulatory
authorities for use at a national level.
Member States shall ensure that mobile users can also access the
services mentioned in (b) and (c).
Article 10
Contracts
1. National regulatory authorities shall ensure that organisations
providing access to fixed public telephone networks and mobile publictelephone networks provide a contract. The contract shall specify the
service to be provided or shall make reference to publicly available
terms and conditions. The contract or the publicly available terms andconditions shall at least specify the supply time for initial connectionand the types of maintenance service offered, the compensation and/orrefund arrangements for subscribers which apply if the contracted
service is not met and a summary of the method of initiating procedures
for the settlement of disputes in accordance with Article 26 and shallprovide information on service quality levels offered.
2. National regulatory authorities or other competent bodies
according to national legislation shall be able on their own initiativeor upon request by an organisation representing user or consumer1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 10
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interests to require the alteration of the conditions of contracts referred
to in paragraph 1 and the conditions of any compensation and/or refundschemes used insofar as they concern the provisions of this Directive in
order to protect the rights of users and/or subscribers.
Article 11
Publicationofandaccesstoinformation
1. Member States shall ensure that all organisations providing fixed
public telephone networks and mobile public telephone networks orpublicly available telephone services publish adequate and up-to-date
information for consumers on their standard terms and conditions with
regard to access to and use of the public telephone networks and/orpublicly available telephone services. In particular, national regulatoryauthorities shall ensure that tariffs for end-users, any minimumcontractual period, if relevant, and conditions of renewal of the contractsare presented clearly and accurately.
2. National regulatory authorities shall ensure that organisations
providing fixed public telephone networks provide them with details oftechnical interface specifications for network access, as identified inAnnex II, part 1, to be made available in accordance with paragraph 4.
Changes in existing network interface specifications and information on
new network interface specifications shall be communicated to thenational regulatory authority in advance of implementation. The nationalregulatory authority may lay down a suitable period of notice.
3. Where and for as long as the provision of fixed public
telecommunications networks and voice telephony services are subjectto special or exclusive rights in a Member State, national regulatoryauthorities shall ensure that adequate and up-to-date information onaccess to and use of the fixed public telecommunications networks and
fixed public telephone services is published according to the list of
headings given in Annex II, part 2 in the manner laid down in paragraph4.
4. National regulatory authorities shall ensure that the information is
made available in an appropriate manner in order to provide easy access
to that information for interested parties. Reference to the manner inwhich this information is published shall be made in the nationalOfficial Gazette of the Member State concerned.
5. National regulatory authorities shall notify to the Commission by
no later than 30 June 1998 the manner in which the information referredto in paragraphs 2 and 3 is made available. The Commission shallregularly publish a reference to such notifications in the OfficialJournal
of the European Communities . Any changes shall be notified
immediately.
Article 12
Qualityofservice
1. Member States shall be able to set the quality of services identified
in this Directive for organisations providing fixed public telephonenetworks and/or fixed public telephone services in accordance with theprocedures set out in this Article.
In accordance with Directive 97/13/EC on Licensing, they may to this
end set performance targets in the individual licences, in particular fororganisations which have significant market power in the provision offixed public telephone networks and/or voice telephony services or
which have been designated in accordance with Article 5.
In the case of organisations which retain special or exclusive rights for
the provision of fixed public telecommunications networks and/or voicetelephony services, Member States shall ensure that targets are set and
published for the relevant parameters laid down in Annex III, in
accordance with Article 11(4).
2. National regulatory authorities shall ensure that organisations with
significant market power or which have been designated in accordance1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 11
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with Article 5 start to keep up-to-date information concerning their
performance based on the parameters, definitions and measurementmethods laid down in Annex III. National regulatory authorities shall
also be able to request that other organisations which have been
providing fixed public telephone networks and/or fixed public telephonyservices for more than 18 months do the same.
This information shall be provided to the national regulatory authority
on request.
3. Where appropriate, and taking account of, in particular, the views
of interested parties in accordance with the provisions of Article 24,national regulatory authorities shall ensure publication, in accordancewith Article 11(4), of the performance data referred to in paragraph 1and may set performance targets for organisations providing fixed publictelephone networks and/or fixed public telephone services which either
have significant market power or have been designated in accordance
with Article 5 where such targets do not exist already.
Persistent failure by an organisation to meet performance targets may
result in specific measures being taken in accordance with conditions setout in the relevant authorisation for that organisation.
4. National regulatory authorities shall have the right to call for
independent audits of the performance data in order to ensure the
accuracy and comparability of the data made available by theorganisations referred to in paragraph 2.
