Universal service and users’ rights

The purpose was to explore how the EU framework secures socially important objectives where the market proves unable to do so. Also, the specific requirements for protection of users’ rights.

The material covered during the session was based on the following extracts from:
- http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/ecomm/index_en.htm

The Universal Service Directive established the principles of universal service based on the need to maintain a safety net for all citizens to access basic communications services of a reasonable quality and reliability, and at an affordable price, following the liberalisation of the telecommunications sector in 1998. This could not be ensured by competition law alone.

It guarantees that citizens can make and receive local, national and international calls, faxes and data communications from a fixed location, while also ensuring that a sufficient number of payphones are available in public areas. These services must be made available at a specified quality to all end-users in the territory, regardless of their geographical location.

Under the universal service obligations, citizens must be able to access publicly available telephone services, such as directory enquiries, operator assistance and emergency services. Calls to the ‘112’ European emergency number can be made from any EU country free of charge from any telephone, including public payphones. Each country must also make at least one comprehensive telephone directory of all subscribers available to all end-users.

The European Commission reviews the set of basic communications services every three years. One condition (which is necessary but not sufficient) for a new service to be considered as a “basic communications service” is that it must be considered essential for social inclusion, i.e. it should be used by the vast majority of people/households.

People with disabilities

In the case of disabled users and people with special needs, the Directive obliges Member States to take suitable measures to guarantee access to, and the affordability of, all publicly available telephone services. Such measures could include making public pay telephones accessible to the disabled and providing public text telephones for deaf or speech-impaired people.

Affordability, tariffs and quality

In order to ensure access to services for people with special social needs or on low incomes, Member States may provide tariff options or packages different from those normally offered to consumers on a commercial basis. Moreover, users should be able to monitor and control their expenditure by benefiting from special facilities such as itemised bills, the possibility to selectively block certain calls, for instance high-priced calls to premium services, means of pre-payment or payments phased over time. However, consumers must support some of the costs of the service. Moreover, while those who do not pay their bills can be protected from immediate disconnection in particular cases (for instance during a dispute over high bills for premium-rate services) they cannot expect to keep a phone line indefinitely. Quality is another key element monitored by national regulatory authorities, which may take measures where deemed necessary.

Financing of the Universal service

Providing a basic set of communications services to all end-users comes at a cost. Therefore, the Universal Service Directive allows providers to be compensated either from public funds or through a cost-sharing arrangement between providers if it is demonstrated that by complying with the universal service obligations they incur a loss or suffer net costs that exceed normal commercial standards.

Member States are free to go beyond the minimum requirements laid down in the Directive, the only stipulation being that any additional obligation cannot be funded by a levy on telecom providers.