Article 22 of Law 32/2003, of 3 November, General of Telecommunications, establishes the concept and scope of the universal service, which is understood as the defined set of services whose provision is guarantees for all end users regardless of their geographical location, with a particular quality and at an affordable price.

In turn, Articles 23 and 24 of the General Law on Telecommunications contain provisions concerning the designation of operators for the provision of the various elements of the universal service, to the determination of the net cost arising from their benefit and the financing mechanism of the benefit.

It is the Regulation on the conditions for the provision of electronic communications services, the universal service and the protection of users, approved by Royal Decree 424/2005, of 15 April, the one that develops, in Articles 27 to 51, the provisions of the General Law of Telecommunications regarding the universal service, specifying the elements or services that make up the universal service, the requirements of quality, accessibility and Applicable affordability, the procedure for the designation of operators in charge of the provision, as well as the procedure, in charge of the Telecommunications Market Committee, for the determination of the net cost and its financing.

The transposition into national law of the provisions on universal service contained in Directive 2002/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on the universal service and the rights of users in relation to electronic communications networks and services, in which the common framework of universal service for the entire European Union is established.

According to this framework, the Member States are obliged to ensure, inter alia, that all reasonable requests for connection from a fixed location to the public telephone network are satisfied, and that such requests must be connection, inter alia, to data transmissions at speeds sufficient to provide functional access to the Internet, taking into account the dominant technologies used by the majority of subscribers and technological feasibility.

For the determination of sufficient speed to access the Internet in a functional way, recital 8 of that directive limited it to the narrow band, leaving for a later possibility the incorporation of speeds broadband in the universal service.

This situation has changed with the adoption of Directive 2009 /136/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November amending, inter alia, Directive 2002 /22/EC. Recital 5 of Directive 2009 /136/EC states that it is for the Member States to determine the speed of transmission of data enabling functional access to the Internet, taking into account the specific requirements of Directive 2009 /136/EC. Circumstances of the national markets.

In application of this power granted to the Member States, Article 52 of Law 2/2011 of 4 March on Sustainable Economy provides that the connection to the public electronic communications network with access capacity Internet functional, guaranteed by the universal telecommunications service, should allow for broadband data communications at a down-to-down speed of 1Mbit per second.

This legal precept also contains a mandate to the Government so that, within four months of the entry into force of the Law on Sustainable Economy, by means of Royal Decree, it establishes the conditions for the access of the broadband to the public network.

Also, Directive 2009 /136/EC introduces further amendments of a more technical nature to the provisions relating to the universal service referred to in Directive 2002/22/EC, such as the conceptual differentiation between network and service, which opens the door to the designation of different operators for both elements, also empowering the Member States for the sake of greater efficiency in the designation process to set conditions including, inter alia, the grouping of geographical areas or components or the establishment of a minimum period of designation. In addition, the provisions aimed at the end users with disabilities are strengthened, the possibility of establishing other points of access to voice telephony which are not necessarily public payment telephones and the obligation of the operator prior communication designated in the event of the transfer of local access network assets to another entity. In this regard, Article 22.4 of Law 32/2003 of 3 November, General Telecommunications, provides that the Government, in accordance with Community law, may review the scope of universal service obligations, and the The third final provision of the same legal text attributes to the Government the power to dictate the regulatory norms that require the development and application of this Law.

Measures to end users with disabilities, which are included in the universal service and which must be guaranteed by the designated operator or operators, are additional to those established for all operators within the framework of Law 32/2003 of 3 November, General Telecommunications and Royal Decree 1494/2007 of 12 November 2007, approving the Regulation on the basic conditions for the access of persons with disability to the technologies, products and services related to the information society and media social communication, development of Law 51/2003, of 2 December, of equal opportunities, non-discrimination and universal accessibility of persons with disabilities.

On the other hand, and as a result of the implementation of the royal decree over the last few years, it has been considered necessary to introduce certain regulatory changes, such as the possibility that the are delivered in electronic form to users, unless they are requested by the users to be delivered in printed form, the raising of the minimum thresholds for the number of inhabitants in the definition of sufficient supply of public telephones and the adequacy of the regulation of the net cost of the provision of universal service to the separation by elements, constituting also the legal foundation to undertake these changes the article 22.4 and the final disposition third of the Law 32/2003, of November 3, General of Telecommunications.

By this royal decree the regulation on the conditions for the provision of electronic communications services, the universal service and the protection of the users, approved by the Royal Decree is amended 424/2005, of April 15, with the objective of concretizing the terms of the incorporation of the broadband in the universal service, established in article 52 of the Law 2/2011, of March 4, of the Sustainable Economy, as well as to realize the transposition into the internal legal system of changes introduced in the framework of universal service by Directive 2009 /136/EC.

Once this standard has been approved, it will proceed as soon as possible to carry out the calls for the corresponding bidding processes of the different elements that make up the obligation to provide the service universal telecommunications, with the aim of giving new operators the option to take care of the provision of different elements of the universal service.

In the process of this royal decree, the Advisory Council for Telecommunications and the Information Society has been heard, the project has been informed by the Telecommunications Market Commission and by the Government Delegate Committee for Economic Affairs.

This royal decree is issued under the exclusive competence of the State in the field of telecommunications, recognized in Article 149.1.21. of the Constitution.

Under the proposal of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, in agreement with the Council of State and after deliberation by the Council of Ministers at its meeting on 20 May 2011,

DISPONGO:

Single item. Amendment of the Regulation on the conditions for the provision of electronic communications services, the universal service and the protection of users, approved by Royal Decree 424/2005 of 15 April

Chapter II of Title III of the Regulation on the conditions for the provision of electronic communications services, the universal service and the protection of users, approved by Royal Decree 424/2005, of 15 January April, it is worded as follows:

" CHAPTER II

Universal Service

Section 1. Universal Service Delimitation

Article 27. Concept and delimitation of services that are included in the scope of universal service.

