Pre-selection specification by FTS providers.
It anticipates (Justifying Note) that the said Specification may be updated as soon as it is feasible to improve or extend the functions from the users? standpoint, upon evaluation by ICP-ANACOM and following the hearing of the main interested market players.
Keeping in mind the evolution of the call selection and pre-selection market, this consultation thus seeks to contribute to measures meant to boost the growth of that same market, namely to ensure greater simplicity and diversity of choices available to users.
Meanwhile, application of the new regulatory framework resulting from 99 Review is soon expected. In this context, paragraph b) of section 1 of article 16 of Directive 2002/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March (Universal Service Directive) stipulates that the member States should uphold all obligations vis-à-vis operator selection or pre-selection, under terms of Directive 97/33/EC concerning interconnection in the telecommunications sector, with the aim of assuring universal service and interoperability through application of open network provision (ONP), until a revision is carried out and a decision made in compliance with section 3 of the same article. It states that the national regulatory authorities should, as soon as possible after the Directive comes into force, and periodically from then on, undertake a market analysis as per article 16 of the Framework Directive, in order to determine whether to maintain, modify or eliminate the obligations concerning retail markets.
Article 19 of the same Directive limits in its section 1 the obligation to furnish selection and pre-selection to companies with SMP in the provision of connection to the public telephone network and use of that network at a fixed site, and in its section 2 remits the requests from users for installation of such resources in other networks, or in other ways, to evaluation in accordance with the market analysis procedure stipulated in article 16 of the Framework Directive and to execution in compliance with article 12 of the Access Directive.
The Universal Service Directive (2002/22/EC) states in its recital 29: ?National regulatory authorities may also, in the light of an analysis of the relevant market, require mobile operators with significant market power to enable their subscribers to access the services of any interconnected provider of publicly available telephone services on a call-by-call basis or by means of pre-selection.?
Thus, and until the new regulatory framework takes force on the one hand, and until first market analysis on the other, the rights and obligations foreseen in the current regulatory framework will be maintained; this consultation focuses mainly on aspects that enable simplification and improvement of the provision of pre-selection and call selection to end users.
