Electronic communication services as a fixed location and nomadic VoIP services (determination of 03.03.2011, changed on 27.03.2014)

Preamble

1. Having regard to the need to:

• reformulate the statistical information collected on a quarterly basis on electronic communications services at a fixed location so that its compilation is according to the current needs of ICP-ANACOM;
• respond to requests for information from external entities, including the European Commission;
• adapt the previous Fixed telephone service questionnaire, as approved by determination of ICP-ANACOM's Management Board of 13 November 2003, to the new regulatory, technological and commercial realities of these markets;
• ensure consistency among responses in the case of providers which provide more than one service;
• streamline information compilation procedures, including through the merger of questionnaires and concentration of compilation procedures; and
• reduce the burden placed on providers in terms of compiling statistical information,

the Management Board of ICP-ANACOM has approved a new quarterly questionnaire of electronic communications services provided at a fixed location and nomadic VoIP.

2. The present questionnaire replaces and incorporates the indicators previously included in the following questionnaires:

• Fixed telephone service questionnaire, as approved by determination of the Management Board of ICP-ANACOM of 13 November 2003;
• Nomadic VoIP questionnaire, as approved by determination of the Management Board of ICP-ANACOM of 25 May 2006;
• Internet access service (at a fixed location) questionnaire, as approved by determination of the Management Board of ICP-ANACOM of 19 December 2007;
• Sections 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 of the questionnaire on Fixed Retail and Interconnection Services for the purposes of relevant market definition and SMP assessment - Fixed Retail and Interconnection Services, approved by determination of 9 November 2006);
• The indicators on revenues in the current questionnaire on the Subscription Television Service (TVS), as approved on 30 January 2008.

Upon the entry into force of the present questionnaire and upon commencement of transmission of information now requested, the above questionnaires, as well as, for the purpose of defining relevant markets and SMP assessment - Fixed Retail and Interconnection Services, sections 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 of the questionnaire on Fixed Retail and Interconnection Services (SMP Questionnaire), will be discontinued.

The current questionnaire has incorporated a set of indicators on Subscription Television Service (TVS) customers, albeit not reported by municipality. Meanwhile, the STV service questionnaire will remain in force, but on an annual basis, with the exception of indicators on revenues that will be discontinued with the entry into force of the present questionnaire. (The information to be reported annually should only contain the values as at the end of the year).

Following adoption of the present questionnaire, ICP-ANACOM will publish a revised schedule of the requirements to submit statistical information in force and inform providers of their obligations in this area.

3. In general terms, the aim is to compile indicators on accesses, customers, traffic and revenues which make it possible to characterise, in particular, the development and usage of services and to evaluate the development of competition in the provision of these services. The information compiled may also be used by ICP-ANACOM for the purposes of conducting market analyses, and is also requested by various international institutions for the purpose of assessing the development of the sector in different countries and to evaluate the implementation of regulatory measures.

The required indicators are as follows:

a) Information on accesses:

a1) Information on the number of accesses to the fixed telephone service (FTS), reported by type of support and type of access.
This information was already required under the previous quarterly FTS survey, albeit with differences in terms of the breakdown of data by technological support. In the present questionnaire, own infrastructure is to be reported by "copper", "coaxial cable", Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) and with the addition of "PLC", "FTTH/B", "GSM/GPRS/UMTS/CDMA" and "BWA"; third-party infrastructure sees the addition of two new categories: "ORLA", "Resale", "Unbundled access to the optical fibre loop" and "Access to optical fibre at the terminal segment". This new breakdown of data stems from the need to adapt indicators to the new technological realities and to the Commission Recommendation on regulated access to next generation access networks (NGA)¹, and also from the need to respond to requests for information received from international institutions, including from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and European Competitive Telecommunications Associations (ECTA). This information will also be used, in particular, for the purposes of internal analysis and the production of publications by ICP-ANACOM;

a2) A new type of access had been introduced: "Voice over Internet service (VoIP/VoB) accesses".  ICP-ANACOM intends to follow the development of this service given its increasing penetration;

a3) Compared to the previous FTS questionnaire, the breakdown of data by type of support of own stock and of public pay-telephones, of analogue and digital accesses and by segment (Residential / Non Residential) has been eliminated. The xDSL access indicators on type of access and type of support and the indicator on main telephone accesses have been eliminated;

a4) The information on the different types of FTS access (direct and indirect) is used in particular to analyse possible different competitive dynamics;

a5) Data on the number of retail Internet broadband accesses by technology type was already required under the previous quarterly questionnaire on the Internet access service at a fixed location (IAS). However, an additional breakdown of data is required for FTTH/B accesses, separating own network accesses from accesses which make use of the wholesale offers covered by EC Recommendation of 20/09/2010 on regulated access to NGA1.

