Key Benefits:
The Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority,
In view of Directive 2002/19/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on Access to electronic communications networks and associated resources, as well as their interconnection (Directive Access "), and in particular Article 13;
In view of the postal code and electronic communications, and in particular its articles L. 32-1, L. 35, L. 35-3, R. 20-31 to R. 20-39, L. 38 and L. 38-1 et seq. And D. 311 and D. 312;
In view of the ministerial orders of 3 March 2005 designating the operator responsible for providing the universal service component, respectively In Article L. 35-1 of the postal code and electronic communications for the telephone service, under Article L. 35-1 of the postal code and electronic communications for the universal directory and universal service of Information, at 3 ° of Article L. 35-1 of the postal code and electronic communications for publishing;
Having regard to Decision No. 98-901 of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority dated 28 October 1998 establishing the Nomenclature of costs and specifying the rules of relevance relating to the interconnection of operators subject to Articles D. 99-11 to D. 99-22 of the Postal Code and Telecommunications;
In the light of Decision No. 99-780 of the Regulatory Authority Telecommunications dated 30 September 1999 specifying and publishing the accounting rules for the costs and revenues necessary for the calculations provided for in paragraphs II and III of Article R. 20-33 of the Postal Code and telecommunications relating to the cost Net of geographical equalization obligations;
In view of Decision No. 2001-650 of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of 4 July 2001 amending the rules of relevance relating to the interconnection of operators subject to the Articles D. 99-11 to D. 99-22 of the Postal Code and Telecommunications;
In view of Decision No. 2005-0028 of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority dated 17 March 2005 proposing the provisional contributions of operators at the cost of Universal service for the year 2005;
In view of Decision No. 2005-275 of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority dated 19 May 2005 concerning the definition of the relevant wholesale market for unbundled access to the local copper loop and The local copper subloop and the designation of an operator having a significant influence in this market;
In view of Decision No. 2005-277 of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of 19 May 2005 on obligations Imposed on France Télécom as an operator having a significant influence on the wholesale market for unbundled access to the local copper loop and the local copper subloop;
In view of Decision No. 2005-278 of the Regulatory Authority Telecommunications dated 19 May 2005 concerning the definition of the relevant wholesale market for broadband offers delivered at regional level and the designation of an operator having a significant influence in this market;
Seen Decision No. 2005-280 of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of 19 May 2005 on the obligations imposed on France Télécom as an operator having a significant influence on the wholesale market for large access offers Delivered to the regional level;
In view of Decision No. 2005-0281 of the Electronic Communications Regulatory Authority and of the positions dated 28 July 2005 concerning the definition of the market for large broadband access tenders At national level, on the designation of an operator having a significant influence in this market and on the obligations imposed on it;
In view of Decision No. 2005-0571 of the Electronic Communications Regulatory Authority and of the Posts dated 27 September 2005 concerning the definition of the relevant fixed telephony markets, the designation of operators having a significant influence on these markets and the obligations imposed on them;
In view of Decision No. 2005-0834 of the Electronic Communications and Communications Regulatory Authority of 15 December 2005 defining the valuation method of the local copper loop assets as well as the method of accounting for the costs applicable to the Total unbundling;
In view of Decision No. 2006-0162 of the Electronic Communications Regulatory Authority and of posts dated 4 May 2006 specifying the technical and tariff modalities of the wholesale offer of access to the service Telephone ("VGAST") Pursuant to Decision 2005-0571);
In the light of Decision No. 2006-0875 of the Electronic Communications Regulatory Authority and of the posts dated 5 September 2006 designating the body responsible for To carry out the audit of the relevant elements of the information system and accounting data for the years 2005 and 2006 of France Télécom;
After deliberation on 23 January 2007;
I. -Background
The order of 3 March 2005 designating the operator responsible for providing the Component of the universal service provided for in Article L. 35-1 respectively of the postal code and electronic communications for the telephone service specified in Article 10:
" In accordance with Article R. 20-32 of the Postal Code And electronic communications, the operator maintains an information system as well as an accounting of services and activities which must, inter alia, assess the net cost of the obligation to provide the universal service component Purpose of this specification and to verify compliance with the principle of price orientation towards costs.
