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ANCOM Wishes More Transparency for Telecom Offers

6.11.2014

The Romanian National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) has submitted today to public consultation a series of new obligations of informing the end-users incumbent on the providers of telephone, internet and television services with a view to increasing the level of transparency of the telecom offers and supporting the users to better understand the conditions of use of the services they buy. At the beginning of 2014, there were more than 4 million fixed telephony subscribers and almost 23 million active mobile telephony SIM cards in Romania, while 46% of the households had a fixed broadband internet connection and more than 85% of these held a subscription to audiovisual programme retransmission services.
The ANCOM draft decision, which is to replace Decision no. 77/2009 on the obligations of informing the end-users incumbent on the providers of publicly available electronic communications services, provides that certain information in the telecom offers, which are essential for the end-users, should be added or detailed so as to enable th end-users to make informed choices, adjusted to their real communication needs.
The main novelty brought by the ANCOM draft decision is the extension of the obligations of informing the end-users to the providers of internet and television services, in addition to the providers of telephone services, who have transparency obligations at present too.
Thus, the providers of electronic communications services will have the obligation to publish on their websites information on the existence of blockings or limitations of the internet traffic, of the services or applications that can be purchased, if such blockings exist and are allowed by the law (for example, restrictions in the use of applications such as Skype or WhatsApp). The providers of telephone and internet services will have to publish on their websites and communicate, before concluding a contract, information on the existence of ceilings beyond which the use of the resources purchased by the end-user (traffic, included minutes) is limited or conditioned, as well as on the consequences of exceeding these ceilings (such as speed limitations or payment of an additional tariff).
Furthermore, as the internet access services are concerned, the maximum download and upload speed, as well as the minimum guaranteed speed, where this exists, will be published and communicated (where a minimum garanteed speed does not exist, this will be also specified).
As well, the telecom operators will need to detail on their websites at least the outdoor geographic coverage of their services, specifying the localities where coverage exists, by adding more information to the already existing maps showing the service coverage. Moreover, the telephony operators and the internet and television operators will need to post on their homepages a direct, easily visible and suggestively named link to the framework-contract and the conditions of provision of prepaid cards, and to keep an online archive with the framework-contracts and the tariff plans that are not in force anymore, but are still used by the subscribers.
Based on Decision no. 77/2009, ANCOM created the application Veritel.ro, accessible free of charge,in order to enable the telecom users to compare between all the telephony and internet offers available on the market. According to the draft decision, the providers are to introduce the data concerning their commercial offers within two working days from the date the offers enter into force or are modified. After verifying them, ANCOM will publish these offers on www.veritel.ro.  
The ANCOM proposal of adopting new measures meant to ensure a better informing of the communications users was triggered by the legislative amendments which took place at the European and national level after the Authority’s adption of the currently in force Decision no.77/2009, by complaints received from the end-users and by the natural market evolution, which made that certain provisions of Decision no.77/2009 to be out of date or insufficient.

 

The ANCOM draft decision on the obligations of informing the end-users is available for consultation here. The interested persons are invited to send their comments and suggestions, by 8.12.2014, to the ANCOM headquarters in 2 Delea Noua Street, Bucharest 3, or directly to the ANCOM Registry Office or to the Authority’s regional divisions. Comments may also be sent by fax to +40 372 845 402 or by e-mail to consultare@ancom.org.ro.

 

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