1. Universal service means the defined set of services the provision of which is guaranteed for all end users regardless of their geographical location, with a particular quality and at an affordable price.

2. Under the concept of universal service, the following shall be ensured in the terms and conditions set out in this Chapter:

(a) That all end users can obtain a connection to the public electronic communications network from a fixed location with the characteristics set out in Article 28.1, provided that their applications are consider reasonable in the terms set out in Article 29.

(b) That all reasonable requests for the provision of a telephone service available to the public through the connection referred to in the preceding paragraph are satisfied, enabling them to carry out and receive national calls and international, with the characteristics set out in Article 28.2.

(c) A general guide for subscriber numbers shall be made available to the public by the telephone service available to the public, in accordance with Article 30. In addition, a general information or telephone consultation service on subscriber numbers shall be made available to all end-users of that service, subject to the conditions laid down in Article 31.

(d) That there is a sufficient supply of public pay telephones, or other public access points to voice telephony, throughout the national territory, in accordance with the terms set out in Article 32.

e) That end users with disabilities have access to the publicly available telephone service from a fixed location, to the general guide of subscriber numbers, to the general information service or to telephone consultation on the number of subscribers and the service of public payment telephones referred to in paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) above, under comparable conditions to those offered to other end users.

(f) People with special social needs should, in accordance with transparent, public and non-discriminatory conditions, have options or tariff packages which differ from those applied under normal conditions of employment. commercial exploitation and allowing them to have access to the available telephone service to the public from a fixed location or make use of it. For the same purpose, price constraints, common tariffs, geographical equalisation or other similar schemes may apply where appropriate.

Article 28. Connection to the public network and access to publicly available telephone service.

1. The connection to the public electronic communications network, from a fixed location, referred to in paragraph 2.a) of the previous Article, provided through any technology, shall provide its end users, in accordance with the provisions of the Article 29.1, the possibility of:

(a) Connect and use terminal equipment that complies with applicable regulations and establish telephone, fax and telephone communications in accordance with the relevant UIT-T. T series recommendations.

You must also have the appropriate technical resources to enable the continuity of the fixed telephone service available to the public in situations of interruption of the electricity supply for a minimum period of four years. hours. However, in the connections to the public network which are provided by means of technologies which do not allow the electricity supply from the operator's premises, the appropriate technical resources to ensure the power supply of the network termination equipment shall be provided by the subscriber.

b) Set up data communications at sufficient speed to access the Internet in a functional way. For this purpose and pursuant to Article 52 of Law 2/2011 of 4 March 2011 on Sustainable Economy, the connection to the network should allow for data communications in broadband at a down speed of 1Mbit per year. second.

This value refers to the overall data rate of the network access user link, understanding both the net data transport capacity offered by the link to each user, and the synchronization taras, control, operations, error correction or other specific access functions. For ADSL technology this global speed corresponds to the synchronization of modems.

For each user the designated operator shall ensure that the said global data rate to be provided by the connection, averaged over any 24-hour period, is not less than a megabit per second.

Through the Order of the Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade, the definitions and methods of measurement, of this parameter relative to the average speed offered to each user, can be established.

In addition, the connection to the network must enable an efficient provision of the available telephone service to the public, with the minimum characteristics referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, and of data services, including those for Internet access, under conditions which are comparable to those offered on a general basis by the market. To this end, the operator designated for the provision of the connection to the network shall comply with any of the following requirements:

1. Offer to the providers of the aforementioned services, existing in the market, a type of access that allows to efficiently carry out their delivery. To this end, minimum requirements may be established for the connection, considering in any case sufficient those requirements comparable to those imposed by the Commission on the Telecommunications Market to operators with significant power in the markets for access to the telephone service from a fixed location and to data services.

2. º To assume its benefit in the above mentioned conditions, not being computable in such case the net cost that it could suppose to the effects of the determination of the net cost associated with the supply of the connection to the net.

2. The operator designated for the provision of the publicly available telephone service shall satisfy all requests for access to the available telephone service to the public on connections which enable such access, in such a way as to enable the user to receive and make telephone calls at national and international level through geographic or non-geographic numbers, in accordance with the national telephone numbering plan. In addition, it must respect the quality and affordability conditions laid down for the telephone service available to the public, respectively, in Articles 34 and 35 of this Regulation.

When interruptions of that service occur, for reasons not attributable to the subscriber, the designated operator shall compensate him in accordance with the provisions of Article 15 of the letter of rights of the service user. of electronic communications, approved by Royal Decree 899/2009 of 22 May.

Article 29. Network connection requests and maximum provisioning time.

1. The operator designated for the provision of this universal service element shall satisfy reasonable requests for connection to the public electronic communications network from a fixed location, with the services requested by him. user within those specified in paragraph 1 of the previous Article. For this purpose, the user may request a connection with the benefits provided for in paragraph 1.a), 1.b), or both. In addition, the user may request the designated operator to provide the benefits of paragraph 1.b) for an existing connection which is available to those referred to in paragraph 1.a).

In any case, the connection hiring will not bind the end user to contract other services with the same operator. However, the procurement of a connection with certain capacities may be considered unreasonable if it is not accompanied by the contracting of any of the services offered on those capacities by an operator.