The relevant parts of the information system and the accounting data shall be made available to the Regulatory Authority Electronic communications and postal services at the request of the latter. They shall be audited periodically at the expense of the operator, by an independent body designated by the Electronic Communications Regulatory Authority and posts, so as to allow for an annual update of the necessary data and data To the application of Section 2 of Chapter III of Title 1 of Book II of the Code of Posts and Electronic Communications. Auditors must be independent of the operator and its auditors. The audit findings are made public by the Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority. "
On the other hand, as regards the obligations of operators having a significant influence on a market, Article L. 38 states to the I that" Operators deemed to have a significant influence on a market in the communications sector Electronic may be subject to one or more of the following obligations [...]:
1 ° Make public information relating to interconnection or access, including publishing a detailed technical and tariff offer for interconnection or Access when subject to non-discrimination obligations [...];
2 ° Provide interconnection or access benefits under non-discriminatory conditions;
3 ° Right to reasonable requests for access to elements of Network or means associated with it;
4 ° Do not engage in excessive or predatory pricing on the relevant market and practice tariffs that reflect the corresponding costs;
5 ° Isolate certain activities on the basis of accounting Respect for the obligations imposed under this Article; compliance with these requirements shall be verified at the expense of the operator; By an independent body designated by the Authority [...]. "
On the other hand, concerning the obligations of operators having a significant influence on a retail market, Article L. 38-1 states to the I that" Operators deemed to be engaged in Significant influence on a retail market in the electronic communications sector may be subject to one or more of the following obligations [...]:
1 ° Provide retail benefits under non-discriminatory conditions; do not Improperly link such benefits;
2 ° Do not charge excessive or predatory pricing on the relevant market; practice tariffs that reflect the corresponding costs [...];
3 ° Keep an accounting of services and activities To verify compliance with the obligations laid down in this Article; compliance with these requirements shall be verified at the expense of the operator, by an independent body designated by the Authority. "
Finally, item D. 311 indicates in the first paragraph:
" Operators who are required to charge tariffs reflecting the corresponding costs under Article L. 38 of Article L. 38 must be able to demonstrate that their interswitching rates And access effectively reflect the costs; the Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority may request these operators to adhere to a multiannual framework of tariffs or to fully justify their tariffs and, if Necessary, to require adaptation. "
In application of these articles, France Télécom, designated by the Minister on 3 March 2005 as a provider of the three components of the universal service and on the other hand, as exercising a significant influence on certain Markets by the Authority following its market analyses, was brought in 2006 to provide the Authority with a number of information relating to its costs.
To carry out the audit by an independent body of this information, the Authority has This
was entrusted to the firm Mazars & Guérard and was carried out between September and September, and was carried out by the firm Mazars & Guérard. November 2006. It examined the methodology and the IT system for recording the costs of France Télécom used in 2006 to provide the Authority with the costs recorded for the year 2005 and the estimated costs for the year 2007. In particular, the audit focused on:
-the system's power methods from the analytical accounts of France Télécom;
-the 2005 cost elements necessary for the calculation of the definitive cost of the universal service in Method and recovery terms;
-the regulatory accounts for the year 2005 in terms of method and valuation;
-and more generally on the regulatory accounting of France Télécom, including the initial specifications of The authorisation provided for in Chapter XIII the production of accounts, namely ' Accounts of products and charges, known as individual accounts, such as general network, dial-up network, interconnection, telephone service to the public, Leased and other activities covered [by this authorization] ".
II. -Method
The audit conducted by Mazars & Guérard in 2006 consisted of 5 dedicated lots:
Lot I: audit of the cost accounting system (completeness audit and appropriateness analysis of allocation keys) Used in the cost system) of the elements contributing to the determination of the net cost of the final universal service for the year 2005;
Lot II: verification of the completeness of the request for the collection of units of work Network techniques and audit of the processing of these data, intended to provide the aggregated data to the Authority that the Authority uses in its model for calculating the net cost of the universal service;
Lot III: audit of certain costs (costs IT and customer billing costs), audit of the distribution of local loop costs (copper pair) between the different products, audit of the ECCs found for which France Télécom provided forecast CDPs during the year 2005, audit of certain CDCs, audit of the use of the customer panel for two particular offers;
Lot IV: audit of accounts " Individualized " As well as operating accounts of the goods and services in the composition of the Individualised accounts for the year 2005;
Lot V: audit of costs relating to the scope of the interswitching offer for regulatory costs and the costs relating to the wholesale offer of access to the telephone service for the year 2007 (at To the beginning of 2007).
The audit of these lots resulted in the drafting of two certificates of compliance established by the firm dealing with the major concerns of the sector, which are, for the first, the elements contributing to the Determination of the net cost of the universal service for the year 2005 (lot I) and for the second accounts for 2005 (lot IV), established in historical costs.
The universal service certificate was drafted by the For the year 2005 in the light of the specifications and description established by the Authority and in accordance with the rules it produces pursuant to Article R. 20-33 (III) and the provisions of Articles R. 20-35 and R. 20-36 Electronic Communications and Position Code.
