Deferment of the deadline to execute set in the ANACOM determination dated 16/1/2004 and definition of an access dialling code in the NNP characterised by a single retail price per call made to numbers beginning with that dialling code
1. The ANACOM Board of Administration approved by determination of 16 January 2004, after prior hearing of interested parties and hearing the opinions of the Consumer Institute and consumer associations, the maximum applicable retail prices, understood as being the prices paid by the user originating the call, for calls to the ''707'', ''708'' and ''809'' numbering ranges. The same determination stipulated that the deadline to implement such measures was 1 February 2004.
2. Some telecommunications service providers informed ANACOM of problems in the full implementation of said determination, and namely presented two levels of reasons.
One has to do with the deadline set for implementation, which two providers consider to be insufficient.
The other has to do with an alleged lack of room to negotiate in the provision of services involving very short calls, generally supported by service platforms that result from significant investments, namely subscriptions or interactions in TV or radio programmes and micro-payment applications.
3. ANACOM considered the questions raised by the providers to be relevant with regard to the implementation deadline, namely the need for eventual contract modifications with customers of the said number ranges, and so holds to be reasonable a 15-working day postponement of the deadline set for implementation of its determination dated 16 January 2004.
4. On the other hand, regarding the alleged lack of room to negotiate in the provision of some services, the existence of a dialling code for access to those services associated to a charge regardless of call time and length is considered to be advantageous, in order to provide the market in general and the providers in particular with an offer without discontinuity in their range of services.
5. In the line drawn by ANACOM to create or facilitate the existence of conditions that allow users to have an indication of the price for calls they make from the numbers they dial, the definition of a code for the new service was favoured, in which the user can intuitively associate the charge to the number dialled.
ANACOM thus understood that the dialling code 760 should be introduced in the National Numbering Plan (NNP), with a retail price of € 0.60 per call.
Under these terms, in the scope of powers envisaged in article 6, section 1, paragraphs b) and h) of the Statutes, approved by Decree-Law no. 309/2001 of 7 December, the ANACOM Board of Administration, as per paragraphs a) and b) of section 2 of article 28 of Decree-Law no. 415/98 of 31 December, determines the following:
1. To postpone for 15 working days the deadline to implement its determination dated 16 January 2004 (definition of maximum retail prices for calls to the ''707'', ''708'' and ''809'' numbering ranges).
2. To introduce in the NNP the service dialling code 760, whose maximum retail price is € 0.60 per call, regardless of call time or length.
3. To inform that the telecommunications service providers may henceforward request from ANACOM a range of 10,000 numbers with the 760 dialling code. The numbers used should obey the 9-digit format and the NNP’s criteria and principles.
Lisbon, 28 January 2004.
