Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

1990L0388 — EN — 01.01.1996 — 002.001 — 1

**This document is meant purely as a documentation tool and the institutions do not assume any liability for its contents**

**►B** **COMMISSION DIRECTIVE**

**of 28 June 1990**

**on competition in the markets for telecommunications services**

(90/388/EEC)

(OJ L 192, 24.7.1990, p. 10)

Amended by:

Official Journal

No page date

**►M1** Commission Directive 94/46/EC of 13 October 1994 L 268 15 19.10.1994

**►M2** Commission Directive 95/51/EC of 18 October 1995 L 256 49 26.10.1995

Corrected by:

**►C1** Corrigendum, OJ L 308, 29.11.1996, p. 59 (95/51/EC)

1990L0388 — EN — 01.01.1996 — 002.001 — 2

- **B**

**COMMISSION DIRECTIVE**

**of 28 June 1990**

**on competition in the markets for telecommunications services**

(90/388/EEC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Article 90 (3) thereof,

Whereas:

(1) The improvement of telecommunications in the Community is
an essential condition for the harmonious development of economic activities and a competitive market in the Community,
from the point of view of both service providers and users. The
Commission has therefore adopted a programme, set out in its
Green Paper on the development of the common market for telecommunications services and equipment and in its communication on the implementation of the Green Paper by 1992, for
progressively introducing competition into the telecommunications market. The programme does not concern mobile telephony and paging services, and mass communication services
such as radio for television. The Council, in its resolution of 30
June 1988 ( [1] ), expressed broad support for the objectives of this
programme, and in particular the progressive creation of an
open Community market for telecommunications services. The
last decades have seen considerable technological advances in
the telecommunications sector. These allow an increasingly varied range of services to be provided, notably data transmission
services, and also make it technically and economically possible
for competition to take place between different service providers.

(2) In all the Member States the provision and operation of telecommunications networks and the provision of related services
are generally vested in one or more telecommunications organizations holding exclusive or special rights. Such rights are characterized by the discretionary powers which the State exercises,
in various degrees with regard to access to the market for telecommunications services.

(3) The organizations entrusted with the provision and operation of
the telecommunications network are undertakings within the
meaning of Article 90 (1) of the Treaty because they carry on
an organized business activity, namely the provision of telecommunications services. They are either public untertakings or private enterprises to which the State has granted exclusive or special rights.

(4) Several Member States, while ensuring the performance of public service tasks, have already revised the system of exclusive
or special rights that used to exist in the telecommunications
sector in their country. In all cases, the system of exclusive or
special rights has been maintained in respect of the provision
and operation of the network. In some Member States, it has
been maintained for all telecommunications services, while in
others such rights cover only certain services. All Member
States have either themselves imposed or allowed their telecommunications administrations to impose restrictions on the free
provision of telecommunications services.

(5) The granting of special or exclusive rights to one or more
undertakings to operate the network derives from the discretionary power of the State. The granting by a Member State of
such rights inevitably restricts the provision of such services by
other undertakings to or from other Member States.

( [1] ) OJ No C 257, 4. 10. 1988, p. 1.

1990L0388 — EN — 01.01.1996 — 002.001 — 3

- **B**

(6) In practice, restrictions on the provision of telecommunications
services within the meaning of Article 59 to or from other
Member States consist mainly in the prohibition on connecting
leased lines by means of concentrators, multiplexers and other
equipment to the switched telephone network, in imposing
access charges for the connection that are out of proportion to
the service provided, in prohibiting the routing of signals to or
from third parties by means of leased lines or applying volume
sensitive tariffs without economic justification or refusing to
give service providers access to the network. The effect of the
usage restrictions and the excessive charges in relation to net
cost is to hinder the provision to or from other Member States
of such telecommunications services as:

— services designed to improve telecommunications functions,
e.g. conversion of the protocol, code, format or speed,

— information services providing access to data bases,

— remote data-processing services,

— message storing and forwarding services, e.g. electronic
mail,

— transaction services, e.g. financial transactions, electronic
commercial data transfer, teleshopping and telereservations,

— teleaction services, e.g. telemetry and remote monitoring.

