2.1.1. Connection to a public communications network at a fixed location and provision of a telephone service through said connection
In article 87, point a) of the LCE, it is established that connection at a fixed location to the public telephone network and provision of publicly available telephone services through said connection comprises one of the provisions of the universal service.
Accordingly, and in compliance with the provisions of article 88 of the LCE, the contracted party shall meet all reasonable requests for connection to the public telephone network at a fixed location and for provision of publicly available telephone services through said connection, in the geographic areas where provision of the service is contracted.
The connection to the network and the provision of service shall further allow:
a) The connection and use of appropriate terminal equipment;
b) The establishment and reception of local telephone calls, national telephone calls, specifically calls involving geographic and non-geographic numbers, in accordance with the Plano Nacional de Numeração (National Numbering Plan), and international telephone calls;
c) The establishment and reception of facsimile communications;
d) The establishment of data communications, at data rates that are sufficient to permit functional Internet access;
e) Access, using the national emergency number as defined in the Plano Nacional de Numeração (National Numbering Plan) or any other number specified by ICP-ANACOM, to the various emergency systems, in accordance with applicable legislation;
f) Access to a comprehensive directory enquiry service provided in accordance with point c) of paragraph 1 of article 89 of the LCE.
The contracted party, shall, for appropriate remuneration, provide simple telephone terminal equipment to access the service and provide for its installation and maintenance, when expressly requested by the parties concerned.
For the purposes of universal service provision, connection to a public communications network consists of the provision to customers of a connection to the network, where the network termination point is identified by an address which is associated with the subscriber's name. The services offered to customers are to be provided at a fixed location, using geographic numbering, at the network termination point referred to above.
The services can be delivered using any technology, including wired or wireless technology.
2.1.2. Affordability of pricing
The provision of the universal service is to be executed in fulfilment of the need to guarantee that the respective prices are affordable for end-users of the services, ensuring that end-users are not impeded from accessing a public communications network at a fixed location or the publicly available telephone services provided over said network.
In its application, the pricing system of the universal service services is to be based on the principle of non-discrimination, guaranteeing that all users receive equal treatment in equal circumstances, and also on the principle of geographical uniformity, in accordance with the terms detailed below.
Observing the overall goal of affordability and the principles of non discrimination and uniform pricing, as set out below, the contracted party is required to provide a tariff designated the "Tarifário do Serviço Universal" (Universal Service Tariff), applied uniformly in each of the geographical areas encompassed by the provision of the universal service and between all geographical areas in which the provision is contracted.
2.1.2.1. Price of installation, monthly subscription charge and calls to the contracted party's network
The contracted party undertakes, in respect of the Tarifário do Serviço Universal (Universal Service Tariff), to comply with an annual price cap not exceeding CPI 1 -2.75 percent, applicable as a whole to all installation components, the monthly subscription charge and price of communications to the same network. Compliance with this rule is to be verified on an annual basis, except in the first and second years of the contract, for which it shall be guaranteed that the accumulated price variation is at least equivalent to the application of the price cap corresponding to two years.
In compliance with the price cap rule, when the inflation rate is equal to or less than 2.75 percent, the contracted party will not be obliged to implement a negative nominal variation and may maintain prices as unchanged.
The starting point for prices to be charged by the contracted party is the prices charged by the USP as on the date of publication of the documents comprising the tender, under the Tarifário do Serviço Universal (Universal Service Tariff) corresponding to "Option 1" 2.
The contracted party shall, on an annual basis, and in conjunction with the other companies responsible for providing the universal service of connection to a public communications network at a fixed location and provision of publicly available telephone services through said connection, agree on how best to reflect the application of the price cap rule in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in the present decision. The agreement reached is to be submitted to ICP-ANACOM for approval no later than the end of September in the year prior to the entry into force of the tariff. If no agreement is reached, ICP-ANACOM will set the price by the end of December of this year.
2.1.2.2. Price of calls terminated on other networks
The price of calls originated on the contracted party network and terminated on other fixed networks shall be set at level which reflects the evolution of the difference between the termination itself and the termination of calls on the networks of other providers of fixed telephone services, whenever alterations to termination prices occur.
The price of calls originated on the contracted party's network and terminated on mobile networks shall be set at level which reflects the evolution of the termination of calls on mobile networks, whenever alterations to termination prices occur.
The starting point for prices to be charged by contracted party is the prices charged by the current USP (PT Comunicações) as on the date of publication of the documents comprising the tender, under the Tarifário do Serviço Universal (Universal Service Tariff).
2.1.3. Free-of-charge provisions
The contracted party is obliged to make the following provisions on a free-of-charge basis:
a) Access to the national emergency number and any other emergency numbers as are specified in the Plano Nacional de Numeração (National Numbering Plan);
b) Access to fault repair and complaints services.
2.1.4. Service features
In accordance with article 94 of the LCE, it is considered essential that contracted party provide a set of resources and mechanisms whereby users of the universal service are able to control their costs when using a public communications network and publicly available telephone services.
