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. 20-44;
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;
Having regard to Decision No. 2013-0001 of the Authority dated 29 January 2013 fixing the rate of remuneration of the capital employed for the recording of costs and the tariff control of Regulated fixed activities of Orange (then called France Télécom) for the 2013-2015 as foreseen by article R. 20-37 of the CPCE;
In view of Decision No. 2012-1546 of the Authority dated 4 December 2012 fixing the provisional contributions of operators to the cost of universal service for the year 2013;
Given the decision N ° 2014-0885 of the Authority dated 2 September 2014 adopting the notice of declaration of the relevant turnover for the calculation of the final contribution to the universal service fund for the year 2013, published in the Official Journal of the French Republic of 3 February 2015;
In view of Decision No. 2014-1444 of the French Republic Date of 4 December 2014 publishing the rules employed for 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 2013 referred to in the Official Journal of the French Republic of 5 February 2015;
In view of the declarations concerning the relevant business figures for the universal service transmitted by operators;
In view of the attestation of conformity of 17 March 2015 of the system of calculation of the elements Contributing to the determination of the final net cost of the universal service of Orange for 2013, as part of its regulatory obligations;
In view of the compliance certificate of April 15, 2015, of the system for calculating the elements contributing to the determination of the definitive net cost of the Yellow PagesYellow service for the year 2013, as part of its regulatory obligations;
After deliberation on April 21, 2015,
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 shall be specified by rules which, pursuant to the provisions of Article R. 20-40 of the CPCE, shall be published by the Authority. The rules employed in the calculation of the definitive cost of the universal service for the year 2013 were adopted by the Authority following a public consultation conducted from 25 October to 24 November 2014, in its decision No. 2014-1444 of 4 December 2014. 2014.
The purpose of this Decision is to assess the final net cost of universal service obligations for the year 2013.
1.2. The procedure followed by the Authority
The information necessary to evaluate the cost of the universal service components for the calculation of the final cost of the universal service for the year 2013 was provided by Orange and PagesJaunes.
The accounting of the company Orange used for the calculation of the net cost of universal service obligations was audited by an independent body designated by the Authority in Decision No. 2014-0592 dated 20 May 2014, in Application of the I of Article L. 35-3 of the CPCE. The audit examined 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 network characteristics and trafficking, From the Orange information system. The corresponding audit report was submitted to the Authority on 6 February 2015.
Similarly, the PagesYellow company's accounting used for the calculation of the net cost of the universal service publishing component was audited by an agency Appointed by the Authority in Decision No. 2015-0109 dated February 3, 2015. The corresponding audit report was submitted to the Authority on 25 March 2015.
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 For the year 2013. This notice of declaration was adopted in Decision No. 2014-0885 of 2 September 2014.
Finally, the Authority set out in its Decision No. 2013-0001 of 29 January 2013 the value of the rate of pay of capital for 2013 provided for in Article R. 20-37 CPCE. The value of the capital rate is set at 9.5 %.
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 the year 2013, in accordance with the rules adopted by the Authority in Decision No. 2014-1444, before taking into account the intangible benefits, amounted to EUR 6.9 million, representing 742 475 analogue lines, or 5.76 % of the number of main analogue lines, located in the local areas with a population of less than 18.65. Km2.
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) la 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 in 2013 amounts to 10.04 euros inclusive of all taxes 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 Orange is EUR 4.21 excluding taxes per month and by beneficiary in 2013, in accordance with the aforementioned decree of the Minister of The economy, industry and employment as of February 19, 2010.
In December 2013, 176,711 beneficiaries benefited from the tariff reduction. As of December 2012, 210,298 beneficiaries had benefited from this reduction. The amount of compensation for Orange for the year 2013 is EUR 9.7 million.
The management costs incurred by the social agencies and the provider responsible for the management of the social reduction scheme are 3.9 EUR million in 2013
In total, as part of the final cost for the year 2013, the net cost of the social price component, before taking into account the intangible benefits, amounts to EUR 13.6 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 public domain telephone booths
The evaluation of this component is established in accordance with the rules adopted by Decision No. 2014-1444 From the Authority and from the operating accounts of the publishing activity and the number of publications by commune, information provided by Orange and audited.
The final net cost of this component for the year 2013 is 14.5 EUR million before taking into account the intangible benefits. It is up from 2012 (EUR 13.9 million). It corresponds to the taking into account of 32,591 cabins in the 27,970 communes in which at least one post is implanted in application of the provisions of 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 decline in sales of the phones due to the significant decrease in traffic originating from the phones between 2012 and 2013.
