Universal Service
When voice telephony was liberalised in 1998 to complete the overall liberalisation of the telecommunications sector, it was agreed to maintain a safety net to ensure that a set of basic telecommunication services would always be available at a determined quality and an affordable price, even if the market would not provide it. This set of basic services was called 'universal service'. With the 1999 review of the regulatory framework, it was decided to maintain the universal service and to update it to include a minimum speed connection to the Internet. The basic principles of universal service are determined by Directive 2002/22/EC on Universal Service and Users' rights.
Concept
The provision of a defined set of services to all end-users regardless of their geographical location and, in light of specific national conditions, at an affordable price. The universal service incorporates the right of:
- Connection to the public telephone network at a fixed location
The connection must be capable of allowing end-users to make and receive local, national and international calls, facsimile communications and data communications.
- Access to publicly available telephone services
A publicly available telephone service is defined as a service available to the public for originating and receiving national and international calls and for access to emergency services through a number or numbers in a national or international numbering plan. It may include, inter alia, the provision of operator assistance, directory enquiry services, the provision of special facilities for customers with disabilities, etc.
- Availability of a directory information service
Directory information refers to categories of information that include subscriber name, number, address, customer type, directory status and type of number. At least one comprehensive directory of all subscribers and one comprehensive telephone directory enquiry service should be available to end-users.
- Availability of public pay telephones.
Public pay telephone means a telephone that is available to the general public and for which the means of payment may include a number of different possibilities, such as coins, debit cards, credit cards, and pre-paid cards, as well as cards for use with dialing codes Access to emergency telephone numbers such as '112' must be possible free of charge without the need for any form of payment. It is important for citizens to have a sufficient number of public pay telephones.
- Facilities for disabled users and those with special social needs.
Special rules apply for disabled users and people will special needs. Members States have a duty to take suitable measures in order to guarantee access to and affordability of all publicly available telephone services at a fixed location. Some of these measures could include, by way of example, making public pay telephones accessible to the disabled, providing public text telephones for deaf or speech-impaired people, providing directory enquiry services (or an equivalent) free of charge for blind people, etc. Specific measures can be adopted by MS, considering national conditions, in order to guarantee that choice of undertakings and service providers are available to disabled users.
Quality of service
Designated undertakings for universal service must publish adequate up-to date information concerning their performance in the provision of universal service, based on quality parameters appearing in Annex III of the US Directive. If quality of service parameters are developed for disabled end-users and consumers, NRAs may specify these additional quality of service standards for assessing the performance of undertakings in relation to services provided to disabled end-users and consumers.
Availability of services
Services considered as Universal Service Obligations must be made available at the quality specified to all end-users in the territory, independently of geographical location.
Affordability
The provision of the services included in the Universal Service must be affordable to consumers. For that reason, NRAs are entrusted to monitor the evolution and level of retail tariffs of them, in particular in relation to national consumer prices and income.
In order to ensure the access to the publicly available telephone services for those with special social needs or on low incomes, Member States may require designated undertakings to provide tariff options or packages that depart from those normally offered to consumers on a commercial basis. Member States are allowed to provide direct support to consumers with low incomes or special social needs.
112 emergency services
Emergency calls from any EU country can be made to the single European emergency number '112' number free of charge from any telephone, including public pay telephones, without the use of any means of payment. This may be in addition to any other national emergency numbers.
Directory services
The availability of directory information and directory enquiry services is considered essential tools for the consumers to fully benefit of all available services. It is required that at least one comprehensive directory of all subscribers and one comprehensive telephone directory enquiry service should be available to end-users. Subscribers have the right to have their personal data included in a printed or electronic directory. The subscriber's right to privacy with regard to the inclusion of their personal information in public directories is guaranteed by the European Directive 97/66 on the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the telecommunications sector.
Financing
Ensuring the provision of a defined minimum set of services to all end-users at an affordable price comes at a cost. Thus, there are provisions in the USD which allow designated US providers to be compensated for the specific net cost involved where it is demonstrated that the USO can only be provided either at a loss or at a net cost falling outside normal commercial standards.
Where the provision of the USO may be deemed to represent an unfair burden on designated undertakings, NRAs are required to calculate the net costs of the provision of those services so as to determine the overall cost burden.
If an NRA finds that a designated undertaking is subject to an unfair burden, after having carried out a net cost calculation, the Member States may decide, upon a request from the undertaking, to (1) introduce a mechanism for compensation from public funds under transparent conditions, and/or (2) to share the cost of those obligations between providers of electronic communications network and services.
Last update: 02/02/2007