Key Benefits:
Electronic Communications and Postal Regulatory Authority,
Seen directive 2002 /22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 concerning universal service and the rights of Users with regard to electronic communications networks and services (Directive " Universal service ") As amended by Directive 2009 /136/EC of 25 November 2009;
In view of the electronic communications and postal code (hereinafter ' CPCE "), in particular Articles L. 32 (15 °), L. 35-3, and R. 20-31 to R. 20-39;
In light of the Order of the Minister Delegate to Industry dated February 19, 2010 fixing the monthly amount of the tariff reduction for certain categories of persons to the Title of the universal electronic communications service;
In view of Decision No. 2011-1452 of the Authority dated 13 December 2011 fixing provisional contributions to the cost of universal service for the year 2012;
In view of Decision No. 2011-1466 of the Authority of 22 December 2011 fixing the rate of remuneration of the Capital employed to evaluate the costs and prices of the regulated fixed activities of the company Orange (then called France Télécom) for the year 2012 provided for by Article R. 20-37 of the CPCE;
In view of Decision No. 2013-0827 of the Authority as of 16 July 2013 adopting the relevant turnover statement for the calculation of the final contribution to the universal service fund for the year 2012, published in the Official Journal of the French Republic of 4 October 2013;
Vu Decision 2013-1212 of the Authority dated 8 October 2013 publishing the rules Employed in the application of the methods referred to in Articles R. 20-33 to R. 20-39 of the CPCE for the calculation of the definitive cost of the universal service for the year 2012 published in the Official Journal of the French Republic of 12 December 2013;
Declarations relating to the relevant business figures for the universal service transmitted by operators;
In view of the compliance certificate of 19 December 2013 from the system of calculation of the elements contributing to the determination of net cost Final of the universal service of Orange for the year 2012, as part of its Regulatory obligations;
After deliberation on May 6, 2014,
1. Introduction
1.1. The financing mechanism for the universal service
Article L. 35-3 of the CPCE defines the financing arrangements for the net cost attributable to universal service obligations.
The methods for calculating this net cost shall be determined by the Articles R. 20-31 to R. 20-39 of the CECP. These methods are specified by rules which, pursuant to the provisions of Article R. 20-40 of the CPCE, are to be published by the Authority.
The purpose of this Decision is to assess the final net cost of service obligations
rules employed in the calculation of the definitive cost of the universal service for the year 2012 were adopted by the Authority, following a public consultation conducted from 23 July to 16 September 2013, in its decision N ° 2013-1212 of 8 October 2013.
1.2. The procedure followed by the Authority
The information necessary for the evaluation of the cost of the universal service components for the calculation of the definitive cost of the universal service for the year 2012 was provided by Orange on 12 December 2013. Additional information was transmitted on 16 December 2013 and 14 March 2014.
Moreover, the accounting of the company Orange used to calculate the net cost of universal service obligations was audited by an agency Appointed by the Authority in Decision No. 2012-0519 dated 3 May 2012, pursuant to the I of Article L. 35-3 of the CPCE. The audit covered the cost and revenue data of the services taken into account in the evaluation of the cost of universal service obligations, as well as on the methods of data collection relating to the characteristics of the network and Trafficking, from the information system of Orange. The corresponding audit report was submitted to the Authority on 17 January 2014.
In parallel to this work, the Authority carried out a notice of the relevant turnover for the calculation of the final contributions to the service fund Universal for 2012. This notice of declaration was adopted in Decision No. 2013-0827 dated 16 July 2013.
Finally, the Authority set out in its Decision No. 2012-1466 the value of the rate of pay of capital for 2012 provided for in Article R. 20-37 of the ECCC. The value of the capital rate is 8.9 %.
2. Assess the net costs of the
2.1 universal service components. Assessment of net cost of tariff obligations corresponding to geographical equalisation obligations
The final net cost of unprofitable areas for 2012, in accordance with the rules adopted by the Authority, before taking into account Account for intangible benefits, amounting to EUR 4.3 million, representing 155 450 analogue lines, or 1.05 % of the number of main analogue lines, located in local areas with less than 7.45 inhabitants per square kilometre.