Article 13
Conditionsofaccessanduseandessentialrequirements
1. Without prejudice to the procedure for the resolution of national
disputes laid down in Article 26(1), national regulatory authorities shall
have procedures in order to address situations where organisations
providing fixed public telephone networks and/or fixed public telephoneservices, or at least those organisations providing voice telephonyservices which either have significant market power or have beendesignated in accordance with Article 5 and have significant market
power, take measures such as the interruption, termination, significant
variation or reduction in availability of services at least to organisationsproviding telecommunications networks and/or services.
The national regulatory authority shall ensure that these procedures
provide for a transparent decision-making process in which due respectis given to the rights of the parties. The decision shall be taken after both
parties have been given the opportunity to state their case. The decision
shall be duly substantiated and notified to the parties within one week ofits adoption.
A summary of these procedures shall be published in the manner laid
down in Article 11(4).
This provision shall not prejudice the rights of the parties concerned to
apply to the courts.
2. Member States shall ensure that, when access to or use of fixed
public telephone networks and/or the fixed public telephone services isrestricted on the basis of essential requirements, the relevant nationalprovisions identify which of the essential requirements set out in (a) to
(e) below are the basis of such restrictions.
These restrictions shall be imposed through regulatory means and shall
be published in the manner laid down in Article 11(4).
Without prejudice to action which may be taken in accordance with
Articles 3(5) and 5(3) of Directive 90/387/EEC, the following essentialrequirements shall apply to the fixed public telephone network and fixed
public telephone services in the following manner:
(a)security of network operations
Member States shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the
availability of fixed public telephone networks and of fixed public1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 12
▼B
telephone services is maintained in the event of catastrophic network
breakdown or in cases of force majeure, such as extreme weather,earthquake, flood, lightning or fire.
In the event of the circumstances referred to in the first
subparagraph, the bodies concerned shall make every endeavour tomaintain the highest level of service to meet any priorities laid downby the competent authorities.
National regulatory authorities shall ensure that any restrictions on
access to and use of the fixed public telephone network on thegrounds of the security of networks are proportionate and non-discriminatory and are based on objective criteria identified inadvance.
(b)maintenance of network integrity
Member States shall take all necessary steps to ensure that the
integrity of the fixed public telephone network is maintained.National regulatory authorities shall ensure that restrictions onaccess to and use of the fixed public telephone network on the
grounds of maintenance of network integrity, in order to protect,
inter alia, network equipment, software or stored data, are kept to theminimum necessary to provide for normal operation of the network.Such restrictions shall be non-discriminatory and based on objectivecriteria identified in advance.
(c)interoperability of services
When terminal equipment is operating in compliance with Directive
91/263/EEC(
1), no further restrictions on use shall be imposed on
the grounds of interoperability of services.
(d)protection of data
Conditions on access to and use of fixed public telephone networks
and/or fixed public telephone services based on the grounds ofprotection of data may be imposed only in accordance with relevantlegislation on the protection of personal data and privacy, such as
Directive 95/46/EC and Directive 97/66/EC.
(e)effective use of the frequency spectrum
Member States shall take all necessary steps to ensure the effective
use of the frequency spectrum and the avoidance of harmful
interference between radio-based systems which could restrict or
limit access to or use of fixed public telephone networks and fixedpublic telephone services.
3. Where and for as long as Member States maintain special or
exclusive rights for the provision of public telecommunicationsnetworks and voice telephony services, conditions imposed on userson the basis of such special or exclusive rights shall be imposed through
regulatory means under the authority of the national regulatory
authority.
Article 14
Itemisedbilling,tonediallingandselectivecallbarring
1. In order to ensure that users have access over fixed public
telephone networks as early as possible to the facilities of:
— tone dialling,
— itemised billing and selective call barring as facilities available on
request,
Member States may designate one or more operators to provide these
facilities to most telephone users before 31 December 1998 and toensure that they are generally available by 31 December 2001.1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 13
(1) OJ L 128, 23.5.1991, p. 1, as amended by Directive 93/68/EEC (OJ L 220,
30.8.1993, p. 1).
▼B
A Member State may authorise its national regulatory authority not to
apply the requirements of this paragraph in all or part of its territory if itis satisfied that these facilities are widely available.
Tone dialling and selective call barring are specified in Annex I, part 1.
2. Subject to the requirements ofrelevant legislation on the protection
of personal data and privacy, such as Directive 95/46/EC and Directive97/66/EC, itemised bills shall show a sufficient level of detail to allowverification and control of the charges incurred in using the fixed publictelephone network and/or fixed public telephone services.
A basic level of itemised billing shall be available at no extra charge to
the user. Where appropriate, additional levels of detail may be offered tosubscribers at reasonable tariffs or at no charge. National regulatoryauthorities may lay down the basic level of itemised bills.
