WRITTEN QUESTION E-1699/01

by Konstantinos Hatzidakis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(14 June 2001)

Subject: Poor quality of fixed-line telephone services in Greece

The quality of fixed-line telephone services in Greece, which are provided by the Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE), is extremely poor. For example, the waiting period for a new telephone connection is five working days, 17,4 % of connections have at least one technical problem per year and in at least 10 % of those cases, it takes two or more days to restore the line to working order. As a result of such poor quality, the level of satisfaction of Greek citizens with fixed-line telephone services in 1999 was appreciably below the EU average, according to the European Customer Satisfaction Index.

1. What were the corresponding quality indicators for fixed-line telephone services in the other Member States in 1999?

2. Does the Commission have more recent data for these particular indicators in the Member States?

3. What other indicators are used to measure the quality of fixed-line telephone services in the EU and what data is the Commission able to provide?

4. Does the Commission consider that there is a link between the poor quality of fixed-line telephone services in Greece and OTE's monopoly position?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(31 July 2001)

In relation to the first question of the Honourable Member about quality indicators for fixed-line telephone services identified in the other Member States in 1999 (except for Greece) the Commission has taken the initiative to collect and publish relevant data in its 5th and 6th Implementation Reports(1). In particular in the 6th Report, data were published concerning supply time for initial connection, fault rate per access line, fault repair time (see Annex I which is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat). The data were submitted by the National Regulatory Authorities of each Member State to the Commission and they refer to year 1999. The scope of their assessment is limited as a result of the fact that they are based on slightly different definitions.

In relation to the second question on whether the Commission has more recent data for these particular indicators in the Member States, the Commission would like to inform the Honourable Member that, as it is evident in Annex I, Member States have submitted to the Commission only limited data for the first semester of 2000.

In relation to the question on what other indicators are used to measure the quality of fixed-line telephony services in the Community and data that the Commission is able to provide, the Commission would like to refer again to the 6th Implementation Report, Annex 3. There it reports on quality indicators referring to call set up time, response time for operator services, response time for directory enquiry services, proportion of coin and card operated public pay-telephones in working order, billing accuracy (see Annex II which is sent direct to the Honourable Member and to Parliament's Secretariat).

In relation to the last question on whether the Commission considers that there is a link between the poor quality of fixed-line telephone service in Greece and OTE's monopoly position, the Commission would like to emphasise that one of the main reasons for promoting liberalisation in the telecommunications markets is that it expects that through the development of competition consumers of telecommunications services will be at the position to enjoy better quality of services. Nevertheless, it seems that substantial improvements have been seen during the past few years in the provision of fixed-line telephony services in Greece. In any case, National Regulatory Authorities are expected, when necessary, to set quality standards for voice telephony services and make sure that

operators notified as having significant market power keep up to date measurement of the performance obtained in relation to the indicators listed in the Annex III to Directive 98/10/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 26 February 1998 on the application of open network provision (ONP) to voice telephony and on universal service for telecommunications in a competitive environment(2).

(1) COM(1999) 537 final and COM(2000) 814 final.

(2) OJ L 101, 1.4.1998.