2.2. Assessment of the net cost of the obligation to offer specific rates to certain categories of subscribers for the purpose of providing access to the telephone service
The offer of specific tariffs provided for by Article R. 20-34 of the CPCE has been put in place. On 1 July 2000. Potential beneficiaries, who receive a certificate sent by their social organization (National Family Allowances Fund, National Union for Employment in Industry and Commerce or Caisse centrale de mutualité sociale agricole), the Refer to the provider of the rate social reduction if they wish to benefit from the device.
The reduction in the telephone bill granted by Orange is, in 2012, EUR 10.47 all taxes included per month and by Recipient. In the context of the evaluation of the net cost of the universal service, the amount taken into account for the compensation of operators shall be EUR 4.21 excluding taxes per month and by beneficiary in the year 2012, in accordance with the aforementioned decree of the Minister of The economy, industry and employment as of February 19, 2010.
In December 2012, 210,298 beneficiaries benefited from the telephone tariff reduction In December 2011, 254,532 beneficiaries benefited from this reduction. The amount of compensation for operators for the year 2012 is EUR 11.6 million.
The management costs incurred by the social agencies and the provider responsible for the management of the tariff social reduction scheme are 3.2 EUR million in 2012.
total, as part of the final cost for 2012, the net cost of the social price component, before taking into account the intangible benefits, amounts to EUR 14.8 million. This net cost does not exceed the ceiling of 0.8 % of the sales of the telephone service to the public of the year, in accordance with Article R. 20-34 of the CECP.
2.3. Evaluation of the net cost of the obligations to provide service to the Territory in the public domain telephone booths
The evaluation of this component is established in accordance with the rules adopted by Decision No. 2013-1212 From the Authority and from the operating accounts of the publishing activity and the number of publications per commune, provided by Orange and audited.
The final net cost of this component for the year 2012 is 13.9 EUR million before taking into account the intangible benefits. It is up from 2011 (EUR 12.3 million). It corresponds to the taking into account of 30,648 cabins in the 26 904 communes for which the number of cabins meets the standard defined by Article R. 20-30-3 of the CPCE and for which the activity of public phonework is in deficit. This increase in net cost is due to the decrease in the turnover of the phones due to the significant decrease in traffic originating from the mobile phones between 2011 and 2012.
2.4 Evaluation of the net cost of bonds corresponding to the Provision of an information service and a subscriber directory in print and electronic form
This component of the universal service has been limited since 2012 to the provision of a subscriber directory in printed form.
In its Response to the call for applications for the component " Print directory " For the period 2009 to 2011, PagesJaunes estimated that the net cost of the sub-component " Print directory " Is null.
Article L. 35-3 of the CPCE provides that: " The net costs taken pursuant to III may not exceed the commitments made, where appropriate, in the context of the calls for applications provided for in Article L. 35-2, by the operators appointed to ensure universal service obligations '.
Article 6 of the specifications of the PagesJaunes company, fixed by the decree of 3 December 2009 designating the operator responsible for the supply of the printed directory component, had then established that this universal service provision ' Does not receive compensation from the universal service fund ".
On 29 October 2011, the Minister responsible for electronic communications and posts issued a call for applications to designate one or more operators in charge Provide the printed directory. PagesJaunes, the only candidate, did not want to apply in the departments where it believed the net cost had become positive. The Minister then designated, for two years, by order of December 6, 2012, PagesJaunes as the incumbent operator to provide the subscriber directory service in paper form for the entire territory.
In 2012, before being designated, YellowPagesYellow Has not made available directories printed in the departments (eleven in total) where he had not applied. PagesJaunes did not provide the Authority with audited elements relating to costs incurred in respect of its universal service provision.
In view of these elements, the Authority considers that the net cost is nil and that there is no need to compensate YellowPagesYellow as its universal service obligations for 2012.
