Direcção-Geral do Comércio e da Concorrência (Directorate-General for commerce and competition), ICP - Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ICP - National Communications Authority), PT Comunicações SA
Convention
BETWEEN THE PARTIES:
1.º The DIRECTORATE-GENERAL FOR COMMERCE AND COMPETITION, hereinafter referred to as GDCC,
2.º The ICP - NATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS AUTHORITY, hereinafter referred to as ANACOM
and
3.º PT COMUNICAÇÕES, SA, hereinafter referred to as PT Comunicações, company with head office at the Rua Andrade Corvo, n. º 6, Lisbon, with a share capital of EUR 150.000.000, registered at the Commercial Registry Office of Lisbon under the n. º 09406,
is hereby approved the Convention for the Telecommunications Universal Service, pursuant to article 11 of Decree-Law 458/99 of 5 November, which shall be ruled by the following articles:
CHAPTER I
General Provisions
1. Definitions
For the purposes of this Convention:
a) "Subscriber" shall mean any natural or legal person party to a contract, approved with PT Comunicações for the provision of the Telephone Fixed Service, also referred to as "client";
b) "Residential Client" shall mean any natural person to whom the Telephone Fixed Service is provided in the subscriber mode, intended for a non-professional use;
c) "Communication" shall mean the traffic from a network line of PT Comunicações either to PT Comunicações or to another telecommunication services operator/provider;
d) "Telephone Communication" shall mean a communication performed in the scope of the Telephone Fixed Service, provided between two termination points which correspond to PT Comunicações direct clients;
e) "Local Telephone Communication" shall mean a communication within the same local network, between local adjoining networks or between local networks which are at the most 10 km apart from each other;
f) "National Telephone Communication" shall mean a communication between local networks which are at the least 50 km apart from each other;
g) "Telephone Communication within the Country" shall mean a communication within the same local network or between different local networks;
h) "Regional Telephone Communication" shall mean a communication between local networks which are at the least 10 km apart from each other (but not adjoining) and at the most 50 km;
i) "Convention" shall mean the present instrument, approved between the Parties pursuant to article 11 of Decree-Law n. º 458/99 of 5 November;
j) "Impulse" shall mean the measure unit used for the charge of Public Pay Telephones communications;
k) "IPC" shall mean the inflation expected yearly by the Government, officially established, and entered as such every year in the Government Budget Report or in the Rectifying Budget. Where this document presents an interval, the average between the maximum and minimum values of the interval shall be taken into consideration. In case of a technical problem regarding the setting of that value, namely as to interpretation, it shall be incumbent upon the DGCC and ANACOM to present the corresponding clarifications;
l) "Parties" shall mean ANACOM, the DGCC, and PT Comunicações;
m) "Low Consumption Plan" (LCP) shall mean the optional price plan, alternative to the Tariff, intended for residential clients with a low telephone consumption;
n) "Subscription Price" shall mean the amount paid regularly by the Client for the access to the Telephone Fixed Service through an analogue network line;
o) "Communication price" shall mean the amount paid by the Client for each telephone communication, which shall comprise an initial price and a variable component, fixed by reference to the communication time;
p) "Initial Price" shall mean the amount paid by the client for each telephone communication actually performed, which shall include a specific indivisible conversation time, according to the hour bands and communication zones, referred to as time credit;
q) "Connection Price" shall mean the amount paid by the Client for the connection to the Telephone Fixed Service, through an analogue network line;
r) "Second" shall mean the time measure unit of the measure international system used to estimate the variable component of the telephone communication price according to the communication time, hour bands and communication zones;
s) "Telephone Fixed Service" (TFS) shall mean a service for the provision of direct transport of real-time speech such that any user can use equipment connected to a network termination point at a fixed location to communicate with another user of equipment connected to another termination point;
t) "User" shall mean a subscriber or any other natural or legal person using the TFS.
CHAPTER II
Scope and aims of the Convention
2. Convention Scope
2.1 - The present Convention hereby establishes the price regime applicable to the following provisions of the telecommunications Universal Service (US):
a) TFS in the subscriber mode:
Installation of the analogue network line
Subscription of the analogue network line
Telephone communications within the Country
b) TFS in the public pay telephone mode:
Telephone communications within the Country;
c) Telephone directories and information service
2.2 - The rules provided in the TFS Operation Regulation, approved by Decree-Law n. º 474/99 of 8 November, shall apply to the prices of the remaining universal service offers.
3. Principles
3.1 - The prices of the universal service offers shall take into account the progressive adjustment of prices to costs, comply with the transparency and non-discrimination principles and ensure accessibility to all users.
3.2 - The progressive adjustment to the costs and accessibility requirements concerning the provisions mentioned in paragraph 2.1 are established in articles 5, 6 and 7.
3.3 - To ensure compliance with the principles provided in paragraph 3.1, it is incumbent upon PT Comunicações:
a) to maintain a system of analytical accounting which enables the determination of costs concerning the offers provided under it;
b) to publicize the prices in force and respective application conditions.
CHAPTER III
Price Regime
4. Obligations of PT Comunicações
PT Comunicações puts itself under the obligation to comply with the rules aimed for the implementation of prices provided in the following articles, and shall not offer prices above the ones laid down by the present provisions.
