A4-0141/96

Resolution on the communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on future development of the market in directories and other telecommunications information services in a competitive environment (COM(95)0431 - C4-0454/95)

The European Parliament,

- having regard to the communication from the Commission, COM(95)0431 - C4-0454/95,

- having regard to Articles 3, 34, 36, 59 and 60 of the EC Treaty relating to the free movement of goods and the freedom to provide services,

- having regard to Article 129a of the EC Treaty relating to consumer protection,

- having regard to Articles 85, 86 and 90 of the EC Treaty relating to competition, concerted agreements and the abuse of dominant position,

- having regard to European Parliament and Council Directive 95/62/EC of 13 December 1995 on the application to voice telephony of the principles of the ONP ((OJ L 321, 30.12.1995, p. 6.)) and Commission Directive 96/19/EC of 13 March 1996 amending Commission Directive 90/388/EEC regarding the implementation of full competition in telecommunications markets ((OJ L 74, 22.3.1996, p. 13.)),

- having regard to Council Resolution 94/C48/01 of 7 February 1994 ((OJ C 48, 16.2.1994, p. 1.)) and its own resolution of 6 May 1994 on the communication from the Commission accompanied by the proposal for a Council resolution on universal service principles in the telecommunications sector ((OJ C 205, 25.7.1994, p. 551.)),

- having regard to its resolutions of 30 November 1994 on the recommendation to the European Council: 'Europe and the global information society' and the communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament and to the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: 'Europe's way to the information society: an action plan' ((OJ C 363, 19.12.1994, p. 33.)) and of 7 April 1995 and 19 May 1995 on the Green Paper on the liberalization of telecommunications infrastructure and cable television networks ((OJ C 109, 1.5.1995, p. 310 and OJ C 151, 19.6.1995, p. 479.)),

- having regard to the provisions of Directive 90/387/EEC on the establishment of the internal market for telecommunications services through the implementation of open network provision ((OJ L 192, 24.7.1990, p. 1.)),

- having regard to the provisions of directives or proposals for directives relating to data protection, distance selling, the protection of computer programmes and the legal protection of data bases,

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs and Industrial Policy and the opinion of the Committee on Women's Rights (A4-0141/96),

A. whereas advertising revenue in telephone 'white pages¨, 'yellow pages¨ and electronic directories in the Union was estimated in 1992 (the last year for which statistics are available) as ECU 3.7 billion representing 7.5% of total media expenditure in the Union,

B. whereas public telephony services will be fully liberalized in the European Union on 1 January 1998, as stated in the Commission Directive of 13 March 1996, which requires in particular that Member States shall revoke any exclusive and special rights in the directory services sector;

C. whereas a debate is taking place in a number of Member States on the future regulation of the market in directories and other related markets in preparation for the creation of a competitive environment for the public telephone service and for the expansion of mobile services,

D. whereas the current treatment of directory services varies within the European Union,

E. whereas market developments involve the emergence of numerous new telecommunications services, implying the plurality of numbers or access codes to users,

F. whereas telephone information services such as directories play a key role in providing access to and encouraging the greater use of telecommunications services,

G. whereas inclusion in the domestic directory of subscribers of competing telecommunications operators in the same Member State counters the pointless issuing and distribution of directories; whereas this is a useful service for the consumer and contributes to reducing waste of paper,

H. concerned at the fact that the market in electronic directories in the European Union is still awaiting development because of technical disparities between Member States such as differences in videotext standards, and at the disparity of calling numbers for telephone enquiry services ((At present, directory information services can be reached through the following calling numbers in the member states (national information only, other numbers may be requested when needing international information): Belgium 1207 (Dutch) or 1307 (French), Denmark 118, Germany 1171, Greece 131, Spain 003, France 12 (or 3611 for minitel enquiries), Ireland 1190, Italy 12, Luxembourg 017, Netherlands068008, Austria1611, Portugal181, Finland 181, Sweden 07975, UnitedKingdom192. Unless action is taken, the introduction of competition might lead to several calling numbers in the same country for the same information, corresponding to the various services of telecommunications suppliers.)),