3. Assessment of the benefits of being a universal service operator
In accordance with Article R. 20-37-1 of the CPCE, the intangible benefits include:
-the technical and business benefit resulting from the extent of the network, in relation to an operator acting under market conditions, to connect new subscribers (ubiquitous);
-the benefit of the improvement in the Time of the economic capabilities of subscribers benefiting from the universal service (life cycle);
-the profit from the exploitation of subscriber data (knowledge of the market);
-the profit from the brand image associated with the Universal service operator position.
The Authority has led Work on intangible benefits since 1998:
-in particular, it defined in 1999 a method for assessing the advantage of the image of the mark;
-following the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Communities C-146/00 of 6 December 2001, it assessed All intangible benefits for each final fiscal year beginning in fiscal year 1998;
-commissioned a study in 2006 to an independent consultant to update the results of the calculation of the benefit associated with the Mark for the year 2005;
-it commissioned a new study in 2010 Independent consultant to update the methodologies used for the valuation of intangible benefits. In particular, this study allowed for a method for assessing the benefit of the advertising value of the universal service provider logo on the telephone booths and updating the survey Allowing the assessment of the advantage linked to the brand component image by component, the existing regulatory framework providing for the possibility of designating several operators responsible for providing one or more components of the universal service (Art. L. 35-2 of the CPCE).
The intangible benefits, as provided for in Article R. 20-37-1 of the CPCE, were evaluated in accordance with the above rules and cover only the components in 2012. Telephone service " And " Telephone boxes ".
3.1. The technical and commercial benefit resulting from the extent of the network (ubiquity-related effect)
The technical and commercial benefit resulting from the extent of the network (ubiquity-related effect) is estimated at € 0.06 million for the service
This amount is related to the number of subscribers in unprofitable areas, down from 2011.
3.2. The profit associated with the improvement in the economic capacity of subscribers benefiting from the universal service (life cycle effect)
Due to changes in Orange's costs and revenues, no unprofitable areas and none Unprofitable publish in 2012 should not become profitable over a five-year period.
As a result, the life-cycle impact in the evaluation of the cost of telephone service and telephone booths in 2012 is limited to the value Benefit from the social offer of the telephone service. This is calculated on the basis of the customer movements previously eligible for the social offer and the beneficiaries of the offer which are no longer eligible and subscribe to an offer from the operator. These movements were estimated on the basis of a study (1) carried out for the National Observatory for Poverty and Social Exclusion (ONPES).
For 2012, the Authority estimates the life cycle benefit of € 0.05 4 million for 2012. Universal service telephone service component in 2012.
3.3. The profit from the operation of subscriber data (knowledge of the market)
The Authority shall evaluate to EUR 0.05 3 million the profit from the operation of the subscriber data for the telephone service in 2012.
3.4. The profit from the brand image associated with the universal service operator position
The telephone service and telephone service mark over-price was calculated for the telephone service and the telephone service components. Publication thanks to the results of a survey conducted in 2010, in accordance with the methodology set out in the above rules. In the absence of unbundling of the excess prices for the components, the allocation of the over-price to the telephone service was carried out in proportion to the turnover of each component.
Thus, the Authority values the advantage in terms of the image of the Brand, through the overprice that Orange derives its status as a universal service operator, to 3.77 million euros for telephone service and 0.02 millon euros for the publishing service in 2012.
In addition, the Authority Assesses the advertising value of the France Télécom mark (2) through the Presence of its logo on its network of cabins entering the perimeter of the universal service. The value of an equivalent advertising display is estimated based on the size of the advertising location, the gross value of the display, as well as other parameters such as the number of relevant locations and the discounts that can be
The value of the gross price of the advertising display was evaluated on the basis of the relevant peri-urban offerings for the small communes proposed by some displays in the urban furniture display sector. In addition to taking into account a ratio of relevant cabins among unprofitable booths, the size of the France Télécom logo and the set of discounts that can be granted by the viewer have allowed us to estimate the annual advertising value at 10.58 euros per loss-making cabin.
In accordance with 2.3, 30 648 cabins recorded a loss result, leading to an annual immaterial profit for the year 2012 related to the advertising display of 0.32 million euros.
