Ministerial Order no. 886/2003, of 16 of January

Published in D.R. number 13 (Series II) of 16 January 2003

Ministério da Economia (Ministry of Economy)
Gabinete do Ministro (Minister's Office)

Ministerial Order

Following a consultation carried out by ICP - Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ICP-ANACOM) to the UMTS license holders as well as to equipment manufacturers and suppliers, in December of this year, it was noted that the current level of progress of the UMTS networks of the licensed entities is considerably behind that which would be necessary for the commercial launching of the UMTS services on the presently appointed date (31 December 2002), under the terms of the proposals presented to tender, as well as the unavailability of network equipment and terminals thoroughly tested and with standard solutions.

Therefore, having regard to the opinion delivered by ICP-ANACOM on the State and Forecast of the Implementation of UMTS Systems and pursuant to paragraph 2 of article 13, as read in conjunction with the provision of paragraph 1b) of article 18, both of Decree-law n.º 381-A/97, of 30 December, I hereby determine:

1. To extend up to 31 December 2003 the time limit given to UMTS operators qualified to operate systems of international mobile telecommunications (IMT2000/UMTS) for the actual start of the licensed activity, the conditions of licenses granted being accordingly amended.

2. To maintain all the obligations covered by the licenses granted to the operators of the IMT2000/UMTS systems, namely, the ones which regard the projects concerning the information society development, which should be carried out under the terms provided for the GSM/GPRS system, where appropriate and to the extent that it is technically feasible.

3. To apply in 2003 a fee for the usage of the radio spectrum attached to void value UMTS services, regarding operators who start their activity in the course of that year.

4. The Ministerial Order no. 111/MES/2001, of 24 October 2001 is hereby repealed.

Lisbon, 30 December 2002 - The Minister for the  economy - Carlos Manuel Tavares da Silva.