2000/54/EC: Commission Decision of 22 December 1999 concerning the request by the United Kingdom for a deferment, pursuant to Article 20(2) of Directive 97/33/EC (the 'Interconnection Directive'), of the obligation to introduce carrier pre-selection (notified under document number C(1999) 5030) (Text with EEA relevance) (Only the English text is authentic)
Date: 1999-12-22
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: United Kingdom, public service, systems interconnection, technical standard, telecommunications, transmission network

25. 1. 2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 19/69

COMMISSION DECISION

of 22 December 1999

concerning the request by the United Kingdom for a deferment, pursuant to Article 20(2) of
the obligation to introduce carrier
Directive 97/33/EC (the ‘Interconnection Directive’), of

pre-selection

(notified under document number C(1999) 5030)

(Only the English text is authentic)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2000/54/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Directive 97/33/EC of the European Parlia-
ment and of the Council of 30 June 1997 on interconnection
in telecommunications with regard to ensuring universal
service and interoperability through application of the prin-
ciples of open network provision (ONP) (1), as amended by
Directive 98/61/EC (2), and in particular Article 20(2) thereof,

(3)

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Directive 97/33/EC harmonises conditions for intercon-
nection of and access to publicly available telecommuni-
cations services. National regulatory authorities must,
pursuant to Article 12(7) thereof, require public tele-
communications operators having significant market
power to enable their subscribers to pre-select providers
of publicly available telecommunications services, and to
ensure that the necessary facilities are in place by 1
January 2000. However, where justified, Member States
may, upon request, be granted a deferment of these
obligations by the Commission, pursuant
to Article
20(2), where the Member States concerned can prove
that they would impose an excessive burden on certain
organisations or classes of organisation. The Commis-
sion is required to consider requests taking into account
the particular situation in the Member States concerned
and the need to ensure a coherent regulatory environ-
ment at a Community level.

The United Kingdom requested, by letter of 30 October
1998, a one-year deferment of the deadline of 1 January
2000 for the implementation by British Telecom (BT) of
carrier pre-selection for national and international calls,
and a two-year deferment for all other call types such as
local calls and calls to mobile networks. The main
reasons for the request were the lack of preparation in
the United Kingdom for carrier pre-selection prior to
December 1997, the need to ensure network integrity
during millennium and numbering changes, the lack of

(1) OJ L 199, 26.7.1997, p. 32.
(2) OJ L 268, 3.10.1998, p. 37.

inbuilt
in BT's
carrier pre-selection functionality
switches, and the wide range of call types which will be
accessible through carrier pre-selection in the United
Kingdom.

in

carrier

pre-selection

The deferment as requested relates to the introduction of
switch-based
the United
Kingdom, covering all call types. The constraints relating
to preparation before December 1997 and to millen-
nium and numbering changes cannot be accepted as
justification for a deferment, since they were known at
the time of adoption of the amendment to the Intercon-
nection Directive. Nor can the lack of inbuilt carrier
pre-selection functionality in BT's switches be accepted,
given the choice of other methods of ensuring introduc-
tion of the service. In addition, the range of services to
be offered in the United Kingdom is that required under
the Directive, and cannot be a reason for granting the
deferment requested. Moreover, given the importance of
carrier pre-selection for competition in the telecommu-
nications market, all steps should be taken to ensure the
coordinated introduction of the service throughout the
Community. Therefore the deferment as requested is not
justified in the light of the particular situation in the
United Kingdom and the need to ensure a coherent
regulatory environment at Community level.

(4)

A deferment of three months is, however, appropriate to
allow arrangements to be put in place until the introduc-
tion of switch-based carrier pre-selection and to avoid
imposing an excessive burden on British Telecom and
other operators,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The United Kingdom may postpone until 1 April 2000 the
implementation of Article 12(7) of Directive 97/33/EC in
respect of the introduction of carrier pre-selection in British
Telecom's public telecommunications network.

L 19/70

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

25. 1. 2000

This Decision is addressed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Article 2

Done at Brussels, 22 December 1999.

For the Commission

Erkki LIIKANEN

Member of the Commission