A breakdown of data reported by access technology is particularly important in order to assess how competition is developing in this market, particularly with regard to the means used by alternative operators to launch their offers. This data is also essential to respond to the questionnaires of the Communications Committee (COCOM), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the ITU;

a6) Data on the number of retail broadband Internet accesses by class of service (defined in terms of downstream speed) and on the number of wi-fi hotspots was already required in the annual electronic communications questionnaire, albeit reported by different speed intervals. However, it is considered essential to compile this information with a more regular frequency (six-monthly) to be able to respond to international questionnaires, including the questionnaire of COCOM.

Compared to the annual electronic communications questionnaire, a new speed interval has been included, making it possible to evaluate progress towards the objective laid down in the 2015 Digital Agenda to accomplish 100% fixed NGN coverage (>= 50 Mbps).

A breakdown of data on retail broadband Internet accesses by class of service is also important to assess the evolution of the service, and may also be useful for the preparation of price development and comparison reports;

b) Information about customers:

b1) With regard to FTS indicators, information is required on the number of direct and indirect access customers, by type of access and by customer segment (residential and non-residential). These indicators were already required in previous FTS questionnaires (quarterly, six-monthly, annual and SMP questionnaire).

The required breakdown of data is relevant for analysis of the evolution of the service and essential to carry out analysis of relevant markets and respond to international questionnaires, including questionnaires from ECTA and the European Commission (EC).

The indicator on the number of direct access customers with ported numbers has been discontinued, since this data has been included in the six-monthly portability questionnaire, together with the requirement to give a breakdown of the number of customers of special numbers (800, 808 and 809, 884, 707 and 708, 760 prefixes);

b2) As requested in the previous quarterly Nomadic VoIP service questionnaire, the present questionnaire includes indicators on the number of this service's active customers (according to ICP-ANACOM determination of 25 May 2006). The indicator on the number of nomadic VoIP service customers with ported numbers has been discontinued.

b3) Data on the number of IAS customers is also required, reported by bandwidth and customer segment (residential / non-residential). These indicators are already covered by the previous questionnaire.

Compilation of data on the number of customers makes it possible to determine, in particular, the service's penetration and its development over time. This information is also compiled by various international institutions for the purpose of assessing broadband trends in different countries.

A breakdown of data by bandwidth is necessary to obtain an overview of the service's level of use and to keep track of migration to broadband.

The requirement for a breakdown of data on customers by type of technology included in the previous questionnaire on IAS at a fixed location has been eliminated.

b4) Data on the number of customers of the STV service, reported by technology. This information is already compiled through the quarterly STV service questionnaire, but with a greater level of detail (by municipality) and makes it possible to monitor the evolution of the service according to the various technological platforms.

This information is needed to respond to periodical international questionnaires, including from the EC and ITU;

b5) To reflect market trends, indicators have been introduced on bundled offers.

The importance and relevance of bundled offers has increased, and it essential to have an understanding of the evolution of the various services and markets. This information is also required to respond to international institutions, including the EC. In the previous IAS and STVS questionnaires, data was already requested on the number of bundles and revenues by bundle.

In the present questionnaire, the definition of bundles of services has been changed. In accordance with the definition adopted by the EC, the reference to integrated tariff has been eliminated. In the present questionnaire, a 'Bundle of Services' means a commercial offer of a single operator which includes two or more services (fixed telephone service, broadband internet access service, subscription television service, mobile telephone service, mobile broadband internet access service, etc.) and which is sold as a single offer with a single bill.