2.4. Assessment of net cost of obligations corresponding to the provision of an information service and a directory of subscribers in paper and electronic form
This component of universal service has been limited since 2012 to the supply A directory of subscribers in printed form and did not give rise to compensation in 2012.
PagesJaunes has been designated the provider of this component by the order of 6 December 2012 designating the operator to provide The subscriber directory in printed form for the entire territory.
In accordance with the rules adopted by Decision No. 2014-1444 of the aforementioned Authority, pursuant to Article R. 20-36 of the CPCE, the calculation of the net cost of this component of the universal service is based on a principle of net cost avoidance resulting from the Costs avoided and revenue lost by the provider in the event that the provider is not subject to universal service obligations.
As such, the net cost of this component for the year 2013 is the costs incurred in the Unprofitable departments where the Yellow PagesJaunes wished to stop the publication and The distribution of the directories printed on his application to be designated operator in charge of the printed directory but for which he was responsible for providing the subscriber directory service in printed form pursuant to the order of 6 December 2012, 11 metropolitan departments and one overseas community, decreased revenues generated in these same territories.
The final net cost of this component for the year 2013 is € 1 million before the Account for intangible benefits.
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 fiscal year starting in fiscal year 1998;
-commissioned, in 2006 and 2010, two studies with an independent consultant to update the results achieved for the valuation of the Immaterial benefits;
-finally commissioned a new study in 2014 An independent consultant to assess the evolution of the overprice that Orange would benefit from its universal service missions.
The intangible benefits, as provided for in Article R. 20-37-1 of the CCOP, were evaluated in accordance with the rules These include the three components of the universal service in 2013.
3.1. The technical and commercial benefit resulting from the extent of the network (ubiquity effect)
In accordance with the rules adopted by Decision No. 2014-1444 of the aforementioned Authority, the technical and commercial benefit resulting from the scope of the Network (ubiquity-related effect) is zero for 2013.
3.2. The benefit linked to the improvement in the economic capacity of subscribers benefiting from the universal service (life cycle effect)
The effect of the lifecycle in the evaluation of the cost of telephone service in 2013 is limited to The value of the benefit derived from the social offer of the telephone service. This is calculated on the basis of the number of customers previously eligible for the social offer and the beneficiaries of the offer that are no longer eligible and subscribe to an offer from the same operator.
For 2013, the Authority estimates at EUR 0.055 million The life cycle benefit for the component " Telephone service " Universal service.
3.3. The profit from the operation of subscriber data (knowledge of the market)
In accordance with the rules adopted by Decision No 2014-1444, the Authority considers that it cannot be attributed to Orange a profit from Operation of non-zero subscriber data.
3.4. The profit from the brand image associated with the universal service operator position
For the component " Telephone service " The universal service, the Authority found, in the rules adopted by Decision No 2014-1444, that the assessment of the profit derived from the trade mark is no longer relevant in 2013
Phonie " The universal service, the Authority considers that it cannot be attributed to Orange a brand image significantly different from zero for the year 2013.
For the component " Print directory " Of the universal service, the profit from the brand image is assessed through the advertising value of the printed directories. Print directories show their third and fourth coverage of ads for other Yellow Pageset services. The Authority shall evaluate to 0.009 million euros the profit corresponding to the brand image for the component " Print directory " Universal service.
3.5. Summary of intangible benefits by component
In total, the intangible benefits are broken down by component, as shown in the table below:
| Component | Telephone service | Form |
| Ubiquity | 0 | 0 |
| Life Cycle | 54 573 | 0 |
| Market Knowledge | 0 | 0 |
| Branding | 0 | 9 904 |
| Total intangible benefits | 54 573 | 9 904 |
The total amount of intangible benefits, all components combined, is EUR 0.064 million for the year 2013. This amount is very much lower than the EUR 4.3 million recorded for the year 2012, due to the deletion of the branding benefit for the telephone service and the publishing industry.
4. Summary of net cost of universal service, intangible benefits deduced
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 | 20 475 900 | 54 573 | 20 421 327 |
| telephones | 14,499 305 | 0 | 14,499 305 |
| Print directory and intelligence service | 1 017 495 | 9 904 | 1 007 592 |
| Total | 35 992 700 | 64 476 | 35,928 223 |
The final cost of the universal service, intangible benefits deducted, amounts to € 35.9 million in 2013. It is on the increase compared to 2012 (28.8 million euros).
5. Management costs
The cost of the universal service is to increase the management costs of the Deposits Fund, amounting to € 59,020, which is validated by the universal service fund control committee on 5 November 2014.
