Ministério da Economia (Minister for Economy)
Administrative Rule
(This is not an official translation of the law)
Administrative Rule no. 1473-B/2008 of 17 December, as rectified by Statement of Rectification no. 16-A/2009 of 13 February and amended by Administrative Rules nos. 567/2009 of 27 May, 1307/2009 of 19 October, 291-A/2011 of 4 November and 296-A/2013 of 2 October, approved the amount of fees payable to ICP - Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ICP-ANACOM).
Under this Administrative Rule, the following fees were encompassed by a single document: fees provided for in article 105 of Law no. 5/2004 of 10 February (Electronic Communications Law), as amended and republished by Law no. 51/2011 of 13 September, and subsequently amended by Laws nos. 10/2013 of 28 January and 42/2013 of 3 July - specifically the fees due in respect of the issuance by ICP-ANACOM of statements supporting rights, in respect of the exercise of the activity of supplier of electronic communications networks and services, the allocation of rights of use of frequencies and numbering and for the use of frequencies and numbering - as well as other fees scattered in administrative rules and orders that implemented the respective establishing instruments.
Since they concern the public domain of the State, it is important that fees payable for the use of frequencies are reviewed periodically, in order to ensure the effective management of resources and their efficient use and to ensure they reflect the intrinsic value of allocated radio spectrum. The fees payable for the use of frequencies for terrestrial electronic communications services and mobile services were last amended by Administrative Rule no. 291-A/2011 of 4 November, which resulted in a general reduction in the fees then in force by setting a reference value of 60,000 euros/MHz. Given that two years have elapsed since this last review, and considering the dynamic nature of the market and, in particular, the nature of the frequencies in question, a further review of the amount of these fees is now warranted.
In this respect, note is made of the substantial evolution occurring since 2011 in the area of mobile communications, in particular following the auction for the allocation of rights of use of frequencies in the 450 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2.1 GHz and 2.6 GHz bands (the rules governing which were approved by ICP-ANACOM Regulation no. 560-A/2011 of 19 October, as rectified by Statement no. 1606/2011 of 26 October). In fact, according to available statistics covering other European countries, Portugal is one of the best positioned countries in terms of the deployment of mobile networks, particularly in terms of technologies supporting provision of fourth generation services, such as LTE (Long Term Evolution), with coverage in Portugal substantially ahead of the European average; this is reflected in the proliferation of convergent offers, with added value to the market. Meanwhile, significant developments in mobile technology are expected over the near future (in particular with the adoption of the LTE-Advanced standard), which will enable the provision of additional capacity, particularly as regards transmission speeds, latency and other technical functionality. In conjunction with a spectrum management policy aimed at progressively more flexible use, this will enable an expansion to the provision of convergent services based on high-speed data transmission.
Therefore, the reference value associated with fees due for the use of frequencies for terrestrial electronic communications services and mobile services is raised to 82,000 euros/MHz.
The value now established is without prejudice to the transitional arrangements set out in Administrative Rule no. 291-A/2011 of 4 November as regards existing geographic restrictions to operation in the 800 MHz band.
Accordingly:
The Government, through the Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport and Communications, and in the use of the powers delegated under paragraphs 3.1. and 3.5. of Order no. 12100/2013 of the Minister of the Economy, as published in the 2nd Series of the Diário da República (Official Journal) no. 183 of 23 September 2013, and in compliance with paragraphs 3 of article 105 of Law no. 5/2004 of 10 February, as amended and republished by Law no. 51/2011 of 13 September, and subsequently amended by Laws nos. 10/2013 of 28 January and 42/2013 of 3 July, with paragraph 7 of article 19 of Decree-Law no. 151-A/2000 of 20 July, as amended and republished by Decree-Law no. 264/2009 of 28 September, and subsequently amended by Law no. 20/2012 of 14 May, hereby orders as follows:
Article 1
Amendment of Annex IV to Administrative Rule no. 1473-B/2008 of 17 December
1 - Paragraph 1.1 of annex IV to Administrative Rule no. 1473-B/2008 of 17 December, as rectified by Statement of Rectification no. 16-A/2009 of 13 February, and amended by Administrative Rules nos. 567/2009 of 27 May, 1307/2009 of 19 October, 291-A/2011 of 4 November and 296-A/2013 of 2 October, is amended to read as follows:
"1.1 - Fees due in respect of the use of frequencies assigned to terrestrial electronic communications services:
(see original document)
2 - Paragraphs 1.2.1, 1.2.2 and 1.2.3 of annex IV to Administrative Rule no. 1473-B/2008 of 17 December, as rectified by Statement of Rectification no. 16-A/2009 of 13 February, and amended by Administrative Rules nos. 567/2009 of 27 May, 1307/2009 of 19 October, 291-A/2011 of 4 November and 296-A/2013 of 2 October, are amended to read as follows:
"1.2.1 - Mobile Trunking Service
(see original document)
1.2.2 - Land mobile service:
(see original document)
1.2.3 - Land mobile service - railway system (GSM-R) communications: fee applicable for 'area of 'service' and per megahertz:
(see original document)
Where:
A is the area of service, in square kilometres, calculated as follows:
A = L*10
where:
L is the length (extension) in kilometres of the national rail network (currently 2600 km);
10 represents the reference value in kilometres, which is assumed as the width of the associated rail corridor, equal to the typical average distance between network base stations, deployed along the corridor;
S is the total area of the national territory of Portugal: 92 002 km2;
Fr represents the reference fee per megahertz (82 000 euros/MHz).
The applicable fee is reduced by 50% in the first three years of the radio-electronic license where due in respect of the allocation of spectrum for the establishment of new radiocommunications networks."
Article 2
Entry into force
The present Administrative Rule enters into force on the day following its publication.
Secretary of State for Infrastructure, Transport and Communications, Sérgio Paulo Lopes da Silva Monteiro, 30 December 2013.
