The Telecommunications (Voice Telephony) Regulations 1997

• Citation: S.I. 1997/1886
• Sections: 78

Section 1 Citation and commencement

These Regulations may be cited as the Telecommunications (Voice Telephony) Regulations 1997 and shall come into force on 22nd August 1997.

Section 2 Interpretation

(1) In these Regulations—

(a) “the Voice Telephony Directive ” means Directive 95/62/ EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the application of open network provision ( ONP ) to voice telephony ; and

(b) “the ONP Framework Directive ” means Council Directive 90/387/ EEC on the establishment of the internal market for telecommunications services through the implementation of open network provision ;

and words and expressions used in these Regulations shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the same meaning as in the Voice Telephony Directive and the ONP Framework Directive.

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations—

(a) a “relevant Licence” is a licence granted under section 7 of the Act to run certain telecommunication systems being a licence listed below—

(i) the licence entitled “Licence granted by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to British Telecommunications under section 7 of the Telecommunications Act 1984” granted on 22nd June 1984 (hereinafter referred to as “the BT Licence”); and

(ii) the licences entitled “Licences granted by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry to Kingston upon Hull City Council and Kingston Communications (Hull) PLC under section 7 of the Telecommunications Act 1984” granted on 30th November 1987 (hereinafter referred to as “the Kingston Licences”);

and a reference in these Regulations to a relevant Licence is a reference to that Licence as modified from time to time in accordance with sections 12 and 15 or as mentioned in section 95 of the Act and by regulations made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972; and

(b) the “relevant Licensee” means—

(i) in relation to the BT Licence, British Telecommunications plc; and

(ii) in relation to the Kingston Licences, Kingston upon Hull City Council and Kingston Communications (Hull) PLC.

(3) In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Telecommunications Act 1984 ;

“the Commission” means the Commission of the European Communities;

“the Community” means the European Community;

“fixed public telephone network” means the public switched telecommunications network which is used, among other things, for the provision of voice telephony service between network termination points at fixed locations;

“list of headings” has the meaning given by regulation 4 of these Regulations;

“public pay-telephone” means a telephone available to the general public, for the use of which the means of payment are one or more of the following—

coins;

credit/debit cards; or

pre-payment cards;

“target indicators” has the meaning given by regulation 5(1) of these Regulations;

“voice telephony service” means the commercial provision for the public of direct transport of real-time speech via the public switched telephone network or networks such that any user can use equipment connected to a network termination point to communicate with another user of equipment connected to another network termination point;

“Voice Telephony Conditions” shall be construed in accordance with regulation 3(1) below; and

“VTD technical standards” has the meaning given by regulation 8 below.

(4) Save as provided in paragraph (1) above, words and expressions in these Regulations shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the same meaning as in the Act.

Section 3 Modification of licences to include the Voice Telephony Conditions

(1) The relevant Licences are hereby modified upon the coming into force of these Regulations by the insertion—

(a) as regards the BT Licence, of the conditions set out in Schedule 1 to these Regulations as part 4 of Schedule 1 to the BT Licence; and

(b) as regards the Kingston Licences, of those conditions other than—

(i) condition VTD2 (publication of and access to information) to the extent that it applies to the requirement in paragraph 9 of Schedule 2 to these Regulations; and

(ii) condition VTD11 (cost accounting principles) ,

as Part 4 of Schedule 1 to the Kingston Licences

and the conditions inserted into each of the relevant Licences pursuant to this regulation are, in relation to that licence, referred to for the purposes of these Regulations as “the Voice Telephony Conditions”.

(2) For the purposes of the Act, the modifications of the relevant Licences by paragraph (1) of this regulation shall have effect as if they were made under section 12 of the Act by the Director.

Section 4 List of headings for information to be published

Schedule 2 to these Regulations shall have effect for the purpose of specifying the list of headings for information to be published (pursuant to Article 4 of and Annex I to the Voice Telephony Directive) as required by Condition VTD2 of the Voice Telephony Conditions and regulation 7 below (in these Regulations referred to as the “list of headings”).