(7) Articles 55, 56 and 66 of the Treaty allow exceptions on noneconomic grounds to the freedom to provide services. The
restrictions permitted are those connected, even occasionally,
with the exercise of official authority, and those connected with
public policy, public security or public health. Since these are
exceptions, they must be interpreted restrictively. None of the
telecommunications services is connected with the exercise of
official authority involving the right to use undue powers compared with the ordinary law, privileges of public power or a
power of coercion over the public. The supply of telecommunication services cannot in itself threaten public policy and cannot
affect public health.

(8) The Court of Justice caselaw also recognizes restrictions on the
freedom to provide services if they fulfil essential requirements
in the general interest and are applied without discrimination
and in proportion to the objective. Consumer protection does
not make it necessary to restrict freedom to provide telecommunications services since this objective can also be attained
through free competition. Nor can the protection of intellectual
property be invoked in this connection. The only essential
requirements derogating from Article 59 which could justify
restrictions on the use of the public network are the maintenance of the integrity of the network, security of network operations and in justified cases, interoperability and data protection.
The restrictions imposed, however, must be adapted to the
objectives pursued by these legitimate requirements. Member
States will have to make such restrictions known to the public
and notify them to the Commission to enable it to assess their
proportionality.

(9) In this context, the security of network operations means ensuring the availability of the public network in case of emergency.
The technical integrity of the public network means ensuring its
normal operation and the interconnection of public networks in
the Community on the basis of common technical specifications. The concept of interoperability of services means complying with such technical specifications introduced to increase the
provision of services and the choice available to users. Data
protection means measures taken to warrant the confidentiality
of communications and the protection of personal data.

(10) Apart from the essential requirements which can be included as
conditions in the licensing or declaration procedures, Member
States can include conditions regarding public-service requirements which constitute objective, non-discriminatory and trans

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- **B**

parent trade regulations regarding the conditions of permanence,
availability and quality of the service.

(11) When a Member State has entrusted a telecommunications organization with the task of providing packet or circuit switched
data services for the public in general and when this service
may be obstructed because of competition by private providers,
the Commission can allow the Member State to impose additional conditions for the provision of such a service, with
respect also to geographical coverage. In assessing these measures, the Commission in the context of the achievement of the
fundamental objectives of the Treaty referred to in Article 2
thereof, including that of strengthening the Community's economic and social cohesion as referred to in Article 130a, will
also take into account the situation of those Member States in
which the network for the provision of the packet or circuit
switched services is not yet sufficiently developed and which
could justify the deferment for these Member States until 1 January 1996 of the date for prohibition on the simple resale of
leased line capacity.

(12) Article 59 of the Treaty requires the abolition of any other
restriction on the freedom of nationals of Member States who
are established in a Community country to provide services to
persons in other Member States. The maintenance or introduction of any exclusive or special right which does not correspond
to the abovementioned criteria is therefore a breach of Article
90 in conjunction with Article 59.

(13) Article 86 of the Treaty prohibits as incompatible with the common market any conduct by one or more undertakings that
involves an abuse of a dominant position within the common
market or a substantial part of it. Telecommunications organizations are also undertakings for the purposes of this Article
because they carry out economic activities, in particular the service they provide by making telecommunications networks and
services available to users. This provision of the network constitutes a separate services market as it is not interchangeable with
other services. On each national market the competitive environment in which the network and the telecommunications services are provided is homogeneous enough for the Commission
to be able to evaluate the power held by the organizations providing the services on these territories. The territories of the
Member States constitute distinct geographical markets. This is
essentially due to the existing difference between the rules governing conditions of access and technical operation, relating to
the provision of the network and of such services. Furthermore,
each Member State market forms a substantial part of the common market.

(14) In each national market the telecommunications organizations
hold individually or collectively a dominant position for the
creation and the exploitation of the network because they are
the only ones with networks in each Member State covering the
whole territory of those States and because their governments
granted them the exclusive right to provide this network either
alone or in conjunction with other organizations.