6. Deprecation of excessive load
In accordance with Article R. 20-37-1 of the CPCE, the Authority has calculated the net cost of the universal service for the year 2013, taking into account the intangible benefits, leading to a Cost in 2013 of € 34.9 million for components " Telephone service " And " Phonie " And EUR 1.0 million for the component ' Printed directory ". This net cost appears not only significant in absolute but also excessive value, 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 2013 is comparable with the order of magnitude of the fines imposed by the competition authorities and the pending litigation procedures.
The Authority assessed whether the net cost of the Components " Telephone service " And " Phonie " Was excessive for Orange in terms of its ability to bear it in view of its own characteristics, in particular the level of its equipment, its economic and financial situation and its market
. Universal service components represent a net cost of € 34.9 million for the year 2013. In view of the market share of the incumbent operator and the allocation rule, the provision of the universal service results in a net charge of € 17.6 million, on the scale of the Orange group, which represents a Significant amount since comparable to the fines imposed by the European Commission or the Competition Authority.
As a comparison, Orange, in the group's 2011 financial report (page 472), stated that its conviction to pay 10 EUR million of damages to Numericable in the course of proceedings Contentious (decision of the Paris Commercial Court of 30 March 2011) was likely to have a significant impact on the financial situation of the group, being less than that of the net charge of the universal service of Orange for 2013.
Moreover, the net charge of the universal service of Orange for the year 2012 (14.2 million euros), less than that of 2013, was considered excessive by the Authority in its decision No. 14-0553 of 6 May 2014
The net cost of universal service 2013 is therefore present in all these elements. An excessive character for Orange.
Similarly, the Authority has assessed whether the net cost of the component " Print directory " Has an excessive character for PagesJaunes in terms of its ability to bear it in view of its own characteristics.
This component of the universal service represents a net cost of EUR 1 million for the year 2013. In view of the market share of the undertaking which pays the benefit and the allocation rule retained, the provision of the universal service results in a net charge of EUR 1 million, on the scale of the Solocal Group (owner of the In
reference document for the year 2013, the company Solocal Group mentions among the risks which could have a significant adverse effect on its activity the procedures initiated on the basis of errors in the Publication of directories, the total amount of which is equivalent to the net cost Of the universal service for the year 2013:
" At 31 December 2013, the number of these proceedings was eighteen, for a total amount of claims for damages of just under 1 million euros. As part of these procedures, the Group's entities try to negotiate an amicable settlement, which significantly reduces the total and final cost of these proceedings. However, it cannot be guaranteed that these procedures will not adversely affect the Group's financial situation. "
In view of all these elements, the net cost of the universal service 2013 is therefore excessive for the Solocal Group.
6.2. Conclusion
A charge of EUR 17.6 million for Orange and EUR 1 million for PagesJaunes 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. Impayments
Article R. 20-39 of the CPCE specifies that " in the event of an operator failure, 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 financial year following that finding on the accounts of the other operators in proportion to the share of each calculated in the manner described above, and paid at the same time as the following final balance
" Accounting years prior to the year 2010 have already been closed previously. It remained to close the 2011 financial year.
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 towards the universal service fund, for each of the For the 2011 financial year. These accounting statements will be used for the final closing date of December 31, 2014 from the accounting point of view for the financial year 2011.
The following table summarizes, for the year, the debts discounted as at 31 May 2015, the presumed date of the regularisations of Fiscal year 2013:
| 2011 | 121 235 |
Thus, for the year ended in 2011, the net balance of the debts of the fund up to 31 May 2015 amounts to € 121,235.
The cost of the universal service 2013 is therefore increased by this amount (€ 121,235) in order to be able to regularize the debts Of the completed exercise.
8. Distribution of contributions between operators
The entire cost of the universal service for the financial year 2013, 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 2011 financial year 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 an electronic communications service ".
The relevant revenue to determine the contribution of Each registrant 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 2014-0885 of 2 September 2014)
Operators have transmitted their declarations and declarations Which have not been carried out correspond to operators whose relevant turnover is very 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 36.1 million) reported in the total number of reference cases (after abatement, or EUR 28.3 billion) represents a levy rate of about 0.13 % in 2013, a slight increase compared to 2012
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.
For the year 2013, Orange shall be credited with the amount of the net cost of the universal service calculated in point 4 in respect of Components " Telephone service " And " Publication, or an amount of EUR 34.9 million. This amount includes the costs of managing the social agencies and the provider of the tariff reduction, which amounts to EUR 3.9 million, which is borne by Orange for payment to the bodies concerned.
