By determination of 8 April 2009, ANACOM has decided to give notice that, with respect to the application of Decree-Law no. 63/2009 of 10 March, only subsequent to the conclusion of the general consultation procedure regarding the adaptation of the National Numbering Plan to message-based valued added services, may mobile or fixed operators adapt their respective systems to guarantee, specifically, the obligation of barring, at the request of the consumer, of access to these services, as well as compliance with the requirement for independent billing and collection, in order to provide for compliance with that defined in the legislation applicable to message-based valued added services.
Information on the aplication of Decree-Law no. 63/2009 of 10 March
The publication of Decree-Law no. 63/2009 of 10 March has altered the scope of Decree-Law no. 177/99 of 21 May, which, with the amendments made by Law no. 95/2001 of 20 August, established the regime of access to and exercise of the activity of provider of audiotext services. With this alteration, the Decree-Law now covers and regulates message-based valued added services.
In order to comply with the provisions of paragraph 1 of article 8 of Decree-Law no. 177/99, as now amended by Decree-Law no. 63/2009, on 1 April, the Board of Directors of ICP-ANACOM gave approval to a draft decision which provides for the adaptation of the National Numbering Plan to this new reality through the establishment of four numbering codes designated for: i) services declared as having sexual or erotic content (649); ii) services which involve the sending of more than one message or the sending of messages on a regular or continuous basis, with added cost per message (650); iii) services intended for solicitation of donations subject to different tax rules (606); and iv) other message-based valued added services (603).
In accordance with its obligations under law, the Board of Directors of ICP-ANACOM has taken the decision to hold a public consultation on the draft decision in question, for a period of 20 days, to be followed by the approval of the respective report and the final decision.
Given that the general procedure for consultation will last until 30 April 2009 and that it will be followed by the adoption of the respective report and the final decision, mobile and fixed based operators may only adapt their systems upon conclusion of these procedures, to ensure compliance with the obligation to provide barring, at the request of the customer, of access to said services (see article 10, paragraphs 3 and 4 of Decree Law no. 177/99 of 21 May) and compliance with the requirement for independent billing and collection (see article 7, paragraph 2 of the cited Decree), thereby providing for compliance with that defined in the legislation applicable to message-based valued added services.
This opportunity is taken to clarify, in correction, that the code for the provision of other message-based valued added services is the code "603", alerting to the fact that, by error, the information given in section II.1 of the draft decision (p. 5), in relation to point 1 of the deliberative section, cites the code "604" for the same services.
Lisbon, 8 April 2009.