I. whereas measures to liberalize the market in telephone directories must take into consideration the security and privacy needs of all consumers, but particularly women, given that they are most often the target of nuisance callers and may need privacy to escape an abusive relationship,

1. Welcomes the Commission's communication which will complement and contribute to the success of the drive to introduce competition in the European telecommunications market in general;

2. Believes that full and fair access to directory information is important to the prospects of competing operators;

3. Expects that when a new entrant comes into the market, its prospective customers will be guaranteed the same ability to access directory information and to be listed in it as they have with the incumbent operator;

4. Suggests that the ability to offer this equivalence can determine whether customers elect to take services from a new provider or not;

5. Underlines that, in the emerging information society, directory information is a valuable resource in its own right;

6. Believes that competition is likely to result in the development of innovative, high quality services and lower cost, to the benefit of many categories of consumers;

7. Considers that new commercial opportunities will arise from the liberalisation of the directories market with the potential for job creation;

8. Insists that all operators who plan to profit from the market in directories and other telecommunications information services should be required to contribute to the provision of universal services;

9. Regards it as important to protect consumers and the market itself from misuse of directory information for criminal purposes or purposes which could cause annoyance;

10. Believes that, if consumers feel that their interests as regards data protection are not being met, they are likely to withdraw their details from public directories which would harm the market and make such documentation less attractive for consumers as a whole;

11. Stresses that consumers wishing to withhold their details from public directories (to be ex-directory) and consumers wishing to restrict the use of that information for commercial purposes should be able to do so without having to pay; notes that this is of particular concern to women who may wish not to indicate their sex in the directory and may have genuine security fears if their address is published with their telephone number;

12. Considers that adequate protection should be afforded to the consumer and that, in particular, in the case of incorrect entry of details through the fault of the operator, the consumer should be compensated for any loss of earnings and inconvenience caused;

13. Fears in particular for the safety of women living alone should it be possible to cross reference telephone numbers and addresses from a directory with other data bases such as the electoral register in order to identify how many individuals live at an address;

14. Believes that operators should be regulated so as to ensure that they do not misuse customer information or give it to other people who may misuse it, but is confident that proposed measures to apply harmonised data protection throughout the EU are sufficient to guard against such misuse;

15. Fears that specific controls on those who collate and access directory information could be used by Member States to restrict competition;

16. Believes that competition in the field of directory services will allow all telecommunications operators to compete on an equal basis enabling them to provide directory services amongst the 'portfolio¨ of services they offer to consumers and thus help to open up the telecommunications markets in Member States and lead to the creation of pan-European directories and directory services;

17. Believes that the telephone directories of the various telecommunications operators in a Member State should contain the telephone and other telecommunications numbers of each other's subscribers;

18. Believes that new operators and entrants into the directories market should be given access to the names, addresses and telephone numbers of telephone customers on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and that existing operators should not be able to abuse their dominant position by charging unreasonable prices for the information provided;

19. Considers that the development of pan-European directory and enquiry services either in printed form or in the form of interconnected and interoperable databases is a necessity for the single market;

20. Calls for the development of a pan-European Directory Enquiries numbering system;

21. Would like to see an extension of pioneering services such as the French Minitel Electronic Directory to the public in other Member States;

22. Considers that telephone subscribers should be entitled to have free printed copies of their local 'white pages¨ and 'yellow pages¨ and to have their details of name, address, postcode and telephone number included free of charge;

23. Believes that inclusion of information free of charge should also apply to the name of the spouse or partner living with the subscriber, if so requested by the latter;

24. Considers that directory enquiry services should be available at a nominal charge or on a 'cost-plus¨ basis;

25. Hopes that future directory and information providers will be able to supply not only telephone numbers but the numbers or access codes for all other telecommunications services such as fax, e-mail and telex numbers where appropriate;

26. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, and telecommunications regulators in the Member States.