2. Without prejudice to the provisions of the preceding paragraph, requests for connection in any of the following conditions shall be deemed to be reasonable:

a) That the connection is requested for any real estate located on urban land.

b) That the connection be requested for a building, which is not yet in urban land, is used as habitual housing by the applicant in accordance with the applicable urban regulations. For verification, the designated operator may require the applicant to certify that the Council has established such extremes.

3. Where such a designated operator considers that an application is unreasonable and does not give rise to any of the above two conditions, it shall submit it to the Director-General for Telecommunications and Information Technology for the authorisation of such a request. consideration.

4. The designated operator shall satisfy every reasonable request for connection to the public electronic communications network referred to in point 1 above, within a maximum period of 60 calendar days from its receipt. Where such a request is made in conjunction with the request for access to the publicly available telephone service, both shall be met within that time limit.

In the event that the supply is required to obtain permits, rights of occupation or specific passage or for any other cause not attributable to the operator, the operator may discount the delays due to such causes, after communication containing the necessary documentary accreditation of the delays sent to the applicant by registered mail with an acknowledgement of receipt, in which the applicant will be informed of the possibility that he has the opportunity to present the complaints referred to in Article 27 of the Charter of Rights of the User of the Services of electronic communications, approved by Royal Decree 899/2009 of 22 May.

In the event that the aforementioned supply cannot be made within that period, once the delays referred to in the preceding paragraph have been discounted, without causing force majeure or other factors attributable to the applicant, it must compensate automatically to be exempted from the payment of a number of monthly instalments relating to the connection equivalent to the number of months or fraction in which the time limit has been exceeded.

5. The processing of the authorisations provided for in paragraph 3 shall be carried out in accordance with the procedure laid down in the Regulation approved by Annex I to Royal Decree 1773/1994 of 5 August 1994.

Article 30. Telephone guides.

1. Subscribers to the telephone service available to the public shall be entitled to a general printed guide for subscriber numbers, which shall be updated at least once a year. All subscribers to the telephone service available to the public shall have the right to appear in the said general guide, without prejudice, in any case, to compliance with the rules governing the protection of personal data and the right to privacy.

2. Where the provision of the guide referred to in this Article is not guaranteed by the free market, its preparation, which shall be carried out taking into account the principles of universal accessibility and design for all, shall be the responsibility of the undertaking. In addition, it will have to be delivered free of charge to all subscribers of the telephone service available to the public. Where several credit agreements to the public telephone service available to the public are domiciled in the same direction, that obligation shall be deemed to be fulfilled by giving a copy of the guide. Where, in accordance with paragraph 6 of this Article, the guide has been organized in several volumes, the designated undertaking may limit the delivery to the taking of the territorial demarcation in which the address of the paid, and will make available to you, free of charge, the rest of the province's tomes.

3. The designated company may provide a subscriber with a telephone directory in electronic format instead of the printed edition, under the same conditions as those laid down for the latter in this article, provided that it includes in that delivery forms and clear indications in printed form for the application of the printed edition. In the event of a request by the subscriber, within 30 days of the delivery of the electronic guide, the designated company shall deliver to the subscriber the printed edition within a period not exceeding 30 days from the date of delivery of the electronic guide. the receipt of the request.

The designated company must provide access to telephone guides via the Internet, in accessible format for disabled users, under the conditions and accessibility deadlines set for the Internet pages of public administrations, in the regulation adopted by Royal Decree 1494/2007 of 12 November 2007. In addition, in accordance with Article 35, it shall provide blind or severely visually impaired users with the exemption from the telephone consultation service on subscriber numbers established by the Government Delegated Commission for Economic Affairs.

4. Without prejudice to Article 67, in relation to the data relating to each subscriber, at least the following information shall be included:

a) First and last names, or social reason.

b) Number or numbers of subscribers.

c) Postal address of the address, except floor, letter and ladder.

d) Specific terminal that you want to declare, if any.

In the case of the fixed telephone service and the holder is a natural person, you may apply to the operator providing the service, which is associated with the same number, with the name of another older person with whom conviva. The application for registration of the registration will be made jointly, while for the reduction it will be sufficient for the request of the interested party. In the case of the fixed telephone service and the holder is an entity or organisation assigned a plurality of numbers, the operator of which those numbers are dependent shall ensure that the entries are duly ordered. necessary, to facilitate the localization of the numbers of the externally most relevant users of that entity or organization.

5. At least the following information shall be provided in the initial sheets of each telephone guide copy:

(a) The postal address and telephone numbers for the attention of the user of the telephone service providers available to the public from which one of the numbers listed on that copy depends.

(b) Information to subscribers about their right not to appear in a guide accessible to the public or, where appropriate, to partially omit their address or any other data, in the terms that their supplier has stipulated, to their data which appear in the guide are not used for the purposes of advertising or commercial prospecting and the exercise of the rights of access, opposition, rectification and cancellation of their data, in the terms provided for by the legislation in force in personal data protection material.

c) Instructions that indicate how to access and make use of the telephone and telephone service available to the public.

d) The postal addresses and telephone numbers of public services in the field of health emergency, fire suppression and rescue, citizen security and civil protection.

e) The numbers of the query services on subscriber numbers.

f) Full edit and update date, as well as editor name and address.

g) Information relating to the department or specialist customer service, of the universal service providers referred to in Article 26 of the letter of rights of the user of the communications services electronic, approved by Royal Decree 899/2009 of 22 May.

6. The data contained in the telephone guides will be collected in a clear and easy to read type. The printing will preferably be made of two sides, using a paper with a texture that allows such printing without making it difficult to read the information. The binding must be without deterioration of normal use during the life of the guide.