Calls which are free of charge to the calling subscriber, including calls
to helplines, shall not be identified in the calling subscriber's itemised
bill.
Article 15
Provisionofadditionalfacilities
1. National regulatory authorities shall ensure that organisations
providing voice telephony services, which either have significant marketpower or have been designated in accordance with Article 5 and havesignificant market power, provide, subject to technical feasibility and
economic viability, the facilities listed in Annex I, part 2.
2. Subject to the requirements ofrelevant legislation on the protection
of personal data and privacy, such as Directive 95/46/EC and Directive97/66/EC, Member States shall take all necessary measures to removeany regulatory restrictions which prevent provision of the services andfacilities listed in Annex I, part 3, in compliance with the competition
rules of Community law.
3. National regulatory authorities shall ensure that dates for the
introduction of the facilities listed in Annex I, part 2 are set, taking intoaccount the state of network development, market demand and progresswith standardisation, and are published in the manner laid down inArticle 11(4).
4. Where the facility of number portability, as referred to in Article
12(5) of Directive 97/33/EC on Interconnection, is not yet in use,national regulatory authorities shall ensure that, for a reasonable periodafter a subscriber has changed supplier, either a telephone call to his oldnumber can be re-routed to his new number for a reasonable fee orcallers are given an indication of the new number, without charging the
called party for this service.
National regulatory authorities shall ensure that any fees for the above
facilities are reasonable.
Article 16
Specialnetworkaccess
1. National regulatory authorities shall ensure that organisations with
significant market power in the provision of fixed public telephonenetworks deal with reasonable requests from organisations providing
telecommunications services for access to the fixed public telephone
network at network termination points other than the commonlyprovided network termination points referred to in Annex II, part 1.This obligation may only be limited on a case-by-case basis and on thegrounds that there are technically and commercially viable alternatives
to the special access requested, and if the requested access is
inappropriate in relation to the resources available to meet the request.
2. The organisation making such a request shall be granted an
opportunity to put its case to the national regulatory authority before afinal decision is taken to restrict or deny access in response to aparticular request.1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 14
▼B
Where a request for special network access is denied, the organisation
making the request should be given a prompt and justified explanationof why the request has been refused.
3. Technical and commercial arrangements for special network
access shall be a matter for agreement between the parties involved,
subject to intervention by the national regulatory authority as laid down
in paragraphs 2, 4 and 5.
The agreement may include reimbursement to the organisation of its
costs incurred in providing the network access requested; these chargesshall fully respect the principles of cost orientation set out in Annex II toDirective 90/387/EEC.
4. National regulatory authorities may intervene on their own
initiative at any time, where justified, in order to ensure effectivecompetition and/or interoperability of services and shall do so, ifrequested by either party, in order to set conditions which are non-
discriminatory, fair and reasonable for both parties and offer the greatest
benefit to all users.
5. National regulatory authorities shall also have the right, in the
interest of all users, to ensure that the agreements include conditions
which meet the criteria set out in paragraph 4, are entered into andimplemented in an efficient and timely manner and include conditionson conformity with relevant standards, compliance with essentialrequirements and/or the maintenance of end-to-end quality.
6. Conditions set by national regulatory authorities in accordance
with paragraph 5 shall be published in the manner laid down in Article11(4).
7. National regulatory authorities shall ensure that organisations with
significant market power referred to in paragraph 1 adhere to the
principle of non-discrimination when they make use of the fixed public
telephone network and, in particular, use any form of special networkaccess, for providing publicly available telecommunications services.Such organisations shall apply similar conditions in similar circum-stances to organisations providing similar services and shall providespecial network access facilities and information to others under the
same conditions and of the same quality as they provide for their own
services or those of their subsidiaries or partners.
8. Where appropriate, the Commission shall, in consultation with the
ONP Committee, acting in accordance with the procedure laid down inArticle 29, request the European Telecommunications StandardsInstitute (ETSI) to draw up standards for new types of network access.Reference to such standards shall be published in the OfficialJournalof
theEuropeanCommunities in accordance with Article 5 of Directive 90/
387/EEC.
9. Details of agreements for special network access shall be made
available to the national regulatory authority on request. Without
prejudice to the rights and obligations referred to in Article 20(2) ofDirective 97/13/EC on Licensing, national regulatory authorities shallkeep confidential those parts of the agreements referred to in paragraph3 which deal with the commercial strategy of the parties.
Article 17
Tariffprinciples
1. Without prejudice to the specific provisions of Article 3 in relation
to affordability or to paragraph 6, national regulatory authorities shall
ensure that organisations providing voice telephony services whicheither have significant market power or have been designated inaccordance with Article 5 and have significant market power complywith the provisions of this Article.