PagesYellow is credited with The amount of the net cost of the universal service calculated in item 4 on the component " The
Annex defines the contributions established under this Decision.
Regularization
Any difference between the final values and the values Provision of the net cost of universal service obligations gives rise to regularisation, according to the abovementioned rules. This may be for a particular contributor, either by a contribution balance to be paid (net debit adjustment) or by repayment of an overpayment (net creditor regularization).
The component " Print directory " Have not been compensated in previous years, the provisional value of the net cost of this component for the year 2013 was zero.
This regularization is notified to the contributors concerned.
For contributors Having a net debit adjustment, the notice of due date that is 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 share of the amounts collected from other contributors under the conditions set out in Article R. 20-42 of the ECCC
The net cost of the universal service obligations supported by Orange for the year 2013 is estimated at € 34,920,632. This amount is excessive and compensating.
The net cost of universal service obligations supported by YellowPagesJaunes for the year 2013 is valued at € 1,007,592. This amount is an excessive charge and compensating.
For the calculation of contributions, the amount mentioned in The previous article shall be increased by the management costs incurred by the Caisse des Deposits et consignations, of an amount of EUR 59 020, and of the unpaid amounts for the financial year 2011, of an amount of 121,235 euros.
The Net contributions of operators to the universal service fund for the year 2013 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
REFINITIVE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE YEAR 2013 UNIVERSAL SERVICE FUND
| Orange Group | 17 696 791 | ||
| Yellow Pages SA | 1 001 517 |
| 118000 | 1 772 | La Poste Telecom | 135 804 |
| 118218 Le Numero | 112 380 | Lebara France Limited | 104 959 |
| ACN Communications France | 30 732 | Long Phone | 4 337 |
| Adista | 23 892 | LTI Telecom | 21 805 |
| Afone | 38 439 | Lycamobile SARL | 209,056 |
| Airbus Defence and Space SAS | 43 626 | Martinique TV Cable | 10 125 |
| Akamai Technologies | 13 587 | Mediaserv | 64 863 |
| Alsatis | 1,041 | Mobius | 14,635 |
| AT&T Global Network Services France SAS | 82 028 | Nerim | 31 356 |
| Auchan Telecom | 16,810 | Netsize | 17,043 |
| Bouygues Telecom | 4 213 745 | Nordnet | 15 626 |
| BT France | 107 910 | Numericable | 319 603 |
| Budget Telecom | 8 321 | Omea Telecom | 422 995 |
| Central Telecom | 3 259 | Onecast | 11 799 |
| Cogent Communications France | 5 432 | Ortel Mobile SAS | 53 793 |
| Colt Technology Services | 168 570 | Outremer Telecom | 189,710 |
| Completel | 332 063 | OVH | 14 894 |
| Coriolis Telecom SAS | 52 942 | Ozone | 8 656 |
| Darty Telecom | 57 563 | Paritel operator | 19,625 |
| Dauphin Telecom | 3 614 | Prixtel | 15,538 |
| Digicel Antilles Françaises Guyana | 111 633 | Prosodie | 54 189 |
| Easynet | 13 477 | Reliance Flag Atlantic France | 78 057 |
| Equant France | 9 497 | SFR | 7 473 099 |
| Euro-Information Telecom | 359 564 | radiotelephone reunionnaise | 222 584 |
| Eutelsat SA | 3 192 | Sprintlink France SAS | 147 |
| Free | 2 255 977 | Symacom | 9 800 |
| Free mobile | 888 555 | Tata Communications France | 8 368 |
| Futur Telecom | 55 821 | Telefonica International Wholesale Services France | 1 191 |
| Herault Telecom | 11 001 | Transaction Network Services | 14 047 |
| High Connection | 893 | T-Systems France | 44 313 |
| Hipay | 11 925 | Vanco SAS | 20,311 |
| Hub One | 57 898 | Verizon France | 103 836 |
| Intercall | 2 610 | Vialis | 1 157 |
| Intercall Europe | 6 878 | Vodafone Enterprise France SAS | 5 522 |
| International Telecommunication Network France | 171 | Wibox | 2 640 |
| SAS Interoute France SAS | 1 260 | Wifirst | 10 111 |
| Iridium Italia S.R.L. | 8 039 | World Satellite Guadeloupe | 9 378 |
| Jaguar Network | 3 853 | Zayo France | 2 634 |
| Keyyo | 10 981 |
Done at Paris, 21 April 2015.
The President,
S. Soriano
