The LGTel defines the universal service in his art. 22 :
"The defined set of services whose provision is guaranteed for all end
users regardless of their geographical location, with a specific quality and at
an affordable price."
Specifically, through this concept, the Government must
guarantee:
1. That all
end users can obtain a connection to the fixed public telephone network and
access the provision of the telephone service available to the public.
2. This
connection must offer the end user the possibility of making and receiving
telephone calls and allowing fax and data communications at sufficient speed to
access the Internet in a functional way.
3. That a
general directory of subscriber numbers, printed or electronic, be made
available to subscribers to the telephone service available to the public,
updated at least once a year.
4. That at
least one general information service on subscriber numbers be made available
to all end users of the publicly available telephone service, including users
of public pay telephones.
5. That
there is a sufficient supply of public pay telephones, throughout the national
territory, that reasonably satisfies the needs of the end users, in
geographical coverage, in number of devices, accessibility of these telephones
by users with disabilities and quality of services .
LGTel empowers the Government to review the scope of these
universal service obligations, in accordance with community regulations.
Making use of this power, the Government issued RD 726/2011,
of May 20 , which modifies the Regulation on the conditions for the provision
of electronic communications services, universal service and the protection of
users, approved by RD 424/2005, of April 15 , so that the regulatory regulation
of universal service could be adapted to some of the modifications introduced
by Directive 2009/136 / CE .
The provision of the universal service must not be carried
out for free, except in relation to the subscriber guides, which will be free,
but at an affordable price. The Government Delegate Commission for Economic
Affairs , at the proposal of the Ministers of Industry, Tourism and Trade and
of the Economy and Finance , and prior report from the CNMC , shall guarantee
the affordability of the prices of the services included in the universal
service. .
By law, it is established that the prices of the services
included in the universal service are affordable for users when the following
objectives are met:
1. That the
prices of the services included in the universal service in high-cost, rural,
insular and remote areas are comparable to the prices of said services in urban
areas, taking into account, among other factors, their costs and groups with
social needs specials according to this regulation.
2. To ensure
the elimination of price barriers that prevent people with disabilities from
accessing and using the services included in the universal service under
conditions equivalent to other users.
3. That
there is a sufficient supply, at a uniform price, of telephones for public use
in the public domain for common use throughout the territory covered by each
designation. The prices of the calls made from these terminals must be
comparable to those made by the subscribers in application of the previous
section, taking into account the unit costs of their provision through public
pay phones.
4. That
price plans are offered in which the amount of the registration fees, that of
the assimilated concepts and that of the fixed periodic subscription fees do
not limit the possibility of being a user of the service.
5. That the
telephone consultation service on subscriber numbers is accessible to all users
of the telephone service available to the public at prices that do not imply a
limitation to the needs of use of the same by users.