3.5 Summary of intangible benefits by component
Total benefits Immaterial is divided into components by component, as shown in the table below:
| Component | Telephone Service | Telephone Cabins |
| Ubiquity | 60 747 | 0 |
| Life Cycle | 53 965 | 0 |
| Market Knowledge | 53 269 | 0 |
| Image of Mark | 3 771 649 | 349 319 |
| Total intangible benefits | 3,939 630 | 349 319 |
The total amount of intangible benefits, all components combined, amounts to € 4.3 million for 2012. This amount is down from the EUR 5.4 million recorded for the year 2011, partly due to the decline in the turnover of telephone services used by residential customers.
4. Summary of net cost of universal service, intangible benefits netted
The table below shows the cost of universal service by component, before and after consideration of intangible benefits:
| Net cost before immaterial benefits (1) | Immaterial benefits (2) | Net cost after intangible benefits (1)-(2) | |
| Telephone service | 19 183 715 | 3 939 630 | 15 244 085 |
| Phones | 13 919 919 | 349 319 | 13 570 601 |
| Print directory and intelligence service | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 33 103 634 | 4 288 949 | 28 814 686 |
The final cost of the universal service, intangible benefits, is 28.8 million euros in 2012. It is slightly higher than in 2011 (28.4 million euros) and below that of the 2012 provisional assessment (29.7 million euros).
5. Management Fees
The cost of the universal service is to increase the management costs of the Caisse des Depots, which amount to 57,456 euros, which is validated by the universal service fund control committee on 19 November 2013.
6. Deprecation of excessive load
In accordance with the CPCE, the Authority has calculated the net cost of the universal service for the year 2012, taking into account the intangible benefits, leading to a cost of 28.8 million In 2012. This net cost appears not only significant in absolute terms, but also excessive, once reported to the situation of the provider operator, given the competitive situation in the French market.
6.1. The order of magnitude of the net cost of the universal service 2012 is comparable with the magnitude of the fines imposed by the competition authorities
The Authority assessed whether the net cost was excessive for Orange in the Its capacity to bear it, taking account of its own characteristics, in particular the level of its equipment, its economic and financial situation and its market share.
The universal service is a net cost of more than EUR 28.8 million for the year 2012. In view of the market share of the operator who pays the benefit and the allocation rule selected, the provision of the universal service results in a net charge of 14.2 million euros, on the scale of the Orange group, comparable to the fines Issued by the European Commission or the Competition Authority.
In addition, Orange, in the group's 2011 financial report, cites, in footnote 15 of the 2011 reference document (page 472), among the judicial, arbitration and Administrative likely to have a significant impact on the situation The following procedure, of an amount lower than that of the net cost of the universal service for the year 2012:
" On March 30, 2011, the Paris Commercial Court sentenced France Telecom to pay 10 million euros Damages to Numericable in the course of the proceedings initiated by that operator in November 2009 in order to compensate for the damage it would have suffered in the retail market for broadband. Numericable, which assessed its damage to a minimum of EUR 157 million, did not appeal this decision, which became final. "
This cost is therefore excessive in relation to Orange's market share and its competitive position in the market.
6.2. This charge is significantly higher than the cost of implementing the funding mechanism
Compare this amount to the cost of implementing the funding mechanism. This includes the costs of managing the universal service fund by the Caisse des Depots, the costs of the regulatory audits necessary to calculate the net cost and the production of the relevant business figures for the evaluation of the Contributions, the costs related to the preparation of declarations and payment by operators, the costs related to the calculation of the net cost of the universal service by the Authority and the management of the tariff social reduction scheme. This total cost of implementation is less than EUR 4 million, the majority of which is attributable to the tariff reduction scheme.
The burden is clearly significant in terms of its implementation cost.
6.3. Conclusion
A burden of 14.2 million euros for the claimant is clearly a burden " Excessive " And it is appropriate to implement the compensation mechanism in accordance with Article L. 35-3-III of the CPCE through the universal service fund.
7. Impayees
CPCE Article R. 20-39 states that " In the event of failure of an operator, and if the sums due by that operator are not recovered within one year of the failure as referred to in Article R. 20-43, they shall be charged in the following year Statement on the accounts of other operators pro rata on the share of each calculated in the manner described above, and paid at the same time as the following final balance ".