The data will be related in alphabetical order of the first last name or social reason. After the first surname, the second name will be fully reflected, followed by a comma, your own name or your initials. In addition, the address of the subscriber, without specification of floor or letter, and, where appropriate, an identifier of the type of terminal (normal telephone, fax, ISDN, videoconferencing, mobile telephony, telephone of text for persons) shall also be associated with each number. (a) the subscriber has indicated his wish to be included in such a way as to enable the applicant to be aware of the content of the application and the identity of the applicant.

In general terms and within the provincial scope of the telephone guides, their content will be organized in alphabetical order of the municipal terms and, if necessary, of local minor entities, except the capital of the province which will appear in the first place. Within each minor local term or entity will be organized by the letter of the first last name or social reason.

When the number of subscribers in a province is high, the telephone guide can be organized territorially in several volumes to facilitate its handling. The division of the provincial information for inclusion in each volume shall be carried out in such a way as to facilitate its use, taking particular account of the demand and the usual use of the information by the telephone service users. available to the public.

Information regarding subscribers of different telephone services or different operators must have equivalent typographical treatment.

Without prejudice to Article 67, the general guide for subscriber numbers included in the scope of the universal service shall be updated at least every 12 months. Each update shall include all rectifications, ups and downs that have been reported prior to the closing of the edition. The period between the date of updating of the data and the date of issue of the telephone guides may not exceed three months.

7. In relation to the personal data relating to each subscriber included in the guides, as well as to their rights, the provisions of Chapter I of Title V of this Regulation and the legislation in force on protection shall apply. of personal data.

Article 31. Telephone consultation service on subscriber numbers.

End users of the publicly available telephone service will have the right to have a telephone consultation service on the subscriber numbers contained in the telephone guides referred to in the article. 30, updated and nationally.

This service shall be provided at an affordable price and with the quality objectives to be set in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 34.

In relation to the personal data relating to each subscriber, it shall apply as set out in Chapter I of Title V and in the other regulations in force at any time on the protection of personal data. "

Article 32. Public telephones or other public access points to voice telephony.

1. The provision of the universal service must ensure that there is a sufficient supply of public telephones or other public access points for voice telephony. For these purposes, public telephones are considered to be located in the public domain of common use. By Order of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, other points of public access to voice telephony and conditions of integration in the sufficient supply of points of public access to voice telephony may be specified.

The operator designated for the provision of this item must ensure that there is a sufficient supply of public pay telephones in the area corresponding to the designation, with the minimum technical conditions which are set out in paragraph 3.

There will be sufficient supply of the existence, with a reasonable geographical distribution, of at least one public telephone payment and one more for every 3,000 inhabitants in each municipality of 1,000 or more inhabitants and a telephone In the case of the Commission, the Commission is not aware of the fact that the Commission is not aware of the fact that the Commission is not aware of the fact that the Commission is not in a position to take the necessary action. accessibility of mobile phone service or high floating population rate.

The designated operator shall, within a reasonable time, satisfy all requests for the installation of new public payment telephones to be submitted by the local authorities to meet the criteria for sufficient supply.

The designated operator must also maintain the offer of payment telephony locations and terminals with appropriate technology equipment. However, it may make modifications to such offer, including changes in location and withdrawal of terminals when the minimum bid criterion is exceeded, which are necessary to maintain the adequacy of the supply to the needs of the users. Such amendments may be made on the basis of a reasoned communication to the relevant city council, provided that the latter has not expressed its opposition in the same way within one month of such communication.

When the designated operator considers that a request for the installation of new public telephones for payment or an opposition to the modification of the offer, submitted by any city council, does not correspond to the obligations of the universal service, may be addressed to the Directorate-General for Telecommunications and Information Technology, which shall be resolved in accordance with the same procedure as the one referred to in Article 29.5.

2. The choice of the new locations will take into account the areas or places that are more busy and of greater potential demand, as well as those with little penetration of the fixed telephone service available to the public.

3. The public payment telephones referred to in this Article shall:

a) Provide users with the possibility of making calls to any subscriber of the available telephone service to the public, respecting their free character, if any.

b) Allow free emergency calls without having to use any form of payment, using the unique number of emergency calls 112 and other emergency numbers that are defined as free by the rules in force at any time.

c) Allow its use during the 24 hours of the day, counting with sufficient illumination during the night hours.

d) Dispose of the sound insulation necessary to protect the user from outside noise and ensure an adequate level of privacy of communications.

e) Incorporate an electronic display indicating the number, the minimum required credit and available credit, and optical and acoustic credit completion warning systems.

(f) Dispose, in a visible place, adequate and up-to-date information on the basic conditions of use of the service and on its prices, in which it will be included in any case indication of the free character of the calls of emergency services 112, as well as, where applicable, other emergency services which are defined as free by the legislation in force at any time and on the telephone consultation service on subscriber numbers referred to in the Article 31.

g) Dispose of appropriate security measures against vandalism and against their improper use.

(h) To recover the communication at the end of the communication and return the remaining balance on the basis of the previously deposited coins. In the case of card payment, the charge will be made at the end of the communication.

In addition, new public payment telephone facilities will have to offer payment options for coins and cards. When installed in a grouped form, these options must be offered by the pool of the public payment telephones in the pool.

i) Allow free access to the telephone consultation service on subscriber numbers referred to in Article 31.

4. The designated operator shall progressively improve the accessibility conditions for the public telephone payment telephones referred to in this Article, taking into account: the necessary compatibility with the use by persons with disabilities, the international standards on accessibility applied in the most advanced countries, the rules of the different Spanish public administrations and the work of the most representative organisations of persons with disabilities, as well as the distribution of the demand and climatology of the different areas of the territory.

