CELEX: 51997PC0674
Language: en
Date: 1997-11-28
Title: Amended proposal for a European Parliament and Council Directive amending Directive 97/33/EC with regard to operator number portability and carrier pre-selection

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
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                                                 Brussels, 28.11.1997
                                                 COM(97) 674 final
                                                 97/0250 (COD)
                            Amended proposal for a
          EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
  amending Directive 97/33/EC with regard to operator number portability and carrier
                                    pre-selection
          (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 a (2)
                               of the EC-Treaty)
 ---pagebreak---  ---pagebreak---                            EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
  The Commission hereby presents a modified proposal for a European parliament and
  Council Directive amending Directive 97/3 3/EC with regard to operator number
  portability and carrier pre-selection. The modified proposal incorporates the single
  amendment proposed by the European Parliament in first reading.
  1.      Introduction
  a)      Background
  The Commission adopted its original proposal on 1 October 1997 (COM(97) 480) and
  it was formally transmitted to the European Parliament and to the Council on 3
 October 1997.
 The European Parliament adopted a resolution on 20 November 1997 approving the
 proposal subject to one amendment.
 b)       Scope and aim of the proposal
 The objective of the present proposal is to strengthen the existing provisions on equal
 qualitative and quantitative access to numbering resources for all market players in the
 Community's current legal framework for telecommunications. The availability of
 operator number portability and carrier pre-selection will make it easier for consumers
 to choose alternative service and network providers. This will enable them to benefit
 directly from competition in the telecommunications market. By offering consumers
 a non-discriminatory and user friendly way of choosing between different providers of
 telecommunications services, consumer choice can act as a catalyst in the process of
 achieving better quality telecommunications services at more competitive prices.
 2.       EP amendment accepted by the Commission
The European Parliament has proposed only one amendment which is acceptable for
the Commission.
This amendment will extend an existing deferment clause (Article 20(2) of the
Interconnection Directive 97/33/EC ) which gives a certain flexibility for the date of
implementation of number portability in cases where Member States can prove that
this will impose an excessive burden on the operators concerned. With the amendment
the clause will also apply for carrier pre-selection. Under this clause, temporary
deferment may be granted by the Commission, on the basis of objective arguments
and taking account of "the particular situation in the Member State and the need to
ensure a coherent regulatory environment at a Community level".
3.        Conclusion
In accordance with Article 189a paragraph 2 of the Treaty, the Commission modifies
its initial proposal, incorporating this amendment.
 ---pagebreak---                                      Amended proposal for a
              EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DIRECTIVE
amending Directive 97/3 3/EC with regard to operator number portability and carrier pre-
                                                selection
Original text                                         Modified text
Article 1                                             Article 1
Directive 97/33/EC1 is hereby amended as Directive 97/33/EC1 is hereby amended as
follows :                                             follows :
1.       Paragraph 5 of Article 12 shall be 1. Paragraph 5 of Articte 12 shall be
replaced by the following :                            replaced by the following :
"5.       National regulatory authorities shall        "5.     National regulatory authorities shall
encourage the earliest possible introduction           encourage the earliest possible introduction
of number portability whereby end-users                of number portability whereby end-users
who so request can retain their number(s)              who so request can retain their number(s)
on the fixed public telephone network at a             on the fixed public telephone network at a
 specific location independent of the                  specific location independent of the
organisation providing service, and shall              organisation providing service, and shall
 ensure that this facility is available by 1           ensure that this facility is available by 1
January 2000 at the latest."                           January 2000 at the latest."
2.        A new paragraph shall be inserted 2. A new paragraph shall be inserted after
after paragraph 6 of Article 12 :                      paragraph 6 of Article 12 :
"7.       National regulatory authorities shall        "7.     National regulatory authorities shall
 require Organizations operating public                require Organizations operating public
telecommunications networks as set out in              telecommunications networks as set out in
Part 1 of Annex I and notified by national             Part 1 of Annex i and notified by national
regulatory authorities as Organizations                regulatory authorities as Organizations
having significant market power, to enable             having significant market power, to enable
their subscribers to access the switched               their subscribers to access the switched
services of any interconnected provider of             services of any interconnected provider of
 publicly     available       telecommunications       publicly available        telecommunications
 services. For this purpose facilities shall be        services. For this purpose facilities shall be
 in place by 1 January 2000 at the latest,             in place by 1 January 2000 at the latest,
which allow the subscriber to choose these             which allow the subscriber to choose these
 services by means of permanent pre-                   services by means of permanent pre-
     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 No L 199, 26.7.97, p.32.
 ---pagebreak--- which allow the subscriber to choose these     selection with a facility to override the pre-
services by means of permanent pre-            selected choice on a call-by-call basis by
selection with a facility to override the pre- dialling a short prefix."
selected choice on a call-by-call basis by
dialling a short prefix."                      3. Paragraph 2 of Article 20 shall be
                                               replaced by the following :
                                               "2.     Deferment of the obligations under
                                               Article 12(5) and 12(7) may be requested
                                               where the Member State concerned can
                                               prove that they would impose an excessive
                                               burden on certain organizations or classes
                                               of organization.The Member State shall
                                               inform the Commission of the reasons for
                                               requesting a deferment, the date by which
                                               the requirements can be met, and the
                                               measures envisaged in order to meet this
                                               deadline. The Commission shall consider
                                               the request taking into account the
                                               particular situation in the Member State
                                               and the need to ensure a coherent
                                               regulatory environment at a Community
                                               level, and shall inform the Member State
                                               whether it deems that the particular
                                               situation in that Member State justifies a
                                               deferment and, if so, until which date such
                                               deferment is justified."
 ---pagebreak---                                                                   ISSN 0254-1475
                                                           COM(97) 674 final
                                              DOCUMENTS
                                                              08  10  15   16
                                    Catalogue number : CB-CO-97-691-EN-C
                                                             ISBN 92-78-28764-4
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities
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