(15) Where a State grants special or exclusive rights to provide telecommunications services to organizations which already have a
dominant position in creating and operating the network, the
effect of such rights is to strengthen the dominant position by
extending it to services.

(16) Moreover, the special or exclusive rights granted to telecommunications organizations by the State to provide certain telecommunications services mean such organizations:

(a) prevent or restrict access to the market for these telecommunications services by their competitors, thus limiting consumer choice, which is liable to restrict technological progress to the detriment of consumers;

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- **B**

(b) compel network users to use the services subject to exclusive rights, and thus make the conclusion of network utilization contracts dependent on acceptance of supplementary
services having no connection with the subject of such contracts.

Each of these types of conduct represents a specific abuse of a
dominant position which is likely to have an appreciable effect
on trade between Member States, as all the services in question
could in principle be supplied by providers from other Member
States. The structure of competition within the common market
is substantially changed by them. At all events, the special or
exclusive rights for these services give rise to a situation which
is contrary to the objective in Article 3 (f) of the Treaty, which
provides for the institution of a system ensuring that competition in the common market is not distorted, and requires _a for-_
_tiori_ that competition must not be eliminated. Member States
have an obligation under Article 5 of the Treaty to abstain from
any measure which could jeopardize the attainment of the
objectives of the Treaty, including that of Article 3 (f).

17) The exclusive rights to telecommunications services granted to
public undertakings or undertakings to which Member States
have granted special or exclusive rights for the provision of the
network are incompatible with Article 90 (1) in conjunction
with Article 86.

(18) Article 90 (2) of the Treaty allows derogation from the application of Articles 59 and 86 of the Treaty where such application
would obstruct the performance, in law or in fact, of the particular task assigned to the telecommunications organizations.
This task consists in the provision and exploitation of a universal network, i.e. one having general geographical coverage, and
being provided to any service provider or user upon request
within a reasonable period of time. The financial resources for
the development of the network still derive mainly from the
operation of the telephone service. Consequently, the openingup of voice telephony to competition could threaten the financial stability of the telecommunications organizations. The voice
telephony service, whether provided from the present telephone
network or forming part of the ISDN service, is currently also
the most important means of notifying and calling up emergency services in charge of public safety.

(19) The provision of leased lines forms an essential part of the telecommunications organizations' tasks. There is at present, in
almost all Member States, a substantial difference between
charges for use of the data transmission service on the switched
network and for use of leased lines. Balancing those tariffs
without delay could jeopardize this task. Equilibrium in such
charges must be achieved gradually between now and 31
December 1992. In the meantime it must be possible to require
private operators not to offer to the public a service consisting
merely of the resale of leased line capacity, i.e. including only
such processing, switching of data, storing, or protocol conversion as is necessary for transmission in real time. The Member
States may therefore establish a declaration system through
which private operators would undertake not to engage in simple resale. However, no other requirement may be imposed on
such operators to ensure compliance with this measure.

(20) These restrictions do not affect the development of trade to
such an extent as would be contrary to the interests of the Community. Under these circumstances, these restrictions are compatible with Article 90 (2) of the Treaty. This may also be the
case as regards the measures adopted by Member States to
ensure that the activities of private service providers do not
obstruct the public switched-data service.

(21) The rules of the Treaty, including those on competition, apply
to telex services; however, the use of this service is gradually
declining throughout the Community owing to the emergence of

1990L0388 — EN — 01.01.1996 — 002.001 — 6

- **B**

competing means of telecommunication such as telefax. The
abolition of current restrictions on the use of the switched telephone network and leased lines will allow telex messages to be
retransmitted. In view of this particular trend, an individual
approach is necessary. Consequently, this Directive should not
apply to telex services.

(22) The Commission will in any event reconsider in the course of
1992 the remaining special or exclusive rights on the provision
of services taking account of technological development and the
evolution towards a digital infrastructure.