For this purpose, the designated operator will submit, for approval by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, plans for the adaptation of public payment telephones to facilitate their accessibility by users with disability and, in particular, by blind, deaf, wheelchair or low-size users. In relation to blind users, the plans shall provide for accessibility, both of the dynamic information provided by the terminal viewer, and of the static information referred to in paragraph 3.f) of this Article. Such plans shall be submitted one year in advance of the end of the current or when the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade demands it to be considered as having passed the current one.

Article 33. Other measures to facilitate accessibility to service by persons with disabilities.

1. In accordance with Article 27 (2) (e), the operators designated for the provision of the telephone service available to the public referred to in Article 27.2.b), or for the provision of the directory services referred to in the Article 27.2.c), or for the provision of the public telephone service referred to in Article 27.2 (d), shall ensure that end-users with disabilities have access to such services at a level equivalent to that enjoyed by the rest of the end users.

Within the collective of persons with disabilities, people who are blind or severely visually impaired, people who are deaf or severely impaired in hearing, people with serious problems in speech will be considered to be included. and, in general, any other with physical disabilities which clearly prevent them from being clearly accessible to the fixed telephone service or require a more onerous use of the fixed telephone service.

2. For the purposes of the preceding paragraph, the operator designated for the provision of the telephone service available to the public referred to in Article 27.2.b) shall ensure the existence of an adequate and technologically adequate supply. updated special terminals, adapted to the different types of disabilities, such as text telephones, video phones or telephones with amplification for deaf or hearing impaired, or solutions for people with visual impairment can access the contents of the terminal screens; and perform a sufficient broadcast of that.

Blind or visually impaired subscribers, upon request to the designated operator, shall have invoices and advertising and information provided to other fixed telephony subscribers on the terms of the provision of the services, in Braille system or in large letters or in an accessible electronic format, as necessary for the appropriate access to the information.

Article 34. Conditions relating to quality.

The designated operator must comply with all of its end-users, throughout the territory and for all services covered by that designation, with the minimum standards of quality of service that are establish by ministerial order, and maintain a reasonable uniformity in the different areas of the territory and in relation to the different types of users.

When the application of the quality of service levels to the set of users, as provided for in the preceding paragraph, significant deviations are derived for certain areas or types of users that assume These groups will be more likely to be subject to the general rules, the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade will be able to set up more restricted areas of analysis and set minimum standards of quality of service for these areas. These deviations with the aim of remedying the unintended practical effects derivatives of the establishment of these levels as a general rule.

The definitions and methods of measurement of the parameters of quality of service, the requirements regarding the periodic remission of the data to the Administration, the conditions oriented to guarantee the reliability and the the possibility of comparison of the data and the other conditions relating to the measurement and monitoring of the quality of service levels shall be those established by ministerial order.

The parameters set out in that order shall include those set out in the standard of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute ETSI EG 202 057 and the regional breakdown shall be, at least, by Autonomous Community. "

Section 2. The Affordable Character of the Universal Service Price

Article 35. Concept and objectives.

1. The Government's Delegation for Economic Affairs, on a proposal from the Ministers of Industry, Tourism and Trade and the Economy and Finance, and after the report of the Telecommunications Market Committee, will guarantee the affordable nature of the the prices of the services included within the universal service.

The collective of pensioners and pensioners of low family income and the collective of persons with disabilities referred to in Article 33.1 shall be particularly considered.

It is understood that the prices of services included in the universal service are affordable for users when the following objectives are met:

(a) That the prices of services included in the universal service in high-cost, rural, island and distant areas are comparable to the prices of such services in urban areas, taking into account, inter alia, factors, their costs and the groups with special social needs under this regulation.

b) To ensure the elimination of price barriers that prevent persons with disabilities from accessing and using the services included in the universal service under conditions equivalent to other users.

(c) There is a sufficient, at uniform price, offer of public telephones in the public domain of common use, throughout the territory covered by each designation. The prices of the calls made from these terminals must be comparable to those of those made by the subscribers pursuant to paragraph (a) above, taking into account the unit costs of their provision via public telephones. of payment.

(d) To offer price plans in which the amount of the high fees, the amount of the concepts assimilated and the fixed periodic payment quotas do not limit the possibility of being a user of the service.

e) That the telephone consultation service on subscriber numbers, referred to in Article 31, is accessible to all users of the available telephone service to the public at prices that do not constitute a limitation to the needs The user's use of the same.

2. In order to achieve the objectives referred to in the previous paragraph, the designated operator shall, as appropriate, offer its subscribers:

(a) Access and use price programs for services included in the universal service that allow maximum control of the user's expense and, in particular, the following:

1. Social Abono. This price plan shall be intended for pensioners and pensioners whose family income does not exceed the indicator determined by the Government's Delegation for Economic Affairs at any time, and shall consist of the application of a bonus in the amount of the high fee and the periodic fixed fee of the connection to the network.

2. Users blind or severely visually impaired. It will consist of the application of a certain franchise in calls to the telephone consultation service on subscriber numbers, and in the setting of conditions for free receipt of invoices and advertising and information supplied to other fixed-line subscribers on the conditions for the provision of services, in Braille or in large letters or in an accessible electronic format, as required for the appropriate access to the information.

3. Deaf or severe hearing impaired users or people with serious speech problems. This special pricing plan shall apply to calls made from any point in the national territory which have as their origin or destination a text telephony terminal and which are established through the intermediary service centre. for text phones.

b) Possibility for the user to choose the billing frequency that best suits their preferences, within the possibilities offered by the operator, which will include at least the monthly frequency.

c) The possibility of restricting and blocking users, through a simple procedure and at no cost, international calls and those that are made to services with additional charging. This is without prejudice to the fact that the same type of calls can continue to be made through operator selection mechanisms when they have contracted the service with some other provider without the restriction or blocking of the mentioned types of calls.

d) Advertising and information on the conditions for the provision of services, in particular with regard to the principle of accessibility and affordability of services.

e) A basic and free level of detail in invoices, so that consumers can check and control the costs incurred by the use of the services, as well as carry out appropriate monitoring of their own expenses and use, thereby exercising a reasonable level of control over your invoices.

f) Means for the prior payment, as well as the possibility of making the payment of the connection in a staggered manner, when this is established by resolution of the Secretary of State of Telecommunications and the Society of the Information.

