At present, the rights of use of frequencies for provision of publicly available terrestrial electronic communications services (ICP-ANACOM Title no. 01/2012, ICP-ANACOM Title no. 02/2012 and ICP-ANACOM Title no. 03/2012, hereinafter "DUF"), as Issued by ICP-ANACOM in the names of OPTIMUS - Comunicações, S.A. (currently NOS Comunicações, S.A., hereafter "NOS"), MEO - Serviços de Comunicações e Multimédia, S.A. (hereinafter "MEO") and Vodafone Portugal - Comunicações Pessoais, S.A. (hereinafter "Vodafone") set out:
i) Coverage obligations associated with the rights of use of frequencies allocated prior to the multi-band auction (coverage in respect of voice services and data services up to 9600 bps, data services with transmission speeds of 144 Kbps and data services with transmission speeds of 384 kbps). The fulfilment of these obligations can be achieved using the rights of use of frequencies allocated subsequent to the multi-band auction, pursuant to the DUF referred to above;
ii) Coverage obligations associated with the rights of use of frequencies in the 800 MHz band, allocated subsequent to the multi-band auction, established in accordance with article 34 of the Auction Regulation1. These obligations may only be fulfilled with use of frequencies in the 800 MHz and 900 MHz bands (in the latter case, pursuant to prior notice of intent communicated to ICP-ANACOM under the terms of the DUF);
iii) Quality of service obligations for services provided using the GSM system and for services provided using the UMTS system.
For the purpose of monitoring the coverage referred to in I) and II), the quality of service obligations indicated in III) and for the purpose of monitoring the implementation of site-sharing:
A) An obligation was established in point b) of paragraph 8 of ICP-ANACOM TITLE no. 01/2012, in point b) of paragraph 8 of ICP-ANACOM TITLE no. 02/2012 and in point b) of paragraph 9 of ICP-ANACOM TITLE no. 03/2012 (see "Serviço de comunicações eletrónicas terrestreshttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=345109") whereby providers are required to send ICP-ANACOM a given set of information; the content, form, frequency, reporting periods and time-limits for submission of such information is to be established by ICP-ANACOM by means of a separate decision;
B) It was decided to maintain the obligation whereby providers are required to send the "annual questionnaire" included in Annex 2 to ICP-ANACOM Determination of 17 November 2011 (Information on coverage, quality of service, and on how to implement site-sharing, to be supplied by providers of the land mobile service (GSM / UMTS)https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1105511) and to send the "annual declaration"2 indicated in point 8-8 of this same determination and in section 5.4.b) of ICP-ANACOM Determination of of 17 May 2012 (Decision on the renewal of rights of use of frequencies allocated to Optimus in the 900 and 1800 MHz bandshttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1128261)3 until such time as the separate decision referred to above is approved. It is noted that the "annual questionnaire" in question was defined in the context of ICP-ANACOM's oversight of the coverage, quality of service and implementation of site-sharing as regards undertakings providing the Land Mobile Service, according to the GSM/UMTS systems. As such, this questionnaire includes information on the conditions associated with rights of use of frequencies allocated prior to the multi-band auction and permits only partial monitoring of compliance with the conditions laid down in the titles currently in force, since:
B.1. The questionnaire does not enable monitoring of compliance with coverage obligations associated with rights of use of frequencies in the 800 MHz band allocated subsequent to the multi-band auction. Accordingly, on 21 March 2014, ICP-ANACOM approved a questionnaire specifically for the purpose of monitoring these obligations (Annex 3 to ICP-ANACOM Determination of 21 March 2014, available at "Final decision on methodology for establishing and reviewing reference speeds associated with coverage obligations in the 800 MHz bandhttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1195476");
B.2. Furthermore, even the coverage obligations currently associated with the rights of use of frequencies allocated prior to the multi-band auction (coverage by voice services and data services up to 9600 bps, data services with transmission speeds of 144 Kbps and data services with transmission speeds of 384 kbps), which, at present, can also be accomplished using rights of use of frequencies allocated subsequent to the multi-band auction, cannot be thoroughly monitored based on the annual questionnaire in force, since this questionnaire only encompasses coverage achieved using rights of use of frequencies for the provision of the Land Mobile Service according to GSM and UMTS systems.
As such, even while ICP-ANACOM approved a questionnaire on 21 March 2014 to monitor the specific obligations referred to in B.1. (Questionnaire in Annex 3 to the ICP-ANACOM determination , available at "Final decision on methodology for establishing and reviewing reference speeds associated with coverage obligations in the 800 MHz bandhttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1195476"), in order to enable proper oversight of compliance, especially, in terms of the current coverage obligations associated with the rights of use of frequencies allocated prior to the multi-band auction, it is also necessary to adapt the annual questionnaire set out in ICP-ANACOM Determination of 17 November 2011.
Notes
1 Regulation no. 560-A/2011 of 19 October available at "Regulation of the auction to allocate rights of use of frequencies in the 450, 800, 900 and 1800 MHz and 2.1 and 2.6 GHz bandshttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=344119".
2 Declaration confirming provision, as on 31 December of the previous year, of total population coverage by voice and data services up to 9600 bps, per location with over 10,000 inhabitants and per municipality, at levels which are at least identical to the coverage levels prevailing on the date on which the respective DUF was renewed (8 July 2010, in the case of Vodafone and MEO, and 17 May 2012, in the case of the NOS) and as reported in the respective responses to the ad-hoc questionnaire. Note: the ad-hoc questionnaire for MEO and Vodafone was approved by ICP-ANACOM Determination of 17 November 2011 ("Information on coverage, quality of service, and on how to implement site-sharing, to be supplied by providers of the land mobile service (GSM / UMTS)https://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1105511"), and the ad-hoc questionnaire applicable to NOS was approved by ICP-ANACOM Determination of 17 May 2012 ("Decision on the renewal of rights of use of frequencies allocated to Optimus in the 900 and 1800 MHz bandshttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1128261").
3 See section 5.4. of ICP-ANACOM Determination of 9 March 2012 ("Decision to issue unified titles of rights of use of frequencies for terrestrial electronic communication services, subsequent to auction ") and section 5.3. of ICP-ANACOM Determination of 17 May 2012 ("Decision on the renewal of the rights of use of frequencies allocated to Optimus, in the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz frequency bandshttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=1128261").