(23) Member States may draw up fair procedures for ensuring compliance with the essential requirements without prejudice to the
harmonization of the latter at Community level within the framework of the Council Directives on open network provision
(ONP). As regards data-switching, Member States must be able,
as part of such procedures, to require compliance with trade
regulations from the standpoint of conditions of permanence,
availability and quality of the service, and to include measures
to safeguard the task of general economic interest which they
have entrusted to a telecommunications organization. The procedures must be based on specific objective criteria and be
applied without discrimination. The criteria should in particular
be justified and proportional to the general interest objective,
and be duly motivated and published. The Commission must be
able to examine them in depth in the light of the rules on free
competition and freedom to provide services. In any event,
Member States that have not notified the Commission of their
planned licensing criteria and procedures within a given time
may no longer impose any restrictions on the freedom to provide data transmission services to the public.

(24) Member States should be given more time to draw up general
rules on the conditions governing the provision of packet- or
circuit-switched data services for the public.

(25) Telecommunications services should not be subject to any
restriction, either as regards free access by users to the services,
or as regards the processing of data which may be carried out
before messages are transmitted through the network or after
messages have been received, except where this is warranted by
an essential requirement in proportion to the objective pursued.

(26) The digitization of the network and the technological improvement of the terminal equipment connected to it have brought
about an increase in the number of functions previously carried
out within the network and which can now be carried out by
users themselves with increasingly sophisticated terminal equipment. It is necessary to ensure that suppliers of telecommunication services, and notably suppliers of telephone and packet or
circuit-switched data transmission services enable operators to
use these functions.

(27) Pending the establishing of Community standards with a view
to an open network provision (ONP), the technical interfaces
currently in use in the Member States should be made publicly
available so that firms wishing to enter the markets for the services in question can take the necessary steps to adapt their services to the technical characteristics of the networks. If the
Member States have not yet established such technical interfaces, they should do so as quickly as possible. All such draft
measures should be communicated to the Commission in accordance with Council Directive 83/189/EEC ( [1] ), as last amended
by Directive 88/182/EEC ( [2] ).

(28) Under national legislation, telecommunications organizations are
generally given the function of regulating telecommunications

( [1] ) OJ No L 109, 26. 4. 1983, p. 8.
( [2] ) OJ No L 81, 26. 3. 1988, p. 75.

1990L0388 — EN — 01.01.1996 — 002.001 — 7

- **B**

services, particularly as regards licensing, control of typeapproval and mandatory interface specifications, frequency allocation and monitoring of conditions of use. In some cases, the
legislation lays down only general principles governing the
operation of the licensed services and leaves it to the telecommunications organizations to determine the specific operating
conditions.

(29) This dual regulatory and commercial function of the telecommunications organizations has a direct impact on firms offering
telecommunications services in competition with the organizations in question. By this bundling of activities, the organizations determine or, at the very least, substantially influence the
supply of services offered by their competitors. The delegation
to an undertaking which has a dominant position for the provision and exploitation of the network, of the power to regulate
access to the market for telecommunication services constitutes
a strengthening of that dominant position. Because of the conflict of interests, this is likely to restrict competitors' access to
the markets in telecommunications services and to limit users'
freedom of choice. Such arrangements may also limit the outlets for equipment for handling telecommunications messages
and, consequently, technological progress in that field. This
combination of activities therefore constitutes an abuse of the
dominant position of telecommunications organizations within
the meaning of Article 86. If it is the result of a State measure,
the measure is also incompatible with Article 90 (1) in conjunction with Article 86.

(30) To enable the Commission to carry out effectively the monitoring task assigned to it by Article 90 (3), it must have available
certain essential information. That information must in particular give the Commission a clear view of the measures of Member States, so that it can ensure that access to the network and
the various related services are provided by each telecommunications organization to all its customers on non-discriminatory
tariff and other terms. Such information should cover:

— measures taken to withdraw exclusive rights pursuant to this
Directive,

— the conditions on which licences to provide telecommunications services are granted.

The Commission must have such information to enable it to
check, in particular, that all the users of the network and services, including telecommunications organizations where they
are providers of services, are treated equally and fairly.

(31) The holders of special or exclusive rights to provide telecommunications services that will in future be open to competition
have been able in the past to impose long-term contracts on
their customers. Such contracts would in practice limit the ability of any new competitors to offer their services to such customers and of such customers to benefit from such services. Users
must therefore be given the right to terminate their contracts
within a reasonable length of time.