3. The Telecommunications Market Committee shall draw up an annual report on the development and level of the public service charges applicable to services belonging to universal service obligations and which are provided by undertakings designated, in particular in relation to national levels of consumer and income prices.

Section 3. Third Operators obligated to the benefit. Procedure for the designation of operators

Article 36. Operator designation for the provision of universal service.

1. Where the provision of any of the elements of the universal service is not guaranteed by the free market, the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade shall designate one or more operators to ensure the efficient provision of services. of the universal service, so that the entire national territory is covered. For these purposes, different operators may be designated for the provision of the various elements of the universal service and cover different areas of the national territory.

The determination of those geographical areas and elements of the universal service where their benefits are not guaranteed by the free market will be carried out by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, prior to the provision of the Telecommunications Market Commission's mandatory report that the area and the element whose provision is not guaranteed by the free market shall be established.

The system of designation of operators responsible for ensuring the provision of the services, elements and offers of the universal service provided for in the following Articles of this Regulation is subject, in any case, to the principles of advertising, competition, equality, effectiveness and non-discrimination, as well as the other principles set out in Chapter I of this Title. These designation procedures may be used as a means of determining the net cost arising from the obligations assigned to them, for the purposes of the following sections of this Chapter.

2. Once the designation process has been completed, the Secretary of State for Telecommunications and the Information Society may issue the necessary instructions, if necessary, to proceed in an orderly manner to the end of the universal service obligations and their assumption by the new operator or operators that, as a result of such a process, they have been designated.

3. Where an operator designated for the provision of the universal service intends to deliver part or all of its local access network assets to an independent legal person, it shall inform the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade at last (a) the Commission may, after reporting by the Telecommunications Market Committee, assess the impact of the planned operation on the provision of access from a fixed location and the provision of telephone services and, where appropriate, impose, amend or delete specific obligations in accordance with the provisions of the Law General Telecommunications and its development regulations.

4. The designation of an operator for the provision of the universal service shall give rise, in the event that the provision for which it has been designated, involves a net cost of an unjustified charge, to the rating of that operator as Recipient of funds from the National Fund for the Financing of the Universal Service or, failing that, the mechanism of compensation between operators set out in this Regulation.

Article 37. Provision of the universal service by tender.

1. The procedure for designating an operator responsible for ensuring the provision of an element of the universal service in a given area shall be initiated, at least six months before the end of the current period, by the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade with the implementation of the tendering procedure provided for in this article.

2. The holder of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade shall, by ministerial order, carry out the call for the corresponding competition and the publication of the bases on which the service or element to be provided will be determined, the territorial, period and conditions for the provision and financing of the service, in accordance with the provisions of this regulation and in Law 30/2007 of 30 October of Contracts of the Public Sector, prior to the report of the Commission of the Market of Telecommunications and the Government's Delegation for Economic Affairs.

In the award criteria that are included in these bases, at least those relating to economic efficiency must be taken into account by means of the lowest net cost, the best benefits for users and guarantees. of continuity in the provision of the universal service element in question. In the determination of the designation zones the criterion of effectiveness shall be predominant.

Also, the bases will consider the determination of the net cost for the entire period of the designation, based on the offer submitted by the bidder according to the methodology to determine the net cost established prior to the Commission of the Telecommunications Market, or the determination of a higher limit of net cost freely offered by the tender, in the light of the proposal submitted which is considered to be more efficient from the point of view economic.

The services or components of the universal service that are eligible for tender, in certain areas, are:

(a) The public electronic communications network connection referred to in Article 28.1.

(b) The provision of the available telephone service to the public referred to in Article 28.2.

(c) The provision of a sufficient offer of public payment telephones referred to in Article 32.

(d) The drawing up of the telephone guides referred to in Article 30.

e) The provision of the telephone consultation service on subscriber numbers referred to in Article 31.

3. Any legally established natural or legal person may be presented to the contest.

4. The Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade shall award the tender to the tenderer offering the most advantageous conditions. Consequently, the undertaking to be awarded shall have the consideration of a designated operator for the provision of universal service.

5. In the event that the contest is declared deserted, the designation of the operator responsible for providing the universal service shall be made in accordance with the following Article.

Article 38. Provision of universal service by direct designation.

Where an operator designation contest in relation to a given element and zone has been declared deserted, by order of the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade it may be designated for that element and zone any operator that has significant power in markets that include that element and zone, or is designated at that time for delivery. Where there are no operators with such significant market power in a given area, nor with designation in force, any of the operators with the largest share of participation may be appointed after consultation with the parties concerned. such markets.

In the order referred to in the previous paragraph, prior to the report of the Telecommunications Market Commission and the Government Delegation for Economic Affairs, the service or element to be established shall be established. to provide and in which territorial area, as well as the period and conditions for the provision of the service, in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation.

Section 4. Net Cost of Universal Service Delivery

Article 39. Concept of net cost.

1. The net cost of the universal service obligations shall be obtained by finding the difference between the cost that the designated operator has in operation with those obligations and the cost of operating without them. The net cost calculation shall take into account the benefits, including non-cash benefits, that have been reversed by the designated operator.

