The Instituto das Comunicações de Portugal (ICP) has decided to suspend the use of three dialling codes by the following Audiotext suppliers: Audio Ria - Serviços de Audiotexto, Lda; Invitel Productions B.V.; Datamédia - Serviços de Telecomunicações de Valor Acrescentado, Lda; and Teleclube - Serviços de Comunicações, Lda. The companies in question were in breach of the law concerning the link between the router code used and the service provided thereby. This link is indispensable because it creates the conditions for informed consumer choice and optional selective barring of this type of services.
This decision arises following an inspection conducted by the Institute, which resulted in the detection of access to 22 lines, allocated to seven providers, by router codes, which did not correspond to the service provided.
Following this inspection, the ICP notified the providers, giving them a 24-hour period, in which to regularise this situation by blocking access to the services via the router code in question. This period expired today at mid-day. Four of these providers were still in breach, at the end of the said 24-hour period.
The said providers are as follows:
- Teleclube, which has been prohibited from using the 601 router code (intended for General Audiotext Services), for 12 months, because it was using it for erotic services;
- Audio Ria, which has been prohibited from using the 601 router code, for one year, because it continued to use it for the "Passatempo Regiões de Portugal" [Regions in Portugal Pastime ];
- Invitel, which has been suspended from the use of the 648 router code (intended for Erotic Services), for the same length of time, because the code was used for its "Linha de Tarot" [Tarot Line] service;
- Datamédia, which has been prohibited from using the 607 router code (Televote Services) for one year, because it provided access to its "Linha Previsão 2000 da Maya" [Maya's 2000 Prediction Line] via the said code.
The ICP has accordingly informed Portugal Telecom that the use of these router codes has been suspended.
The ICP, acting within the ambit of its powers granted by Decree-Law nr. 177/99, of the 21st of May, stated that the breach of the rules established in this area, infringes both the legally protected rights and interests of consumers, i.e. the right to make a clear and informed choice of the services they wish to use, and certainty and security in legal relations.
It will be recalled that, last October, as envisaged in the National Numbering Plan, the prefixes of these services were changed via the introduction of five different prefixes, in order to clarify the nature of the services to consumers and in order to permit selective barring of these services, if wished. These prefixes are as follows: 601 - General Audiotext Services; 602 - Televote Services; 608 - Sales Services; 646 - Competitions and Pastimes Services; 648 - Erotic Services.