As regards data on the number of customers of services offered as a bundle, the intention is to compile data on the number of customers by type of bundle, i.e. according to the services included in the bundle;

c) Information on traffic:

The indicators on traffic are generally in line with those previously required under the FTS, IAS and nomadic VoIP questionnaires, the objective being to compile information as required to analyse usage and to respond to requests from international organisations, including the EC.

c1) Data is required on FTS calls and minutes, reported by type of traffic and type of access (direct/indirect), as required in the previous FTS questionnaire, albeit with some simplifications:

• The requirement for a breakdown of data by means of access for direct access calls and minutes has been eliminated.
• Section I.7 of the previous FTS questionnaire, on the number of SMS originated on the fixed network, has been eliminated.
• The requirement for a breakdown of data by type of access (direct and indirect) in the indicator on national traffic to numbers with 800, 802, 808, 809, 707, 708 and 760 prefixes and the internet access traffic indicator have been eliminated.

A new indicator has been introduced to measure data traffic generated by FTS customers (in GB), as required to respond to international questionnaires, including from the EC;

c2) Nomadic VoIP traffic (calls and minutes) is reported by destination of calls (national and international), see determination of 25 May 2006.

c3) The indicator on IAS traffic remains unaltered from the previous questionnaire, making it possible to evaluate the intensity of the service's use by customers and to respond to various requests from international institutions on this issue, including the EC and ITU.

d) Information on revenues.

The compilation of data on revenues makes it possible to analyse the evolution of services with different specifications and with distinct tariffs. The following indicators on revenues have been introduced in this questionnaire:

d1) Data is required on revenues from stand-alone services, including FTS, nomadic VoIP, IAS and STVS, excluding revenues derived from services when offered within a bundle of services;

d2) FTS revenues are reported by type of revenue (subscription and traffic), as already reported under the previous questionnaire. New breakdowns of communications revenue data were added, in order to avoid previously detected ambiguities. The requirement for a breakdown of data on revenues by type of access has been eliminated;

d3) Data on nomadic VoIP service revenues is reported with separation between traffic and subscription revenues, whereas the requirement for a breakdown of data by type of traffic, as required in the previous questionnaire on this service, has been eliminated;

d4) Data on IAS and STVS revenues was already required in the previous quarterly questionnaires on the respective services. However, it should be taken into account that, contrary to requirements under the previous indicators, revenues should now be excluded where derived from services provided within a bundle of services, even when it is possible to obtain a separate value for the service concerned;

d5) With regard to revenues from services offered in bundles, the aim is to compile data according to type of bundle, i.e., according to the services incorporated in the bundle;

The integrated compilation of these values will avoid duplication and makes it possible to respond to requests from various international organisations, including the EC and ITU.

4. Operators/service providers are granted a specified period to implement these indicators.

Operators/providers are required to send this information regularly as from 3rd quarter 2011 (inclusive).

In cases where the information is not immediately available, operators/service providers are required to:

• supply estimates of the values in question, setting out the assumptions used to calculate them;
• supply definitive information no later than the quarter following the closure of the company's accounts for the year to which the statistics refer;

As from this date, the information given for the year in question shall be considered final. Any inaccuracies detected or reported subsequent to this date may be deemed as constituting a failure to comply with the obligations to submit information pursuant to current legislation.

5. The information compiled in this context may be published by ICP-ANACOM.

6. In the future, this form may be completed by extranet. In the meantime, providers are required to submit statistical information in electronic format, preferably using the file provided for the purpose.

7. Notwithstanding other one-off requests for information, the set of indicators in Annex are to be submitted to ICP-ANACOM by providers of electronic communications services at a fixed location (FTS, IAS, STVS, Nomadic VoIP), including the following operators/providers:

• ECN - cable distribution network;
• ECN - public communications network;
• ECN - Fixed telephone network;
• ECN - LAN-wireless network;
• Resale of telephone services at a fixed location;
• Resale of Internet access service;
• Resale of voice telephone traffic;
• Internet access service;
• Access to the Public Telephone Network at a fixed location;
• Distribution of television signals;
• Digital Satellite TV distribution service (DTH);
• Public pay-telephones;
• Virtual private networks (VPN) service;
• GFU voice transport service;
• Nomadic use voice over internet (VoIP) service;
• Telephone service at a fixed location.

no later than on the thirtieth day of the month following the end of each calendar quarter, pursuant to article 108 and to point f) of paragraph 1 of article 109 of Law no. 5/2004 of 10 February.

The information in question is to be sent via Extranet (when available), or by e-mail to dee.stats@anacom.pt.

Clarifications may be obtained using the above contact details as required.