2. Costs incurred as a result of the provision of any service which, in accordance with the provisions of this Regulation, fall outside the scope of the universal service shall not be included in the calculation of the net cost of the universal service. universal service obligations.

3. They shall have the consideration of non-performing services as requested by customers or groups of customers, to whom an operator would not lend them at an affordable price, having regard to purely commercial reasons, or to enjoy special rates, at its high cost, including access to it.

They are liable to be classified as non-performing services which should be provided to users who have disabilities that involve a barrier to access to the service or a more onerous use of the service than that of a user without disability and to pensioners and pensioners whose family income does not exceed the indicator which, in accordance with Article 35.2.a) .1, establishes the Government's Delegated Commission for Economic Affairs.

4. When assessing the costs incurred by the operator for being obliged to provide the universal service, account shall be taken of a reasonable rate of remuneration for the capital invested in his or her benefit, with reference to the cost of the money in the capital market.

Article 40. Universal service net cost components.

1. The net costs attributable to the universal service obligations imposed on operators who are liable for compensation are composed of:

(a) The net cost of the obligations to supply the connection to the public electronic communications network, from a fixed location, as referred to in Article 28.1, with the time limits and the conditions of reasonableness established in Article 29.

(b) The net cost of the obligations to provide the publicly available telephone service referred to in Article 28.2.

(c) The net cost of the obligations to provide the telephone service by means of public payment telephones referred to in Article 32.

(d) The net cost of the obligation to draw up and make available to the subscribers of the telephone service the telephone guides referred to in Article 30.

e) The net cost of the obligations to provide the information services of the telephone service subscribers available to the public referred to in Article 31.

In all cases, those obligations shall be considered in conjunction with the measures to facilitate the accessibility referred to in Article 33, the quality conditions of Article 34 and the affordability of the Article 35, applicable to it.

2. The Telecommunications Market Commission will be the body responsible for defining and reviewing the methodology for determining the net cost, both in terms of imputation of costs and the allocation of revenue, and must be consistent with the the provisions of this Regulation and are based on objective, transparent, non-discriminatory and proportionate procedures and criteria and shall have a public character.

3. Furthermore, the Telecommunications Market Commission will establish the procedure for quantifying the non-cash benefits obtained by the operator, as a provider of a universal service. This assessment shall take into account at least the following categories of potential non-cash profit generators:

a) Greater recognition of the operator's mark, as a result of service delivery.

b) Advantages derived from ubiquity.

c) Valuation of clients or groups of clients, taking into account their life cycle.

d) Commercial advantages involving having access to all types of data about the telephone service.

Article 41. Net cost of the obligations to supply the connection to the public electronic communications network.

1. The net cost of the supply obligations of the connection to the public electronic communications network shall be obtained by adding the net cost associated with the supply of the connections for the efficient provision of the non-performing services, referred to in Article 39.3, with the net cost of providing the connections in the unprofitable areas, excluding any duplication, and deducting the benefits, including non-cash benefits, due to the provision of this element of the universal service, obtained by your provider.

2. The net cost in unprofitable areas shall be obtained by finding the difference between the imputable costs due to their efficient provision and the income attributable to the supply of the connections in those areas which revert to the provider.

3. For the purposes of this Article, territorial demarcations for the provision of connections to the public electronic communications network which an efficient operator would not cover at an affordable price shall be considered as non-performing areas. taking into account exclusively commercial reasons.

Article 42. Net cost of the obligations to provide the available telephone service to the public.

1. The net cost of the obligation to provide the available telephone service to the public shall be obtained by adding the net cost associated with the available telephone service to the public for the efficient provision of the non-performing services referred to in the Article 39.3, with the net cost of providing the available telephone service to the public in non-performing areas and deducting benefits, including non-cash benefits, due to the provision of this universal service element, obtained by the operator.

2. The net cost in unprofitable areas shall be obtained by finding the difference between the imputable costs due to their efficient performance and the income attributable to the provision of the available telephone service to the public in those areas. to the provider.

3. For the purposes of this Article, non-performing areas shall be considered as non-performing areas for the territorial demarcations of the provision of the available telephone service to the public which an efficient operator would not cover at an affordable price, taking into account exclusively commercial.

Article 43. Net cost of the obligations relating to telephone guides and telephone consultation service on subscriber numbers.

1. The net cost of the component relating to the telephone guides shall be obtained by finding the difference between the imputable costs of their efficient performance and the income attributable to the provider, increasing the latter with the benefits, including non-cash benefits earned by the provision of this universal service element.

2. The net cost of the component relating to the obligation to provide telephone consultation services on subscriber numbers shall be obtained by finding the difference between the imputable costs of their efficient provision and the income attributable to them. revert to the provider, increasing the latter with the benefits, including the non-cash benefits obtained by the provision of this universal service element.

Article 44. Net cost of the obligations relating to public telephones for payment.

1. The net cost of the obligation to ensure the provision of the public telephone service for payment in the public domain of common use in a given municipality shall be calculated by finding the difference between the imputable costs borne by the operator by its installation, maintenance, routing of outgoing traffic of those and efficient management, and the attributable income generated by such telephones. Where the balance so calculated shows that in that municipality the revenue is higher than the costs or where the number of such telephones is higher than that required to comply with the minimum bid referred to in Article 32, and reasonable territorial distribution, it shall be considered that there is no net cost of the obligation in that municipality.

2. The net cost incurred by an operator designated for the provision in a given geographical area shall be the result of subtracting from the sum of the net costs calculated for the municipalities covered by that designation the benefits, including non-cash benefits, obtained by the provision of this universal service element.