III. -Conclusion
On the one hand, pursuant to Article 10 of the Order of 3 March 2005 designating the operator responsible for providing the component of the universal service provided for in Article L. 35-1 of the Code of Posts and electronic communications for the telephone service, the Authority publishes the attestation of conformity of the 2005 costs entered into the operating accounts by product of the universal service established by France Télécom in the framework of its Regulatory obligations. On the other hand, in accordance with the decisions of the Authority concerning the definition of wholesale and retail markets and the designation of operators having a significant influence on those markets and on the obligations imposed on them, the Authority Publishes the attestation of conformity of the 2005 individualised accounts established by France Télécom as part of its regulatory obligations. These certificates have been drawn up as of 1 December 2006,
Decides:
The Authority shall publish in annexes Decision, on the one hand, the attestation of conformity of the 2005 costs entered into the operating accounts by product of the universal service and, on the other hand, the attestation of conformity of the individualised accounts 2005, drawn up by France Télécom in the Framework of its regulatory obligations.
The Director General of the Authority shall be responsible for the application of this Decision, which will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
A N N E X E I
CONFORMITY OF 2005 COST COMPLIANCE CERTIFICATION BY PRODUCT OF THE NET COST OF UNIVERSAL SERVICE ESTABLISHED BY FRANCE TELECOM IN ITS REGULATORY OBLIGATIONS
Certification of 2005 net cost compliance
of the universal service
As an independent auditor and in execution of the mission entrusted to us jointly by the Electronic Communications Regulatory Authority and Posts (ARCEP) and France Télécom in the framework of the audit of the 2005 regulatory accounts of France Télécom, we present hereafter our attestation of conformity on the operating accounts by product (data sheets) CEP ") Entering the net cost Of the universal service for the financial year 2005.
These accounts comprise all of the following documents, namely the operating accounts of the products included in the calculation of the final net cost of the universal service for the year 2005, according to The terms and conditions agreed between France Télécom and the Electronic Communications and Communications Regulatory Authority, and attached to the certificate issued to the ARCEP.
Operating accounts by product used in the calculation of net cost The universal service for the year 2005 has been established under the responsibility of France Télécom, in accordance with the accounting principles and methods referred to in the various laws and regulations set out in the Special technical clauses of 7 July 2006.
It is our responsibility, on the basis of our audit, to express a conclusion on the compliance of these accounts with this repository.
I. -Nature and scope of work
The accounts produced by France Télécom in the framework of its regulatory obligations are established by a computerised model, fed from the data of the analytical accounting of France Télécom, itself totally The
accounts of France Télécom relating to the financial year ended 31 December 2005, established on the basis of the abovementioned individual general accounts, have made The subject of an audit by the auditors of the operator and have been certified without reservation or observation.
In this context, we have carried out our audit according to the professional standards applicable in France. We have implemented the due diligence that we have deemed necessary in order to obtain reasonable assurance that the operating accounts per product, which are included in the net cost of the universal service for the financial year 2005, do not include Significant anomalies.
These diligences consisted of examining, through surveys, the elements justifying the data contained in these accounts. They also assessed the accounting principles followed and the significant estimates used for the preparation of these accounts, as well as their overall presentation.
Our controls included:
-the completeness of the 2005 cost calculation TCP system, used to produce the operating accounts by product for the year 2005;
-the relevance of the cost allocation rules used;
-the figures and development rules Operating accounts by product for the year 2005.
In particular, they consisted of:
-assessing reasonableness, economic justification and compliance with the requirements of the various pieces of legislation and In accordance with the specific technical provisions of 7 July 2006, the allocation options for the products and services of the charges previously identified in accounting, as well as that of the reprocessing operations on the General accounting of France Télécom;
-check the conformity of the cost calculation system with the specifications mentioned in these texts.
They were not intended for the evaluation of internal control The specific information system, namely the evaluation of controls on the preparation and entry of data, controls on treatments, checks to ensure completeness, accuracy and authorisation of the Operations to be recorded, the maintenance of the revision path (or reference system), the quality of documentation, changes from one year to the other in the programmes, in particular for the methods of registration and
We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our conclusion.
II. -Appreciation of
compliance of operating accounts by product
Based on our work, we conclude that:
-Completting costs from the cost calculation TCP system used to establish The operating accounts by product of the net cost of the universal service for the year 2005, as well as compliance with the functional documentation are ensured;
-the costs involved in the operating accounts by product linked to the Determination of the final net cost of the universal service for the year 2005 has been determined in accordance with the specifications of the ARCEP.