Section 5 Supply-time and quality-of-service indicators

(1) Schedule 3 to these Regulations shall have effect for the purpose of specifying the supply-time and quality-of-service indicators (in these Regulations referred to as the “target indicators”) which, in accordance with Article 5 of and Annex II to the Voice Telephony Directive, are required by Condition VTD3 of the Voice Telephony Conditions to be set and published.

(2) The Director shall review at least every three years the definitions, measurement methods and targets in respect of the target indicators.

(3) Regulations under section 27A of the Act are not to have effect in relation to any relevant Licensee in so far as that power is exercisable in respect of the target indicators for services to which the Voice Telephony Directive applies.

Section 6 List of advanced facilities

(1) Paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 to these Regulations shall have effect for the purpose of specifying the list of the advanced facilities which must, subject to technical feasibility and economic viability, be provided in accordance with Article 9(1) of and Annex III (1) to the Voice Telephony Directive and Condition VTD7 of the Voice Telephony Conditions.

(2) The Director shall facilitate and encourage in accordance with Article 9(2) of and Annex III(2) to the Voice Telephony Directive provision of the services and facilities listed in paragraph 2 of Schedule 4 to these Regulations, in accordance with the VTD technical standards.

(3) Where any of the services and facilities referred to in paragraph (2) above are not already offered by a relevant Licensee, the Director shall, taking into account the state of network development, market demand and progress with standardisation, encourage the setting of dates for the introduction by that relevant Licensee of such services and facilities.

Section 7 Publication of information by the Director

(1) The Director shall from time to time publish, or ensure that there are published, adequate and up-to-date information on access to and use of the fixed public telephone network and voice telephony service according to paragraphs 1, 3, 4, 5 and 10 of the list of headings.

(2) The information referred to in paragraph (1) above shall be published in such a way as to provide easy access for users to that information; and the Director shall publish references to the publication of that information and to the information published by the relevant Licensees in accordance with Condition VTD2 in the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes, save that where the reference is to information which relates solely to Kingston upon Hull City Council and Kingston Communications (Hull) PLC, the Director need only publish the reference in the London Gazette.

Section 8 Technical standards

(1) The Director shall encourage the provision of services according to the standards listed below:

(a) standards published in the Official Journal of the European Communities, in accordance with Article 5 of the ONP Framework Directive;

(b) in the absence of such standards, European standards adopted by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute ( ETSI ) (hereinafter referred to as “ETSI”), the European Committee for Standardization ( CEN ) (hereinafter referred to as “CEN”) or the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (Cenelec) (hereinafter referred to as (“Cenelec”);

(c) in the absence of such standards, international standards or recommendations adopted by the International Telecommunications Union ( ITU ), the International Organization for Standardization ( ISO ) or the International Electrotechnical Commission ( IEC ); or

(d) in the absence of such standards, standards designated under section 22(6) of the Act or specifications,

and in these Regulations, a reference to “the VTD technical standards” is a reference to such of the standards referred to in sub-paragraphs (a) to (d) above as may be applicable.

(2) The Director shall encourage the progressive introduction of public pay-telephones conforming to harmonised standards.

(3) In paragraph (2) above, a “harmonised standard” is a standard drawn up by ETSI, CEN or Cenelec at the request of the Commission for a harmonised telephone pre-payment card suitable for use in pay-telephones in all member States, and for associated network interface standards, in order to make it possible for pre-payment cards issued in one member State to be used in other member States, pursuant to Article 18.1 of the Voice Telephony Directive.

Section 9 Conciliation of dispute resolution

(1) Where there is a dispute concerning an alleged infringement of the provisions of the Voice Telephony Directive and which involves an organisation providing fixed public telecommunication services in another member State to whom the Voice Telephony Directive is applied, a user or a relevant Licensee may invoke the conciliation procedure provided for in Article 27(3) and (4) of that Directive by means of a written notification to the Director and to the Commission.