2. Tariffs for use of the fixed public telephone network and fixed
public telephone services shall follow the basic principles of costorientation set out in Annex II to Directive 90/387/EEC.1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 15
▼B
3. Without prejudice to Article 7(3) of Directive 97/33/EC on
Interconnection, tariffs for access to and use of the fixed publictelephone network shall be independent of the type of application which
the users implement, except to the extent that they require different
services or facilities.
4. Tariffs for facilities additional to the provision of connection to the
fixed public telephone network and fixed public telephone services shall,in accordance with Community law, be sufficiently unbundled so that
the user is not required to pay for facilities which are not necessary for
the service requested.
5. Tariff changes shall be implemented only after an appropriate
public notice period, set by the national regulatory authority, has beenobserved.
6. Without prejudice to Article 3 in relation to affordability, a
Member State may authorize its national regulatory authority not toapply paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 of this Article in a specific geographicalarea where it is satisfied that there is effective competition in the fixedpublic telephone services market.
Article 18
Costaccountingprinciples
1. Member States shall ensure that, where an organisation has an
obligation for its tariffs to follow the principle of cost orientation inaccordance with Article 17, the cost accounting systems operated bysuch organisations are suitable for the implementation of Article 17 andthat compliance with such systems are verified by a competent body
which is independent of those organisations. National regulatory
authorities shall ensure that a statement concerning compliance ispublished annually.
2. National regulatory authorities shall ensure that a description of the
cost accounting systems referred to in paragraph 1, showing the main
categories under which costs are compiled and the rules used for the
allocation of costs to voice telephony services, is made available to themon request. National regulatory authorities shall submit to theCommission, on request, information on the cost accounting systemsapplied by the organisations concerned.
3. Where and as long as the provision of public telecommunications
networks and voice telephony services are subject to special or exclusive
rights in a Member State, the systems referred to in paragraph 1 shall,without prejudice to the last subparagraph of this paragraph, include thefollowing elements:
(a) the costs of the voice telephony service shall include, in particular,
the direct costs incurred by the telecommunications organisations in
setting up, operating and maintaining the voice telephony serviceand in marketing and billing the service;
(b) common costs, i.e. costs which cannot be directly assigned to either
the voice telephony service or other activities, shall be allocated asfollows:
(i) whenever possible, common cost categories shall be allocated
on the basis of direct analysis of the origin of the costs
themselves;
(ii) when direct analysis is not possible, common cost categories
shall be allocated on the basis of an indirect linkage to anothercost category or group of cost categories for which directassignment or allocation is possible; the indirect linkage shall
be based on comparable cost structures;
(iii) when neither direct nor indirect measures of cost allocation can
be found, the cost category shall be allocated on the basis of ageneral allocator computed by using the ratio of all expensesdirectly or indirectly assigned or allocated to, on the one hand,the voice telephony service and, on the other hand, otherservices.1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 16
▼B
Other cost accounting systems may be applied if they are suitable for the
implementation of Article 17 and have been approved as such by thenational regulatory authority for application by the telecommunications
organisations, subject to the Commission's being informed prior to their
application.
4. Member States shall ensure that the financial accounts of all
organisations providing fixed public telephone networks and/or voicetelephony services are drawn up, submitted to audit and published in
accordance with the provisions of national and Community legislation
applying to commercial undertakings. Detailed accounting informationshall be made available to the national regulatory authority in order toensure compliance with the provisions of this Directive, on its requestand in confidence, without prejudice to the rights and obligations ofnational regulatory authorities referred to in Article 20(2) of Directive
97/13/EC on Licensing.
Article 19
Discountsandotherspecialtariffprovisions
Member States shall ensure that, where an organisation has an obligation
for its tariffs to follow the principle of cost orientation in accordancewith Article 17, discount schemes for users, including consumers, are
fully transparent and are published and applied in accordance with the
principle of non-discrimination.
National regulatory authorities may require such discount schemes to be
modified or withdrawn.
Article 20
Specificationsfornetworkaccess,includingthesocket
1. Standards suitable for access to fixed public telephone networks
shall be published in the ONP List of Standards referred to in Article 5of Directive 90/387/EEC.
2. Where the services referred to in this Directive are supplied to
users over the ISDN network at the S/T reference point, nationalregulatory authorities shall ensure that the ISDN network termination
points comply with the relevant physical interface specifications, in
particular those for the socket, referenced in the ONP List of Standards.