(32) Each Member State at present regulates the supply of telecommunications services according to its own concepts. Even the
definition of certain services differs from one Member State to
another. Such differences cause distortions of competition likely
to make the provision of cross-frontier telecommunications services more difficult for economic operators. This is why the
Council, in its resolution of 30 June 1988, considered that one
of the objectives of a telecommunications policy was the creation of an open Community market for telecommunications services, in particular through the rapid definition, in the form of
Council Directives, of technical conditions, conditions of use
and principles governing charges for an open network provision
(ONP). The Commission has presented a proposal to this end to
the Council. Harmonization of the conditions of access is not
however the most appropriate means of removing the barriers to

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- **B**

trade resulting from infringements of the Treaty. The Commission has a duty to ensure that the provisions of the Treaty are
applied effectively and comprehensively.

(33) Article 90 (3) assigns clearly-defined duties and powers to the
Commission to monitor relations between Member States and
their public undertakings and undertakings to which they have
granted special or exclusive rights, particularly as regards the
removal of obstacles to freedom to provide services, discrimination between nationals of the Member States and competition.
A comprehensive approach is necessary in order to end the
infringements that persist in certain Member States and to give
clear guidelines to those Member States that are reviewing their
legislation so as to avoid further infringements. A Directive
within the meaning of Article 90 (3) of the Treaty is therefore
the most appropriate means of achieving that end,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

_Article 1_

1. For the purposes of this Directive:

— ‘telecommunication organizations’ means public or private bodies,
and the subsidiaries they control, to which a Member State grants
special or exclusive rights for the provision of a public telecommunications network and, when applicable, telecommunications services,

- **M1**

— ‘exclusive rights’ means the rights that are granted by a Member
State to one undertaking through any legislative, regulatory or
administrative instrument, reserving it the right to provide a telecommunication service or undertake an activity within a given
geographical area,
— ‘special rights’ means the rights that are granted by a Member
State to a limited number of undertakings through any legislative,
regulatory or administrative instrument which, within a given geographical area,

— limits to two or more the number of such undertakings authorized to provide a service or undertake an activity, otherwise
than according to objective, proportional and non-discriminatory criteria, or
— designates, otherwise than according to such criteria, several
competing undertakings as being authorized to provide a service or undertake an activity, or
— confers on any undertaking or undertakings, otherwise than
according to such criteria, legal or regulatory advantages which
substantially affect the ability of any other undertaking to provide the same telecommunications service or to undertake the
same activity in the same geographical area under substantially
equivalent conditions,

- **B**

— ‘public telecommunications network’ means the public telecommunications infrastructure which permits the conveyance of signals
between defined network termination points by wire, by microwave, by optical means or by other electromagnetic means,

- **M2**

— ‘telecommunications services’ means services whose provision
consists wholly or partly in the transmission and/or routing of signals on a telecommunications network,

- **M1**

— ‘satellite earth station network’ means a configuration of two or
more earth stations which interwork by means by means of a satellite,

— ‘satellite network services’ means the establishment and operation
of satellite earth station networks; these services consist, as a minimum, in the establishment, by satellite earth stations, of radiocommunications to space segment (‘uplinks’), and in the establishment

1990L0388 — EN — 01.01.1996 — 002.001 — 9

- **M1**

of radiocommunications between space segment and satellite earth
stations (‘downlinks’),

— ‘satellite communications services’ means service whose provision
makes use, wholly or partly, of satellite network services,

— ‘satellite services’ means the provision of satellite communications
services and/or the provision of satellite networks services,

- **B**

— ‘network termination point’ means all physical connections and
their technical access specifications which form part of the public
telecommunications network and are necessary for access to and
efficient communication through that public network,

— ‘essential requirements’ means the non-economic reasons in the
general interest which may cause a Member State to restrict access
to the public telecommunications network or public telecommunications services.       - **M1** Those reasons are security of network
operations, maintenance of network integrity, and, in justified
cases, interoperability of services, data protection and, in the case
of satellite network services, the effective use of the frequency
spectrum and the avoidance of harmful interference between satellite telecommunications systems and other space-based or terrestrial tecnical systems. ◄