(2) Where following such a notification the Director finds that there is a case for further examination he may refer the matter to the Chairman of the ONP Committee.

VTD1.1 Interpretation

In this Part

(a) “fixed public telephone network” means the public switched telecommunications network which is used, among other things, for the provision of voice telephony service between network termination points at fixed locations;

“list of headings” has the meaning given by Condition VTD2.1 of these Conditions;

“the ONP Framework Directive” means Council Directive 90/387/EEC on the establishment of the internal market for telecommunications services through the implementation of open network provision;

“ the Regulations ” means the Telecommunications (Voice Telephony) Regulations 1997;

“the Voice Telephony Directive” means Directive 95/62/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the application of open network provision (ONP) to voice telephony;

“voice telephony service” means the commercial provision for the public of direct transport of real-time speech via the public switched telephone network or networks such that any user can use equipment connected to a network termination point to communicate with another user of equipment connected to another network termination point;

“target indicators” has the meaning given by Condition VTD3.1;

“users” means end-users, including consumers (for example, residential end-users), and service providers (including both relevant Licensees within the meaning of the Regulations and telecommunications organisations in other member States) which provide services which are or may be provided also by others; and

“the VTD technical standards” has the meaning given by regulation 8 of the Regulations; and

(b) words and expressions used shall unless the context otherwise requires have the same meaning as in the Regulations;

(c) the Voice Telephony Conditions being Conditions which are inserted for the purposes of the application of the Voice Telephony Directive to the Licensee shall accordingly be construed in accordance with that Directive and with the ONP Framework Directive; and

(d) in the event of any conflict between any provision of the Voice Telephony Conditions and any provision of any other Condition of this Licence, the latter provision shall, to the extent of such conflict, be taken to be disapplied.

VTD2.1 Publication of and access to information

The Licensee shall from time to time publish adequate and up-to-date information on access to and use of its fixed public telephone network and voice telephony service in accordance with the relevant paragraphs of the list of headings in Schedule 2 to the Regulations (in these Voice Telephony Conditions referred to as “the list of headings”).

VTD2.2 Publication of and access to information

For the purposes of this condition, the relevant paragraphs of the list of headings are paragraphs 2, 5, 6, 7 (in respect of targets for the introduction of the services and facilities referred to in paragraph 2 of Schedule 4 to the Regulations), 8, 9, 11, 12 and 13.

VTD2.3 Publication of and access to information

Changes in existing service offerings and information on new offerings shall be published by the Licensee as soon as possible.

VTD2.4 Publication of and access to information

The manner of publication laid down for the purposes of this Condition and Conditions VTD3, VTD7, VTD8 and VTD10 is that information shall be published in such a way as to provide easy access for users to that information.

VTD3.1 Targets for supply time and quality-of-service

The Licensee shall from time to time set targets for the supply-time and quality-of-service indicators listed in Schedule 3 to the Regulations (“the target indicators”).

VTD3.2 Targets for supply time and quality-of-service

The Licensee shall—

(a) publish targets for the target indicators; and

(b) publish annually definitions, measurement methods and the Licensee’s performance in relation to the targets;

in the manner laid down in Condition VTD2.4.

VTD4.1 Conditions for the termination of offerings

The Licensee shall not terminate a service offering for access to and use of its fixed public telephone networks and public telephony services until such offering has continued for a reasonable period of time.

VTD4.2 Conditions for the termination of offerings

The Licensee may—

(a) terminate a service offering; or

(b) make a change to such offering that materially alters the use that can be made of it,

only after consultation with users affected and upon what is, in the opinion of the Director, an appropriate public notice period.

VTD4.3 Conditions for the termination of offerings

Without prejudice to any other right of appeal provided for by law, users may bring before the Director cases where the users affected do not agree with the termination date envisaged by the Licensee.

VTD5.1 User contracts

The Licensee’s contracts with users to access for and use of its fixed public telephone networks and public telephony services shall specify the service to be provided by the Licensee.

