Universal service - What is it?
The definition of Universal Service, as contained in the proposed revision of the 1995 Open Network Provision Directive, is "a defined minimum set of services of specified quality which is available to all users independent of their geographical location and, in the light of specific national conditions, at an affordable price".
That proposed minimum set consists of the following elements:
- the right to have, upon reasonable request, a connection to the fixed public telephone network at a fixed location and access to publicly available services,
- the facility to make and receive, by means of that connection, national and international telephone calls supporting speech, Fax and/or data communication,
- directory services including availability of printed and/or electronic directories and directory enquiry services,
- provision of public payphones to met reasonable needs, ie in terms of numbers and geographical coverage,
- specific (but so far unspecified) measures to ensure access and affordability of telephone services for disabled users and others with special needs.
All of the above facilities are to be "affordable" within national criteria, and service providers may be granted a degree of subsidy for providing items of service which would otherwise be regarded as commercially uneconomic. This subsidy will be derived from a levy on operators of public Telephony services, and thus in effect from their customers, under a Universal Service funding scheme.
Other facilities which might be regarded as part of a universal service are covered in other parts of the Directives. There is a requirement that all subscribers connected to the fixed network shall be able to access emergency services at no charge. Itemized billing, tone dialling and certain other technical facilities are required to be available and measures are included to address the problems of users who have difficulty in paying their bills (such as the operation of an "incoming calls only" facility while the debt is reduced).
The connection to the network and access to its services will be made through "network termination points", ie plug and socket connections enabling the user to connect any terminal equipment which complies with the Terminals Directive. The network operator no longer has responsibility for terminal equipment, other than public payphones or telephone equipment which has been rented from that operator. Therefore the practical extent of access to the network facilities available to the user will depend upon the nature of the equipment which has been obtained and connected (including any equipment which the user has continued to rent from the network operator). The concept of Universal Service applies only to the network and does not extend to equipment on the user's side of the socket.
The fixed public telephone network (ie those parts of the public switched Telecommunications network which support voice Telephony) is traditionally a medium for real-time speech communication. While it can also support transmission of facsimiles, and data via modems, it is essentially the conduit for two-way conversation. Even subscribers who have no speech, or no hearing, can use it in this way if they have suitable text terminals; they can also communicate with other subscribers through relay services. The concept of Universal Service as described above should therefore cover access to network services by these text terminal users. Operator assistance, emergency services and directory enquiries should be available to them on the same numbers, and on the same terms, as for other users. Network tone signals and announcements should be also be made compatible with text terminals. It is, additionally, desirable that the relay services should be supported as a Universal Service provision.
These and other specific requirements of disabled users need to be set out and agreed as a target to be aimed for by national regulators, using the powers and duties conferred upon them by the liberalization Directives. Some of these requirements will be of a technical nature, such as the ability of the network to respond to text signals, while others will be economic and will include facilities such as free use of directory enquiries services for visually-impaired or physically disabled subscribers who cannot make use of printed directories.
It is recognised that the concept of Universal Service will evolve, as the acceptance of what is meant by basic Telecommunications services develops with time. Regular review is therefore essential to ensure that the concept keeps pace with the growth of facilities for disabled users that technological advance should bring about. However, it is a matter of immediate and critical importance to ensure that some measures are taken to ensure the future availability of appropriate terminal equipment.
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