For the memory, the accounting years prior to 2009 have Already closed previously. The financial year 2010 remained to be completed.
At the request of the Authority, the Caisse des Depots provided it with a summary of the debts, updated from the current interest until 31 December 2013 in relation to the universal service fund, for each of the Operators, for the year 2010. These accounting statements will be used for the final closure as of December 31, 2014 from the accounting point of view for the financial year 2010.
The following table summarizes, for the year, the debts discounted as at 31 May 2014, the presumed date of the regularisations of FY 2012:
| 2010 | 42 816 |
Thus, for the year ended in 2010, the net balance of the debts of the fund up to 31 May 2012 amounts to € 42,816.
The cost of the universal service 2012 is therefore increased by this amount (42,816 euros) in order to be able to regularize the debts of the The completed fiscal year. In addition, a number of contributors remained debtors in respect of the fund in respect of the 2010 financial year. The notification of regularisation which will be addressed to the operators following this decision shall take into account, in addition to the regularisation of the final contribution and the provisional contribution, the regularisation of the debts of the financial years Fenced. It will also take into account the allocation of claims for the year ended in 2010.
8. Distribution of contributions between operators
The full cost of the universal service for the financial year 2012, i.e. the sum of the net costs after the intangible benefits of each component, the management costs of the Caisse des Depots And the arrears and interest corresponding to the financial year 2010, shall be financed by the electronic communications operators as defined by Article L. 32 (15 °) of the CPCE: Any natural or legal person operating a network of electronic communications open to the public or providing the public with electronic communications ".
Article L. 35-3 of the ECCE provides in the second paragraph that: The contribution of each operator to the financing of the universal service shall be calculated on the basis of its turnover in respect of the electronic communications services, excluding the one carried out in respect of the services Article R. 20-39 of the CPCE shall specify the terms and conditions for the interconnection and access which are the subject of the conventions defined in Article L. 34-8 and the other services performed or charged on behalf of third-party
. Relevant revenue to determine the contribution of each Shall be obtained from the declarations of the operators carried out in accordance with the rules laid down in the statement of declaration adopted by the Authority (Decision No 2013-0827 of 16 July 2013)
Operators have transmitted their declaration and that the declarations which have not been made correspond to operators whose relevant turnover is likely to be less than the amount of the abatement. The Authority also reserves the right to initiate appropriate procedures against operators who have not made their declaration pursuant to Article L. 36-11 of the CPCE.
The total amount of the financing of the service fund Universal (EUR 28.8 million) reported in the total number of reference cases (after abatement of EUR 32.5 billion) represents a levy rate of around 0.08 % in 2012, equivalent to the rate seen in 2011
Net contribution of a positive or negative operator is equal to the Gross contribution, if any, of the net cost of the provision of the universal service provision that it provides.
Orange alone provides all the components of the universal service that are compensated. As a result, Orange is credited with the full net cost of the universal service calculated in point 4. This amount includes the costs of managing the social agencies and the provider of the tariff reduction, amounting to EUR 3.25 million, for Orange to be paid to the organisations concerned.
The attached Annex defines the Contributions established under this decision.
The difference between the sum of the amounts owed by the debtor operators and that due to the operators payable is the cost of managing the fund and the unpaid amounts.
8.1. Regularisation
Any discrepancy between the final values and the provisional values of the net cost of universal service obligations gives rise to regularisation, according to the above rules. This may be for a particular contributor either by a contribution balance to be paid (net debit adjustment) or by the reimbursement of an overpayment (net creditor adjustment).
This regularization is notified to the Concerned contributors.
For contributors with net debit regularisation, the notification of maturity sent to them specifies the date. Any delay in payment shall be subject to legal interests which will increase the amount initially notified, irrespective of the procedures under Article L. 36-11 of the ECCC for failure to comply with the obligation to finance the service Universal.
Contributors with net creditor regularization receive their assessed contributions from other contributors within 10 days of due dates or later in the case of late remittances from other contributors Contributors.
