ICP - Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ICP-ANACOM) is a legal person governed by public law, construed as an independent administrative entity with administrative, financial and managerial autonomy and its own assets.
It is ICP-ANACOM's mission to regulate the electronic communications market and postal sector, ensuring the existence of conditions which are conducive to the opening up of markets and increased competition, innovation and investment, enabling the development of a diverse range of competitively priced offerings which respond to consumer needs.
The aim of regulation is to promote the proper functioning of markets, providing adequate fulfilment of consumer needs, in terms of diversity of offerings and prices.
In pursuit of its activity, and in accordance with the law, it is incumbent upon ICP-ANACOM, from the outset, to control the exercise of positions of market dominance and monopolies, to promote competition and to work directly to uphold the rights of consumers.
Management of the radio spectrum is a fundamental task of the State in electronic communications markets, in the exercise of regulatory functions and also in terms of the management of public assets. In this sense, spectrum management remains a critical area of ICP-ANACOM's work, and it must be performed in light of the significant and constant evolution in the way spectrum has been used, with the continuous development of new networks and services and increased choice for users.
Also in the context of managing scarce public resources, ICP-ANACOM will continue in pursuit of the lines of action it has been following in the management of the PNN - Plano Nacional de Numeração (National Numbering Plan).
The prevailing European regulatory framework has given national regulatory authorities responsibilities with regard to the reliability and security of networks; as such ICP-ANACOM has worked extensively with a view to the adoption of appropriate measures to safeguard the security of networks and electronic communication services.
ICP-ANACOM also does important work in the activity of market supervision and surveillance. It verifies compliance with laws and regulations, its own decisions, technical requirements and activity authorisation titles, as well as the obligations which are binding upon universal service providers.
ICP-ANACOM's functions also include representation of the Portuguese State at various international bodies and organisations, and technical representation in countries outside the European Union (EU) and at various groupings of communications regulators, in pursuit of knowledge-sharing and the exchange of experience.
Finally, note should be made of ICP-ANACOM's work advising the Government. Under the terms of the law, ICP-ANACOM is called on to advise the Government, upon its own initiative or upon the request of the executive, in defining general policy for the communications sector and in the formulation of major strategy.
To carry out its mission successfully, ICP-ANACOM continually seeks to improve its performance and the quality of its decision-making. To be more agile, more efficient, to have the ability to anticipate developments facing the sector in the future, making the regulatory process faster and more capable of keeping up with the rapid evolution of regulated markets - these are challenges that the regulator must face on a daily basis.
Nevertheless, it is essential to maintain a stable regulatory framework and to ensure predictability in decision-making, so that operators and service providers are able to grow their businesses and pursue their investments in an environment conducive to innovation, without fear of unwarranted regulatory disruption.
In exercising its powers, ICP-ANACOM seeks to deliver regulation that is, as far as possible, proportionate, rigorous and non-intrusive, intervening only to remedy market failures and distortions to healthy competition, to safeguard end-user interests, and to safeguard the integrity and security of networks and electronic communications services and access to emergency communications.
Considering the impact that its decisions have on the sector's various stakeholders - consumers and businesses - ICP-ANACOM always seeks to announce its preliminary decisions in good time and always seeks input from stakeholders, submitting all decisions that have external impact to the public consultation procedure. This procedure is used to accomplish the principle of transparency, a fundamental pillar of ICP-ANACOM's regulation.