5. Price Regime - subscriber mode
5.1 - The weighted average variation of the prices of the TFS provisions in the subscriber mode shall not exceed IPC - 3 p.p and IPC - 2.75 p .p, in nominal terms, for 2002 and 2003, respectively.
5.2 - The price variations provided in the previous article shall be determined based on the methodology set out in the Annex, which may be adjusted by agreement between the parties.
6. Price regime - public pay telephone mode
6.1 - The ratio between the communication price of the Telephone Fixed Service, in the public pay telephone regime and in the subscriber regime shall not exceed 2 for 2002, as an average and for each traffic type, with a maximum increase of 0.5 for each of the subsequent years the Convention remains in force, up to the limit of 3.
6.2 - Without prejudice to the provision of paragraph 6.1, where any technical limitation occurs resulting from the type of public pay telephone termination equipment, the communication price may be established according to impulses.
6.3 - PT Comunicações shall develop its public pay telephone production in order to ensure the acceptance of the different payment modes.
7. Price regime - directories and information service
7.1 - The edition and distribution of telephone directories shall be free of charge.
7.2 - The price variation of the information service shall not exceed IPC +15 p.p., for each year this Convention remains in force.
8. Price implementation
8.1 - PT Comunicações shall notify ANACOM and DGCC, at least 15(fifteen) working days ahead of time, of the tariffs to be implemented, in compliance with the provisions of articles 5, 6 and 7.
8.2 - The communications mentioned in paragraph 8.1 shall be accompanied by documents certifying that the variations allowed pursuant to article 5 are fulfilled.
8.3 - If ANACOM and DGCC do not present reasoned objections until the time limit mentioned in paragraph 8.1, tariffs shall automatically enter into force on the date determined for this purpose by PT Comunicações, without prejudice to the compliance with obligations of disclosure and/or publication in force.
8.4 - The time period referred to in paragraph 8.1 shall be suspended on the date PT Comunicações receives the clarifications or further elements requested, duly reasoned, from ANACOM or DGCC, and shall only be resumed on the day following the receiving of the reply given by PT Comunicações.
8.5 - To the prices resulting from applying the rules provided in articles 5,6 and 7 shall apply the VAT at the statutory rate in force.
CHAPTER IV
Social obligations
9. Retired clients and pensioners
PT Comunicações is hereby put under the obligation, regarding retired clients and pensioners with a monthly household income is equal to or less than the amount of the national minimum wage, to present provision conditions of the TFS not lower than the following:
a) Subscription price reduction of 50%, pursuant to Decree-Law n. º 20-C/86 of 13 February;
b) Additional reduction of subscription price of 10% and credit for telephone communications within the Country, that combined shall be, at least, 3,53 euros (VAT excluded).
10. Residential clients of a low consumption
PT Comunicações is hereby put under the obligation to make available an optional price plan intended for residential clients of a low telephone consumption (LCP), which is defined as follows, as far as tariffs are concerned:
a) subscription discount of 15%;
b) 20% discount on the first 5 euros consumption as to telephone communications within the Country;
c) 100% aggravation on the following 5 euros consumption as to telephone communications within the Country;
d) regular price for the consumption above 10 euros value as to telephone communications within the Country.
11. Requirements and conditions
11.1 - The LCP provided in paragraph 10 is optional and shall apply by means of an explicit accession on the part of the client.
11.2 - The conditions provided in paragraphs 9 and 10 shall apply to clients holding a single network line (analogue).
11.3 - The conditions provided in paragraph 9 b) are not compatible with the selection and pre-selection of a different TFS provider. The conditions provided in paragraph 1o are not compatible with the selection and pre-selection of a different TFS provider and with monthly communication consumption above 10 euros value.
11.4 - The transition from the Economic Package to the LCP shall be performed for a period of three months following the entry into force of the LCP, during which both price plans shall coexist.
11.5 - The benefits provided in paragraph 9b) have a transitory nature, and shall be subject to an annual assessment.
12. Clients with special needs
For the use of clients with special needs, equipments such as micro telephone amplifiers and call warning flashes shall be made available, free of charge, by PT Comunicações.
CHAPTER V
Miscellaneous provisions
13. Period in force
13.1 - The present Convention shall remain into force until the implementation of the new national legislative framing applicable to the universal service resulting from Community law.
13.2 - Without prejudice to the provision of the preceding paragraph, the present Convention shall remain into force up to 31 December 2003 at the most.
13.3 - If the legislative framing referred to in paragraph 13.1 has not been established by 31 December 2003, the rules for the implementation of prices of this Convention shall remain in force until the mentioned establishment.
14. Termination
14.1 - Any party may terminate the convention until the publication of the new national legislative framing applicable to the universal service resulting from Community law.
14.2 - In the event of a termination, the rules for the implementation of prices of this Convention shall remain in force until the parties come to an agreement, having regard, namely, to the transposition process development and to the implementation of Community law regarding electronic communications.
Lisbon, 30 December 2002
Álvaro José Roquette Morais
José Pedro Faria Pereira da Costa
PT Comunicações S.A.
Azeem Mohamed Gulamhussen Remtula Bangy
Directorate-General for Commerce and Competition
Maria do Carmo Félix da Costa Seabra