VTD5.2 User contracts

Subject to paragraph VTD5.6, the Licensee shall, as a general rule, if the contracted service quality levels are not met, provide compensation and/or refund arrangements. Any exceptions to this rule must be justified by the Licensee and made clear in the users’ contracts.

VTD5.3 User contracts

The Licensee shall respond to a request for connection to its fixed public telephone network without delay and shall give the user an estimated date for provision of service.

VTD5.4 User contracts

The Licensee shall make such alteration to the conditions of user contracts and the conditions of any compensation/refund schemes used by the Licensee as the Director may direct.

VTD5.5 User contracts

The Licensee’s contracts with users shall contain a summary of the method of initiating procedures for the settlement of disputes.

VTD5.6 User contracts

The making of compensation or of a refund pursuant to the arrangements referred to in paragraph VTD5.2 in respect of any failure to meet contracted service quality levels shall not prejudice any other remedy which may be available in respect of the act or omission which constituted that failure.

VT6.1 Variation of published conditions

Where in response to a particular request the Licensee considers it unreasonable to provide a connection to its fixed public telephone network under its published tariffs and supply conditions, the Licensee may vary either or both those tariffs and conditions in that case with the agreement of the Director.

VTD7.1 Provision of advanced facilities

The Licensee shall, subject to technical feasibility and economic viability, provide the facilities listed in paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 to the Regulations, in accordance with the VTD technical standards.

VTD8.1 Special network access

Where the Licensee receives a request from users other than—

(a) operators of public mobile telephony services; or

(b) another organisation which is a relevant Licensee within the meaning of the Regulations, or an organisation to which another member State has applied the Voice Telephony Directive in accordance with Article 26(2), in either case when such organisation is providing a voice telephony service,

for access to its fixed public telephone network at network termination points other than those referred to in Schedule 2 to the Regulations, the following provisions of this Condition shall apply.

VTD8.2 Special network access

The Licensee shall respond to reasonable requests. Where in response to a particular request the Licensee considers it unreasonable to provide the special network access requested, it may with the consent of the Director restrict or deny that access. The Director shall consult users affected before taking a decision upon a request for such consent.

VTD8.3 Special network access

Where the Licensee denies a request for special network access, the Licensee shall give the user making the request a prompt and reasoned explanation as to why the request has been refused; however this provision shall not apply to any action taken for the enforcement of Conditions included in any Licence granted under section 7 of the Act (including this Licence) in conformity with European Community law or to proceedings before a court in the United Kingdom.

VTD8.4 Special network access

Subject to intervention by the Director in accordance with or to enforce the provisions of this Condition, technical and commercial arrangements for special network access shall be a matter for agreement between the parties involved. The agreement may include reimbursement to the Licensee of the costs incurred among other things in providing the network access requested; those charges shall fully respect the principles of cost orientation set out in Annex II to the ONP Framework Directive.

VTD8.5 Special network access

The Licensee shall offer conditions of special network access which meet the requirements that they are non-discriminatory, are fair and reasonable for both parties and offer the greatest benefit to all users affected.

VTD8.6 Special network access

The Licensee shall enter into and implement agreements in an efficient and timely manner and shall ensure that such agreements include reasonable conditions on conformity with relevant standards, compliance with essential requirements and/or the maintenance of end-to-end quality.

VTD8.7 Special network access

The Licensee shall make available to the Director on request details of agreements for special network access.

VTD9.1 Interconnection

This Condition shall have effect in relation to requests for interconnection with the Licensee’s fixed public telephone network from—

(a) organisations providing fixed public telephone networks in other member States being organisations to whom the Voice Telephony Directive applies; and

(b) any person to whom the Secretary of State has granted a Licence under section 7 of the Act to run telecommunication systems by means of which the Licensee may provide public mobile telephony services; and

(c) operators of public mobile telephony services in other member States whose names have been notified in accordance with Article 26.3 of the Voice Telephony Directive,

only where the Licensee is not required to effect such interconnection under any other Condition of the Licence.