Article 21
Non-paymentofbills
Member States shall authorise specified measures, which shall be
proportionate, non-discriminatory and published in the manner laid
downin Article 11(4), to cover non-payment of telephone bills for use of
the fixed public telephone network. These measures shall ensure thatdue warning of any consequent service interruption or disconnection isgiven to the subscriber beforehand.
Except in cases of fraud, persistent late payment or non-payment, these
measures shall ensure, as far as is technically feasible, that any service
interruption is confined to the service concerned. Member States may
decide that, where appropriate, complete disconnection takes place onlyafter a stated period during which calls which do not incur a charge tothat subscriber are permitted.
Article 22
Conditionsfortheterminationofofferings
1. This Article shall apply where and for as long as the provision of
public telecommunications networks and voice telephony services aresubject to special or exclusive rights in a Member State.
2. National regulatory authorities shall ensure that service offerings
of organisations with such special or exclusive rights continue for areasonable period of time and that termination of an offering, or a1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 17
▼B
change that materially alters the use that can be made of it, can be done
only after consultation with users affected and an appropriate publicnotice period set by the national regulatory authority.
3. Without prejudice to other rights of appeal provided for by
national law, Member States shall ensure that users and, where nationallaw so provides, organisations representing user and/or consumer
interests can bring before the national regulatory authority cases where
the users affected do not agree with the termination date as envisaged bythe organisation concerned.
Article 23
Variationofpublishedconditions
1. This Article shall apply where and for as long as the provision of
public telecommunications networks and voice telephony services aresubject to special or exclusive rights in a Member State.
2. Where, in response to a particular request, an organisation with
such special or exclusive rights considers it unreasonable to provide aconnection to the fixed public telephone network under its publishedtariffs and supply conditions, it must seek the agreement of the nationalregulatory authority to vary those conditions in that case.
CHAPTER IV
PROCEDURALPROVISIONS
Article 24
Consultationwithinterestedparties
Member States shall take into account, in accordance with national
procedures, the views of the representatives of organisations providingpublic telecommunications networks, of users, consumers, manufac-turers and service providers on issues related to the scope, affordabilityand quality of publicly available telephone services.
Article 25
Notificationandreporting
1. Member States shall notify to the Commission any changes in the
information which had to be published under Directive 95/62/EC. TheCommission shall publish this information in the OfficialJournalofthe
European Communities .
2. Member States shall also notify to the Commission:
— organisations with significant market power for the purposes of this
Directive,
— details of situations where organisations providing fixed public
telephone networks and/or voice telephony services no longer haveto follow the principle of cost orientation of tariffs, in accordancewith Article 17(6),
— organisations designated in accordance with Article 5, if any.
The Commission may request national regulatory authorities to provide
their reasons for classifying or not classifying organisations in either or
both of the categories referred to in the first two indents.
3. Where a Member State maintains special or exclusive rights for the
provision of public telecommunications networks and voice telephony
services, national regulatory authorities shall keep available and submitto the Commission, on request, details of individual cases brought beforethem other than those covered by Article 21, where access to or use ofthe fixed public telephone network or voice telephony service has beenrestricted or denied, including the measures taken and their justification.1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 18
▼B
Article 26
Conciliationandresolutionofnationaldisputes
Without prejudice to:
(a) any action which the Commission or any Member State may take
pursuant to the Treaty;
(b) the rights of the person invoking the procedure in points 3 and 4, of
the organisations concerned or of any other person under applicablenational law, except insofar as they enter into an agreement for the
resolution of disputes between them;
(c) Article 10(2), which allows the national regulatory authorities to
alter the conditions of subscriber contracts,
the following procedures shall be available:(1) Member States shall ensure that any party, including, for example,
users, service providers, consumers or other organisations having anunresolved dispute with an organisation providing fixed publictelephone networks and/or fixed public telephone servicesconcerning an alleged infringement of the provisions of thisDirective, shall have a right to bring cases before the national
regulatory authority or another independent body. Easily accessible
and in principle inexpensive procedures shall be available at anational level to resolve such disputes in a fair, transparent andtimely manner. These procedures shall, in particular, apply in caseswhere users are in dispute with an organisation over their telephone
bills or over the terms and conditions under which telephone service
is provided.
Organisations representing user and/or consumer interests may bring
to the attention of the national regulatory authority or anotherindependent body cases where terms and conditions under whichtelephone service is provided are deemed to be unsatisfactory for
users.
(2) A user or an organisation may, where the dispute involves
organisations in more than one Member State, invoke theconciliation procedure provided for in points 3 and 4 by means ofa written notification to the national regulatory authority and to the
Commission. Member States may also allow their national
regulatory authority to invoke the conciliation procedure.
(3) Where the national regulatory authority or the Commission finds
that there is a case for further examination, following a notificationbased on point 2, it may refer the matter to the Chairman of the ONPCommittee.