Data protection may include protection of personal data, the confidentiality of information transmitted or stored as well as the protection of privacy,

— ‘voice telephony’ means the commercial provision for the public
of the direct transport and switching of speech in real-time
between public switched network termination points, enabling any
user to use equipment connected to such a network termination
point in order to communicate with another termination point,

— ‘telex service’ means the commercial provision for the public of
direct transmission of telex messages in accordance with the relevant Comité consultatif international télégraphique et téléphonique
(CCITT) recommendation between public switched network termination points, enabling any user to use equipment connected to
such a network termination point in order to communicate with
another termination point,

— ‘packet- and circuit-switched data services’ means the commercial
provision for the public of direct transport of data between public
switched network termination points, enabling any user to use
equipment connected to such a network termination point in order
to communicate with another termination point,

— ‘simple resale of capacity’ means the commercial provision on
leased lines for the public of data transmission as a separate service, including only such switching, processing, data storage or
protocol conversion as is necessary for transmission in real time to
and from the public switched network,

- **M2**

- **C1**

— ‘cable TV network’ means any mainly wire-based infrastructure
approved by a Member State for delivery or distribution of radio
or television signals to the public.

- **M2**

This Directive shall be without prejudice to the specific rules adopted
by the Member States in accordance with Community law, governing
the distribution of audiovisual programmes intended for the general
public, and the content of such programmes.

- **M1**

2. This Directive shall not apply to the telex service or to terrestrial
mobile radiocommunications.

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- **B**

_Article 2_

- **M1**

Without prejudice to Article 1 (2), Member States shall withdraw all
those measures which grant:

(a) exclusive rights for the supply of telecommunications services
otherwise than voice telephony and

(b) special rights which limit to two or more the number of undertakings authorized to supply such telecommunication services, otherwise than according to objective, proportional and non-discriminatory criteria, or

(c) special rights which designate, otherwise than according to such
criteria, several competing undertakings to provide such telecommunication services.

They shall take the measures necessary to ensure that any operator is
entitled to supply any such telecommunications services, otherwise
than voice telephony.

- **B**

Member States which make the supply of such services subject to a
licensing or declaration procedure aimed at compliance with the
essential requirements shall ensure that the conditions for the grant of
licences are objective, non-discriminatory and transparent, that reasons
are given for any refusal, and that there is a procedure for appealing
against any such refusal.

Without prejudice to Article 3, Member States shall inform the Commission no later than 31 December 1990 of the measures taken to
comply with this Article and shall inform it of any existing regulations
or of plans to introduce new licensing procedures or to change existing procedures.

- **M1**

Member States shall communicate the criteria on which authorizations
are granted, together with the conditions attached to such authorizations and to the declaration procedures for the operation of transmitting earth stations.

Member States shall continue to inform the Commission of any plans
to introduce new licensing procedures or to change existing procedures.

- **B**

_Article 3_

As regards packet- or circuit-switched data services, Member States
may, until 31 December 1992, under the authorization procedures
referred to in Article 2, prohibit economic operators from offering
leased line capacity for simple resale to the public.

Member States shall, no later than 30 June 1992, notify to the Commission at the planning stage any licensing or declaration procedure
for the provision of packet- or circuit-switched data services for the
public which are aimed at compliance with:

— essential requirements, or

— trade regulations relating to conditions of permanence, availability
and quality of the service, or

— measures to safeguard the task of general economic interest which
they have entrusted to a telecommunications organization for the
provision of switched data services, if the performance of that task
is likely to be obstructed by the activities of private service providers.

The whole of these conditions shall form a set of public-service specifications and shall be objective, non-discriminatory and transparent.

Member States shall ensure, no later than 31 December 1992, that
such licensing or declaration procedures for the provision of such services are published.

1990L0388 — EN — 01.01.1996 — 002.001 — 11

- **B**

Before they are implemented, the Commission shall verify the compatibility of these projects with the Treaty.