VTD9.2 Interconnection

No reasonable request for interconnection in the case of organisations and persons specified in VTD9.1(a) and (b) shall be refused by the Licensee without the prior consent of the Director.

VTD9.3 Interconnection

No request for interconnection from operators specified in VTD9.1(c) may be refused without the consent of the Director.

VTD9.4 Interconnection

Technical and commercial arrangements for interconnection pursuant to this Condition shall be a matter for agreement between the parties involved, subject to meeting the requirements set out in Conditions VTD8.5 and VTD8.6.

VTD9.5 Interconnection

The Licensee shall make available to the Director, upon request, details of interconnection agreements entered into pursuant to this Condition.

VTD10.1 Tariff principles and transparency

The Licensee’s tariffs for use of its fixed public telephone network and voice telephony service shall follow the basic principles of transparency and cost orientation set out in Annex II to the ONP Framework Directive.

VTD10.2 Tariff principles and transparency

Tariffs for access to and use of the Licensee’s fixed public telephone network shall be independent of the type of application which the users implement, except to the extent that they require different services or facilities.

VTD10.3 Tariff principles and transparency

Tariffs for facilities additional to the provision of connection to the Licensee’s fixed public telephone network and provision of voice telephony service shall, in accordance with European Community law, be sufficiently unbundled, so that the user is not required to pay for facilities which are not necessary for the service requested.

VTD10.4 Tariff principles and transparency

Tariffs shall normally contain the following elements, each of which should be itemised separately for the user—

an initial charge for connection to the Licensee’s fixed public telephone network and subscription to the voice telephony service,

a periodic rental charge based on the type of service and facilities selected by the user,

usage charges which may, among other things, take account of peak and off-peak periods.

When other tariff elements are applied, they must be transparent and based on objective criteria.

VTD10.5 Tariff principles and transparency

Without prejudice to the requirements of any other Condition in this Licence regarding publication, tariffs shall be published by the Licensee in the manner laid down in Condition VTD2.4.

VTD11.1 Cost accounting principles

The Licensee shall operate a cost accounting system suitable for the implementation of Condition VTD10 and ensure that compliance with such a system is verified by a competent body which is independent of the Licensee. A statement concerning compliance shall be published by the Licensee periodically.

VTD11.2 Cost accounting principles

The Licensee shall make available on request a description of the cost accounting system showing the main categories under which costs are gathered and the rules used for the allocation of costs to the voice telephony service.

VTD11.3 Cost accounting principles

Without prejudice to paragraph VTD11.4, the system referred to in paragraph VTD11.1 shall include the following elements—

(a) the costs of the voice telephony service shall in particular include the direct costs incurred by the Licensee in setting up, operating and maintaining the voice telephony service and in marketing and billing the service;

(b) common costs, that is to say costs which can be directly assigned to neither the voice telephony service nor other activities, shall be allocated as follows—

(i) whenever possible, common cost categories shall be allocated on the basis of direct analysis of the origin of the costs themselves;

(ii) when direct analysis is not possible, common cost categories shall be allocated on the basis of an indirect linkage to another cost category or group of cost categories for which a direct assignment or allocation is possible; the indirect linkage shall be based on comparable cost structures;

(iii) when neither direct nor indirect measures of cost allocation can be found, the cost category shall be allocated on the basis of a general allocator, computed by using the ratio of all expenses directly or indirectly assigned or allocated, on the one hand, to the voice telephony service and, on the other hand, to other services.

VTD11.4 Cost accounting principles

Other cost accounting systems may be applied if—

(a) they are suitable for the implementation of Condition VTD10;

(b) they comply with any other relevant Conditions of this Licence and any decisions taken by the Director under such other Conditions; and

(c) the Director has consented to them, subject to the Commission of the European Communities being informed prior to their application.

VTD11.5 Cost accounting principles

Detailed accounting information shall be made available to the Director on request and in confidence.

VTD12.1 Technical standards

The Licensee shall inform users on request of standards or specifications, including any European and/or international standards, in accordance with which the services and facilities to which the Voice Telephony Directive applies are provided.