(4) In the circumstances referred to in point 3, the Chairman of the ONP
Committee shall initiate the procedure described below if he issatisfied that all reasonable steps have been taken at national level:
— the Chairman of the ONP Committee shall convene as soon as
possible a working group including at least two members of the
ONP Committee and one representative of the national
regulatory authorities concerned, and the Chairman of the ONPCommittee or another official of the Commission appointed byhim. The working group shall be chaired by the representative ofthe Commission and shall normally meet within ten days ofhaving been convened. The Chairman of the working group may
decide, on a proposal by any of the members of the working
group, to invite a maximum of two other persons as experts toadvise it,
— the working group shall give the party invoking this procedure,
the national regulatory authorities of the Member States involvedand the organisations involved the opportunity to present theiropinions in oral or written form,
— the working group shall endeavour to reach agreement between
the parties involved within three months of the date of receipt ofthe notification referred to in paragraph 2. The Chairman of theONP Committee shall inform that Committee of the results ofthe procedure so that it may express its views.1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 19
▼B
(5) The party invoking the procedure shall bear its own costs of
participating in this procedure.
Article 27
Defermentofcertainobligations
1. Deferments granted in relation to Articles 12 and 13 of Directive
95/62/EC shall remain unchanged with regard to Articles 17 and 18 ofthis Directive.
2. Deferment of the obligations under Article 15(4) may be requested
where the Member State concerned can prove that they would impose an
excessive burden on certain organisations or classes of organisation. TheMember State shall inform the Commission of the reasons for requestinga deferment, the date by which the requirements can be met, and themeasures envisaged in order to meet this deadline. The Commissionshall consider the request taking into account the particular situation in
that Member State and the need to ensure a coherent regulatory
environment at a Community level, and shall inform the Member Statewhether it deems that the particular situation in that Member Statejustifies a deferment and, if so, until which date such deferment isjustified.
Article 28
Technicaladjustment
Modifications necessary to adapt Annexes I, II and III to this Directive
to technological developments or to changes in market demand shall bedetermined in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 30.
Article 29
AdvisoryCommitteeprocedure
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the ONP Committee. The
Committee shall, in particular, consult the representatives of theorganisations providing fixed public telephone networks, publicly
available telephone services, users, consumers and manufacturers.
2. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the
Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shalldeliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the Chairman
may lay down according to the urgency of the matter, if necessary by
taking a vote.
The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in addition, each Member
State shall have the right to ask to have its position recorded in the
minutes.
The Commission shall take the utmost account of the opinion delivered
by the Committee. It shall inform the Committee of the manner in whichits opinion has been taken into account.
Article 30
RegulatoryCommitteeprocedure
1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 29, the following
procedure shall apply in respect of the matters covered by Article 28.
2. The representative of the Commission shall submit to the
Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall
deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which the Chairmanmay lay down according to the urgency of the matter. The opinion shallbe delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148(2) of the Treaty inthe case of decisions which the Council is required to adopt on aproposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives of the
Member States within the Committee shall be weighted in the manner
set out in that Article. The Chairman shall not vote.
3. The Commission shall adopt the measures envisaged if they are in
accordance with the opinion of the Committee.1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 20
▼B
If the measures envisaged are not in accordance with the opinion of the
Committee, or if no opinion is delivered, the Commission shall, withoutdelay, submit to the Council a proposal relating to the measures to be
taken. The Council shall act by a qualified majority.
If, on expiry of a period of three months from the date of referral to the
Council, the Council has not acted, the proposed measures shall beadopted by the Commission.
Article 31
Review
The Commission shall examine and report to the European Parliament
and to the Council on the functioning of this Directive, on the firstoccasion not later than 31 December 1999, taking into account the
Report on Universal Service to be published by the Commission before
1 January 1998. The review shall be based on, interalia, the information
provided by the Member States to the Commission and shall examine inparticular:
— the scope of the Directive, in particular the extent to which it is
desirable to apply the provisions of this Directive to mobiletelephony,
— the provisions in Chapter II in the light of changes in market
conditions, user demand and technological progress,
— the maintenance of the obligations imposed under Articles 17, 18
and 19 in the light of the emergence of competition.
Where necessary, further periodic reviews may be proposed in the
report.
Article 32
Transposition
1. Member States shall take the measures necessary to comply with
this Directive by 30 June 1998. They shall forthwith inform theCommission thereof.
When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a
reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on
the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making suchreference shall be laid down by the Member States.
2. Member States shall inform the Commission of the main
provisions of national law which they adopt in the field governed by
this Directive.