III. -Follow-up of comments previously made
and new comments made
Without calling into question the above conclusions, we draw your attention to the following:
-the The analysis is simplified in an appropriate manner upstream of the model. However, the number of managed parameters remains very important: analyses could be carried out to identify the parameters actually discriminating, in order to integrate into the control process an analysis of sensitivity and limits Inherent in the model assumptions;
-the reference studies used to determine the model's use factors could be updated more regularly, according to a frequency to be specified a priori, depending on the nature of the models. Information, their obsolescence and the significance of these studies in relation to the model.
In this regard, it should be noted that a number of studies have been updated recently.
Done at Paris-La Défense, the 1st December 2006.
Mazars & Guérard
J.-L. Barlet
A N N E X E I I
ATTESTATION OF CONFORMITY OF INDIVIDUALISED ACCOUNTS 2005 DE FRANCE TELCOM IN ITS REGULATORY OBLIGATIONS
Certificate of Compliance
of Individual Accounts 2005
As an independent auditor and in execution of the mission entrusted to us jointly by the Regulatory Authority Electronic communications and postal services (ARCEP) and France Télécom as part of the audit of the 2005 regulatory accounts of France Télécom, we present hereafter our certificate of compliance of the 2005 individual accounts.
These accounts Individualised 2005, the list of which is laid down in Chapter XIII of the Annex to the Order of 12 March 1998, includes all the following elements, attached as an annex to this certificate of conformity:
-general network;
-network Dial-up access;
-interconnect;
-telephone service to the public;
-leased links;
-other activities covered by the authorization.
The 2005 Individualized Accounts were established under the responsibility of France Telecom, in accordance with the accounting principles and methods mentioned in the various laws and regulations listed in the special technical clauses of 7 July 2006.
It is our responsibility, on the basis of our Audit, to express a conclusion about the compliance of these accounts to this repository.
I. -Nature and scope of work
The individualised accounts established by France Télécom as part of its Regulatory obligations are derived from a computerised model, fed from the data of the analytical accounts of France Télécom, which itself is fully integrated in the general accounting of the operator.
Accounts Individual of France Télécom relating to the financial year ended 31 December 2005, established on the basis of the above-mentioned individual general accounting, were audited by the auditors of the operator and were Certified without reservation or observation.
In this context, we conducted our audit according to the professional standards applicable in France. We have implemented the due diligence that we have deemed necessary to obtain reasonable assurance that the 2005 individualized accounts do not have any significant anomalies.
These diligences were to examine, by Surveys, the elements justifying the data contained in these accounts. They also assessed the accounting principles followed and the significant estimates used for the preparation of these accounts, as well as their overall presentation.
Our controls included:
-the completeness of the 2005 cost calculation TCP system, used to produce the 2005 individualized accounts;
-the relevance of the cost allocation rules used;
-the encrypted data and the rules for developing the accounts Individualized 2005.
In particular, they consisted of:
-assessing reasonableness, economic justification and compliance with the requirements of the various pieces of legislation and regulations specified in the workbook Specific technical clauses of 7 July 2006, allocation options on the products and services of the charges previously identified in accounting, as well as that of the reprocessing operations on the general accounts of France Télécom ;
-by checking the compliance of the costing system with the specifications mentioned in these texts.
They were not intended to evaluate the internal control of the specific information system, to Knowledge of the evaluation of controls on the preparation and entry of data, controls on treatments, checks to ensure the integrity, accuracy and authorisation of operations to be recorded, the maintenance of the road Review (or reference system), the quality of documentation, changes from one year to the next in the programmes, in particular for recording and evaluation methods.
We believe that our audit is A reasonable basis for our conclusion.
II. -Appreciation of
compliance for individual accounts
On the basis of our work, we conclude that:
-Completting costs from the cost calculation TCP system used to establish accounts Individualised 2005, as well as compliance with the functional documentation are ensured;
-the individualised accounts for the year 2005 are in line with the objectives set by the decree of 12 March 1998 and the specifications of the ARCEP enacted Pursuant to Article D. 99-13, paragraph 1, of the Postal Code and electronic communications;
-the consistency of the operating accounts by product with the individualised accounts, for that same year 2005 and against the specifications of ARCEP is insured.
III. -Follow-up of comments previously made
and new comments made
Without calling into question the above conclusions, we draw your attention to the following:
-the The analysis is simplified in an appropriate manner upstream of the model. However, the number of parameters managed remains important: analyses could be carried out to identify the parameters actually discriminating, in order to integrate into the control process an analysis of the sensitivity and limitations inherent in the Model assumptions;
-the reference studies used to determine the model's use factors could be updated on a regular basis, according to a frequency to be specified a priori, depending on the nature of the information
In this regard, it is appropriate to indicate that a number of studies have been updated in recent years.
Done at Paris-La Défense, December 1, 2006.
Mazars & Guérard
J.-L. Barlet
Done at Paris, 23 January 2007.
The President,
P. Champsaur