Decides:
The net cost of the universal service obligations supported by Orange for the year 2012 is estimated at € 28,814,686. This amount is an excessive charge and compensating.
For the calculation of contributions, the amount mentioned in The preceding Article shall be increased by the management costs incurred by the Caisse des Deposits et Consignations, of an amount of EUR 57 456, and of the unpaid amounts for the financial year 2010, of EUR 42 816.
The Net contributions of operators to the universal service fund for the year 2012 are those set out in the Annex to this Decision.
The Director General of the Authority shall be responsible for the application of this Decision, which shall be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic and notified to the operators listed in the Annex.
APPENDIX
Final Contributions to the 2012 Universal Service Fund
| Orange Group | 14 174 882 |
| 118000 | 1 623 | KERTELCOM | 4 688 |
| 118218 THE NUMBER | 67 276 | KEYYO | 7 974 |
| ACN COMMUNICATIONS FRANCE | 29 233 | TELECOM EXT | 96 949 |
| ADISTA | 12 024 | LEBARA FRANCE LIMITED | 85 329 |
| AFONE | 32 613 | LONG PHONE | Align="center"> 2 410 |
| AKAMAÏ TECHNOLOGIES | 15 799 | LTI TELECOM | 16,235 |
| ALLOPASS | 116 846 | LYCAMOBILE | 123 043 |
| ALSATIS | 192 | MEDIASERV SARL | 3 162 |
| ASTRIUM SAS | 2 034 | MOBIUS | 10 431 |
| ASTRIUM SERVICES BUSINESS COMMUNICATIONS SAS | 37 560 | NC NUMERICABLE | 67 633 |
| AUCHAN TELECOM | 21 799 | NERIM | 6 925 |
| AT&T GLOBAL NETWORK SERVICES FRANCE SAS | 60 566 | NETSIZE | 16 527 |
| BOUYGUES TELECOM | 3 268 063 | NORDNET | 9 009 |
| BT FRANCE | 79 320 | NORMACTION | 2 915 |
| TELECOM BUDGET | 8 428 | NUMERICABLE | 10356 |
| BUZZ | 2 859 | OMEA TELECOM | 328 396 |
| CABLE & WIRELESS | 4 371 | ORTEL MOBILE SAS | 42 891 |
| CENTRAL TELECOM | 692 | OUTREMER TELECOM | 135 437 |
| COGENT COMMUNICATIONS FRANCE SAS | 2 941 | OVH | 4 661 |
| COLT TECHNOLOGY SERVICES | 105 146 | OZONE | 6,041 |
| COMPLETEL | 147 520 | PAGESJAUNES SA | 4 364 |
| CORIOLIS TELECOM SAS | 40 493 | Align="justify"> OPERATOR PARITEL | 11 658 |
| DARTY TELECOM | 62 108 | PRIXTEL | 13,366 |
| DAUPHIN TELECOM | 2 718 | PROSODIE | 41 313 |
| DIGICEL ANTILLES GUYANE | 76 566 | SFR | 6,273 217 |
| EASYNET | 10 186 | SPRINTLINK FRANCE SAS | 46 |
| EI TELECOM | 275 341 | SRR | 180 531 |
| EQUANT FRANCE SA | 9 606 | SYMACOM | 8 171 |
| IS VIDEOCOMMUNICATION | 10 797 | TATA COMMUNICATIONS FRANCE | 3 798 |
| FREE | 1 546 276 | TELEFONICA INTERNATIONAL WHOLESALES SERVICES | 73 |
| FREE MOBILE | 409 180 | TRANSACTION NETWORK SERVICES | 9 713 |
| FUTUR TELECOM | 39 483 | VANCO SAS | 17 821 |
| HUB TELECOM | 38 857 | VERIZON FRANCE | 78 188 |
| INTERCALL | 3 062 | VIALIS | 802 |
| INTEROUTE FRANCE | 846 | WIBOX | 1 192 |
| IRIDIUM ITALIA SRL | 4 637 | WIFIRST | 5 026 |
| JAGUAR NETWORK SAS | 1 350 | ZERO FORFAIT | 4,455 |