Article 33
RepealofDirective95/62/EC
Directive 95/62/EC is hereby repealed with effect from 30 June 1998,
without prejudice to Member States' obligations for implementation of
that Directive according to the timescales laid down in Annex IV.
References made to the repealed Directive shall be construed as being
made to this Directive.
Annex V provides a comparative table showing the relationship between
the Articles of Directive 95/62/EC and the Articles of this Directive.
Article 34
Entryintoforce
This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following that of its
publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities .1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 21
▼B
Article 35
Addressees
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 22
▼B
ANNEX I
DESCRIPTIONOFFACILITIESREFERREDTOINARTICLES14AND
15
PART 1
FacilitiesreferredtoinArticle14(1)
(a)Tone dialling or DTMF (dual-tone multifrequency operation)
i.e. the fixed public telephone network supports the use of DTMF telephones
for signalling to the exchange, using tones as defined in ETSI ETR 207, and
supports the same tones for end-to-end signalling throughout the network
both within a Member State and between Member States.
(b)Selective call barring for outgoing calls
i.e. the facility whereby the subscriber can, on request to the telephone
service provider, bar outgoing calls of defined types or to defined types of
numbers.
PART 2
ListoffacilitiesreferredtoinArticle15(1)
(a)Calling-line identification
i.e. the calling party's number is presented to the called party prior to the
call's being established.
This facility should be provided in accordance with relevant legislation on
protection of personal data and privacy, such as Directive 95/46/EC and
Directive 97/66/EC.
(b)Direct dialling-in (or facilities offering equivalent functionality)
i.e. users on a private branch exchange (PBX) or similar private system can
be called directly from the fixed public telephone network, without the
intervention of the PBX attendant.
(c)Call forwarding
i.e. incoming calls sent to another destination in the same or another Member
State (e.g. on no reply, on busy, or unconditionally).
This facility should be provided in accordance with relevant legislation on
protection of personal data and privacy, such as Directive 95/46/EC and
Directive 97/66/EC.
PART 3
ListofservicesandfacilitiesreferredtoinArticle15(2)
(a)Community-wide access to green/freephone services
These services, variously known as green numbers, freephone services, cover
dial-up services where the caller pays nothing for the call to the number
dialled.
(b)Shared cost services
These services cover dial-up services where the caller pays only part of the
cost of the call to the number dialled.
(c)Community-wide premium rate services/shared revenue services
Premium rate service is a facility whereby charges for the use of a service
accessed through a telecommunications network are combined with the
network call charges.
(d)Community-wide calling-line identification
i.e. the calling party's number is presented to the called party prior to the
call's being established.
This facility should be provided in accordance with relevant legislation on
protection of personal data and privacy, such as Directive 95/46/EC and
Directive 97/66/EC.
(e)Access to operator services in other Member States
i.e. users in one Member State can call the operator/assistance service in
another Member State.
(f)Access to directory enquiry services in other Member States
i.e. users in one Member State can call the directory enquiry service in
another Member State.1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 23
▼B
This facility should be provided in accordance with relevant legislation on
protection of personal data and privacy, such as Directive 95/46/EC and
Directive 97/66/EC.1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 24
▼B
ANNEX II
HEADINGS FOR INFORMATION TO BE PUBLISHED IN ACCOR-
DANCEWITHARTICLE11
PART 1
Information to be supplied to the national regulatory authority in accordance
with Article 11(2)
Technicalcharacteristicsofnetworkinterfaces
Technical characteristics of interfaces at commonly provided network termination
points are required, including where applicable reference to relevant national and/
or international standards or recommendations:
— for analogue and/or digitally presented networks:
(a) single line interface;
(b) multiline interface;
(c) direct dialling-in (DDI) interface;
(d) other interfaces commonly provided,
— for ISDN: (where provided)
(a) specification of basic and primary rate interfaces at the S/T reference
points, including the signalling protocol;
(b) details of bearer services able to carry voice telephony services;
(c) other interfaces commonly provided,
— and any other interfaces commonly provided.
In addition to the above information to be submitted to the national regulatory
authority on a regular basis in the manner laid down in Article 11(2), all
organisations providing fixed public telephone networks must inform their
national regulatory authority, without undue delay, of any particular network
characteristics which are found to affect the correct operation of terminal
equipment.
The national regulatory authority shall make this information available on request
to terminal equipment suppliers.
PART 2
Information to be published in accordance with Article 11(3)
Note:The national regulatory authority has a responsibility to ensure that the
information in this Annex is published, in accordance with Article 11(3). It is
for the national regulatory authority to decide which information is to be
published by the organisations providing telecommunications networks and/or
publicly available telephone services and which by the national regulatory
authority itself.