_Article 4_

Member States which maintain special or exclusive rights for the provision and operation of public telecommunications networks shall take
the necessary measures to make the conditions governing access to
the networks objective and non-discriminatory and publish them.

In particular, they shall ensure that operators who so request can
obtain leased lines within a reasonable period, that there are no
restrictions on their use other than those justified in accordance with
Article 2.

- **M2**

Member States shall:

— abolish all restrictions on the supply of transmission capacity by
cable TV networks and allow the use of cable networks for the
provision of telecommunications services, other than voice telephony;

— ensure that interconnection of cable TV networks with the public
telecommunications network is authorized for such purpose, in particular interconnection with leased lines, and that the restrictions
on the direct interconnection of cable TV networks by cable TV
operators are abolished.

- **B**

Member States shall inform the Commission no later than 31 December 1990 of the steps they have taken to comply with this Article.

Each time the charges for leased lines are increased, Member States
shall provide information to the Commission on the factors justifying
such increases.

_Article 5_

Without prejudice to the relevant international agreements, Member
States shall ensure that the characteristics of the technical interfaces
necessary for the use of public networks are published by 31 December 1990 at the latest.

Member States shall communicate to the Commission, in accordance
with Directive 83/189/EEC, any draft measure drawn up for this pur
pose.

_Article 6_

Member States shall, as regards the provision of telecommunications
services, and existing restrictions on the processing of signals before
their transmission via the public network or after their reception,
unless the necessity of these restrictions for compliance with public
policy or essential requirements is demonstrated.

Without prejudice to harmonized Community rules adopted by the
Council on the provision of an open network, Member States shall
ensure as regards services providers including the telecommunications
organizations that there is no discrimination either in the conditions of
use or in the charges payable.

- **M1**

Member States shall ensure that any fees imposed on providers of services as part of authorization procedures, shall be based on objective,
transparent and non-discriminatory criteria.

Fees, the criteria upon which they are based, and any changes thereto,
shall be published in an appropriate and sufficiently detailed manner,
so as to provide easy access to that information.

Member States shall notify to the Commission no later than nine
months after publication of this Directive, and thereafter whenever
changes occur, the manner in which the information is made available.

1990L0388 — EN — 01.01.1996 — 002.001 — 12

- **M1**

The Commission shall regularly publish references to such notifications.

- **B**

Member States shall inform the Commission of the measures taken or
draft measures introduced in order to comply with this Article by 31
December 1990 at the latest.

- **M1**

Member States shall ensure that any regulatory prohibition or restrictions on the offer of space-segment capacity to any authorized satellite
earth station network operator are abolished, and shall autorize within
their territory any space-segment supplier to verify that the satellite
earth station network for use in connection with the space segment of
the supplier in question is in conformity with the published conditions
for access to his space segment capacity.

- **B**

_Article 7_

Member States shall ensure that from 1 July 1991 the grant of operating licences, the control of type approval and mandatory specifications, the allocation of frequencies and surveillance of usage conditions are carried out by a body independent of the telecommunications
organizations.

They shall inform the Commission of the measures taken or draft
measures introduced to that end no later than 31 December 1990.

_Article 8_

Member States shall ensure that as soon as the relevant special or
exclusive rights have been withdrawn, telecommunications organizations make it possible for customers bound to them by a contract with
more than one year to run for the supply of telecommunications services which was subject to such a right at the time it was concluded
to terminate the contract at six months' notice.

_Article 9_

Member States shall communicate to the Commission the necessary
information to allow it to draw up, for a period of three years, at the
end of each year, an overall report on the application of this Directive.
The Commission shall transmit this report to the Member States, the
Council, the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee.

_Article 10_

In 1992, the Commission will carry out an overall assessment of the
situation in the telecommunications sector in relation to the aims of

this Directive.

In 1994, the Commission shall assess the effects of the measures
referred to in Article 3 in order to see whether any amendments need
to be made to the provisions of that Article, particularly in the light
of technological evolution and the development of trade within the
Community.

_Article 11_

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.