With a view to the objectives above, the contracted party shall make the following features and facilities available to all customers of the Tarifário do Serviço Universal (Universal Service Tariff):
a) Itemised billing;
b) Selective and free barring of defined types of outgoing calls or of calls to certain types of numbers and of premium-tariff SMS or MMS or other value-added services or applications based on message sending, upon subscriber request, without prejudice to article 45 of the LCE;
c) Pre-payment systems providing access to public communications network and use of publicly available telephone services;
d) Payment in instalments of fees charged for connection to the public communications network;
e) Measures applicable in situations of non-payment of telephone bills pursuant to article 52 of the LCE.
f) Tariff consultation service through which subscribers are able to obtain information on alternative tariffs which are cheaper or more favourable;
g) Control of telephone service costs, including free alerts for consumers which register abnormal patterns of consumption, reflecting a significant increase over their habitual average values of consumption.
For the purposes of point a), the contracted party shall ensure, on a free-of-charge basis, the following minimum level of detail, without prejudice to applicable data protection and privacy legislation:
a) Initial price of connection to the public communications network at a fixed location and provision of the telephone service through said network, when applicable;
b) Subscription price, where applicable;
c) Price of usage, identifying the different traffic categories and with indication of each call and its respective cost;
d) Periodic price of equipment rental, as applicable;
e) Price of installation of material and equipment requested subsequent to the commencement of service provision;
f) Subscriber debit balance;
g) Compensation subsequent to refund.
The contracted party may, at the request of the subscriber, provide detailed billing having levels of detail beyond those specified in the preceding points, free of charge or at a reasonable price, whereas the inclusion of calls supplied to subscribers free of charge, in particular calls to helpline services, is prohibited.
2.1.5. Functional internet access
Matter that is the competence of the Government, pursuant to article 88, paragraph 4 of the LCE, and is pending decision.
2.1.6. Offers for people with disabilities
With a view to the provisions of article 91 of the LCE, the contracted party shall make specific offers available to ensure that end-users with disabilities have access, in a manner equivalent to other end-users, to publicly available telephone services, including access to emergency services and to the directory enquiry service.
End-users with disabilities include end-users who are blind or visually impaired, users who are deaf or with severe hearing impairments, or users who are mute or with severe speech disorders, users with cognitive disabilities and motor disabilities.
For the purposes of the preceding paragraphs and without prejudice to ICP-ANACOM's powers as under article 91 of the LCE, the contracted party shall, upon request, provide the following offers on a free-of-charge basis:
a) Handset amplifying equipment, consisting of an amplifier which can be used with any terminal equipment to increase the volume of the earpiece, by up to a factor of 10, for people with hearing disabilities;
b) Call warning light, consisting of a device which provides a visual signal when a call is received on the terminal equipment.
c) Simple bills in Braille;
d) Fixed destination lines, enabling the automatic establishment of calls to a destination defined by the customer, whenever the key is pressed to establish a call or when the handset is lifted, and no number is dialled within 10 seconds.
The above offers are to be made available to all end-users who are bearers of a Certidão Multiuso (Multipurpose Certificate) issued under the terms of Decree-Law no. 174/97 of 19 July, amending Decree-Law no. 202/96 of 23 October, bearers of a current membership card with a disabled association with which the user is registered, or bearers of a medical certificate attesting that the user is a person at risk with special needs due to age or physical or mental disability.
2.1.7. Offer provided to Retirees and Pensioners
In accordance with the provisions of article 93 of the LCE, to ensure that affordability of the universal service is guaranteed, ICP-ANACOM may determine, inter alia, the availability of tariff options or packages which are different from those provided under normal commercial conditions, in particular to ensure that consumers on low incomes or with special social needs are not prevented from accessing an electronic communications network at a fixed location or from using the services comprising the universal service. In these circumstances, it must be guaranteed that the conditions applied are fully transparent and properly announced and that they are implemented in accordance with the principle of non-discrimination.
Accordingly, the contracted party is required to make an offer available designated as "Tarifário Reformados e Pensionistas" (Retirees and pensioners tariff). This provision shall entail a discount of 50 percent on network line rental (with reference to the Universal Service Tariff) and is targeted at retirees and pensioners subscribing to a single network line. The determination of income, household composition and per capita income for the purposes of verifying the resource conditions to be considered in recognizing and maintaining entitlement to offers aimed at retirees and pensioners shall be in accordance with the provisions of Decree-Law no. 70/2010 of 16 June.
In granting specific conditions to retirees and pensioners, the contracted party shall employ procedures which are simple and expeditious.
1 CPI - Expected rate of inflation in each year as officially forecast by the Government and as such, entered in each year's Relatório do Orçamento do Estado (State Budget Report), or an amending budget. Where this document gives a range of values, the rate considered shall be the mean of the maximum and minimum values of that range. In the event that technical difficulties arise in obtaining this value, particularly in respect of its interpretation, ICP-ANACOM shall provide corresponding clarification.
2 Option where the price of the subscription includes free evening and week-end periods.