1.Name(s)andaddress(es)oforganisation(s)
i.e. names and head office addresses of organisations providing fixed public
telephone networks and/or publicly available telephone services.
2.Telephoneservicesoffered
2.1.Scope of the basic service
Description of the basic telephone services offered, indicating what is
included in the subscription charge and the periodic rental charge (e.g.
operator services, directories, directory services, selective call barring,
itemised billing, maintenance etc).
Description of optional facilities and features of the telephone service which
are tariffed separately from the basic offering, including where applicable
reference to the relevant technical standards or specifications to which they
conform.
2.2.Tariffs
covering access, all types of call charges, maintenance, and including details
of discounts applied and special and targeted tariff schemes.1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 25
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2.3.Compensation/refund policy
including specific details of any compensation/refund schemes offered.
2.4.Types of maintenance service offered
2.5.Standard contract conditions
including any minimum contractual period, if relevant.
3.Conditionsforattachmentofterminalequipment
This shall include a complete overview of requirements for terminal
equipment in line with the provisions of Directives 91/263/EEC or 93/97/
EEC(1), including, where appropriate, conditions concerning customer
premises' wiring and location of the network termination point.
4.Restrictionsonaccessanduse
This shall include any restrictions on access and use imposed in accordance
with the requirements of Article 13.1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 26
(1) OJ L 290, 24.11.1993, p. 1.
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ANNEX III
SUPPLY-TIME AND QUALITY-OF-SERVICE PARAMETERS, DEFINITIONS AND
MEASUREMENT METHODS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS OF
ARTICLE12
Parameter
(Note 1)Definition Measurement method
Supply time for initial connec-
tionETSI EG 201 769-1 ETSI EG 201 769-1
Fault rate per access line ETSI EG 201 769-1 ETSI EG 201 769-1
Fault repair time ETSI EG 201 769-1 ETSI EG 201 769-1
Unsuccessful call ratio (Note 2) ETSI EG 201 769-1 ETSI EG 201 769-1
Call set up time (Note 2) ETSI EG 201 769-1 ETSI EG 201 769-1Response times for operator
servicesETSI EG 201 769-1 ETSI EG 201 769-1
Response times for directory
enquiry servicesETSI EG 201 769-1 ETSI EG 201 769-1
Proportion of coin and card
operated public pay-telephones
in working orderETSI EG 201 769-1 ETSI EG 201 769-1
Bill correctness complaints ETSI EG 201 769-1 ETSI EG 201 769-1
Version number of ETSI EG 201 769-1 is 1.1.1 (April 2000).
Note 1
Parameters should allow for performance to be analysed at a regional level (i.e. no less than level 2 in the
nomenclature of territorial units for statistics (NUTS) established by Eurostat).
Note 2
Member States may decide not to require that up-to-date information concerning the performance for these two
parameters be kept, if evidence is available to show that performance in these two areas is satisfactory.1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 27
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ANNEX IV
TIMESCALEREFERREDTOINARTICLE33
Date by which Member States were obliged to take the necessary
measures to comply with Directive 95/62/EC 13 December 1996.1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 28
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ANNEX V
COMPARATIVETABLE
Article No in
Directive 95/62/
ECSubjectArticle No in this
Directive
1 Scope and aim 1
2 Definitions 2
Availability of telecommunications services 3Affordability 4
3 Provision of service, connection of terminal equipment and use
of the network5,9
4 Publication of and access to information 11
5 Quality of service 12
6 Conditions for the termination of offerings 227 User contracts 108 Variation of published conditions 239 Provision of additional facilities 15
10 Special network access 16
11 Interconnection —12 Tariff principles 1713 Cost accounting principles 18
14 Discounts and other special tariff provisions 19
15 Itemised billing and other facilities 1416 Directory services 617 Public pay-telephones 7
18 Telephone pre-payment cards —
19 Specific measures for disabled users 820 Specifications for network access, including the socket 2021 Numbering —
22 Conditions of access and use and essential requirements 13
23 Non-payment of bills 2124 Technical standards —25 Provisions for Community wide convergence —
Consultation 24
26 Notification and reporting 25
27 Conciliation and national dispute resolution 261998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 29
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Article No in
Directive 95/62/
ECSubjectArticle No in this
Directive
28 Deferment 27
29 Technical adjustment 28
30 Advisory Committee procedure 2931 Regulatory Committee procedure 3032 Review 3133 Implementation 32
Repeal of Directive 95/62/EC 33
34 Entry into force 3435 Addressees 35
Annex I Headings for information to be published Annex II
Annex II Supply-time and quality-of-service indicators Annex III
Annex III Description of facilities Annex I1998L0010 — EN — 10.01.2001 — 001.001 — 30