Article 45. Periodic determination of net cost, verification and administrative approval.

1. Operators with universal service obligations, designated in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 38, or as provided for in Article 37, provided that the net effective cost has not been determined in the designation process, make a statement annually to the Telecommunications Market Committee of the services they offer, the provision of which can only be made at net cost to them, detailing their various components of costs and revenues, according to the principles and rules of this regulation and following the instructions given by the Commission Telecommunications market in the exercise of its powers.

To this end, the operator must, in addition to keeping separate accounts allowing for the proper allocation of costs and revenues, instruct a qualified and independent entity, at an annual frequency, to check that cost statement, and shall have the obligation to provide the Telecommunications Market Commission by 31 July of the following year with the relevant report containing a declaration of conformity.

2. The quantification of the net cost contained in such a declaration shall be approved by the Telecommunications Market Committee, after verification by the Commission itself or by the entity which, for these purposes, designates. The Commission of the Telecommunications Market will publish the conclusions on the compliance of the cost criteria by each of the operators required and the quantification of the net cost duly approved, with the limit of the confidential aspects that may disclose excessively disaggregated accounting information.

Article 46. Determination of the existence of an unjustified load.

When a net cost has been appreciated, the Telecommunications Market Commission will determine, by means of a reasoned decision, whether such cost implies an unjustified burden on the service provider of the service. universal.

Section 5. Universal Service Financing

Article 47. Operators required to finance universal service.

1. Where, pursuant to Article 36 (4), a designated operator is entitled to the financing of the net cost of the provision of the universal service, it may call for the initiation of the procedure for the Commission of the Market of Telecommunications set up the financing mechanism to share this net cost.

The Telecommunications Market Commission will publish in the "Official State Gazette" the list of operators obliged to contribute, the data concerning this mechanism and the principles applicable to the distribution of the costs.

2. The financing of the net cost resulting from the obligation to provide the universal service shall be shared by all operators of electronic communications networks and services.

3. The Telecommunications Market Committee may exempt certain operators from the obligation to contribute to the financing of the universal service when their turnover at national level is below a threshold. preestablished by it.

The exemption statement shall have effect only for the period specified therein, and the operator concerned shall assume the obligation to contribute to the National Universal Service Financing Fund once except that the Telecommunications Market Committee expressly extends it.

Article 48. Objectives and principles of funding.

1. The financing mechanism will ensure adequate incentives to promote the efficient provision of universal service, and will limit the potential negative effects on the market and investments that may result from higher costs. of what is required.

2. The objectives of the universal service funding mechanism are as follows:

a) Reduce market access barriers to a minimum and ensure universal service funding at the same time.

b) Respect the requirement of neutrality between market operators, specific technologies or the provision of services, whether integrated or separately, in order to avoid distortion of market access strategies; or subsequently, in decisions on investment or in the activity in that market.

c) Maintain the administrative burdens and costs related to them to the minimum level.

d) Create conditions that encourage greater efficiency and innovation, to ensure the provision of universal service at the lowest possible cost.

3. The financing mechanism shall respect the general principles of objectivity, proportionality, non-discrimination and transparency.

4. In any event, the contributions of an operator for the financing of the universal service shall, directly or indirectly, result in a doubling of the payment to cover the net cost of a specific universal service obligation.

Article 49. Parameters for the distribution of net cost between the operators obliged.

1. The contributions of the operators of electronic communications networks and services required to finance the universal service will be proportional to the activity of each and will be determined by the Commission of the Market of the Telecommunications.

The distribution criterion shall be based, for each operator, on the amount resulting from the gross operating income of the wholesale payments related to the provision of services included in the scope of the service universal and will be proportional to the total volume of business on the market.

2. The Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, following the report of the Telecommunications Market Committee and in the light of technological developments and market conditions, will be able to establish other distribution parameters that better represent the activity of operators, for the purposes of a more equitable sharing of the burden arising from universal service.

3. The contributions which the operators designated for the provision of the universal service are required to make to the National Fund for the Financing of the Universal Service, because they are obliged to finance the universal service, shall be subject to the amounts which, in their (a) the need for universal service obligations to be imposed on them.

The resulting may result in a net contribution from the operator to the financing mechanism or a net subsidy receipt.

Article 50. National fund for the financing of universal service. Nature and purpose. Deleting the background.

1. The National Fund for the Financing of Universal Service guarantees the financing of the universal service and collects the contributions of operators who are obliged to contribute to it.

The fund lacks its own legal personality and its management will be carried out by the Telecommunications Market Commission.

2. The following purposes are pursued through the fund:

a) Manage the effective collection of contributions from electronic communications operators.

b) Manage payments to operators entitled to receive them for the provision of universal service.

3. In relation to the fund, the Telecommunications Market Commission will perform the following functions:

a) Know your economic evolution and take the necessary steps to fulfill your goals.

b) Approve your revenue forecasts and annual settlement.

(c) Approve the annual report of its management which shall be incorporated into the annual report to be submitted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 20 of the Sustainable Economy Law 2/2011.

d) Managing your assets, collecting rights and paying attention to your obligations.

e) Determine the contributions of each operator.

f) Binding the conflicts between operators in matters related to the fund in a binding manner.

4. In the event that the cost of providing the universal service for operators subject to these obligations is of a magnitude that does not justify the costs arising from the management of the fund, the Telecommunications Market Commission may propose to the Government its deletion and, where appropriate, the establishment of direct compensation mechanisms between operators.

Article 51. Resources of the National Fund for the Financing of Universal Service. Contributions and management.

1. The following are the resources of the National Universal Service Financing Fund:

(a) The contributions made by operators required to finance the universal service.

(b) Contributions made by any other natural or legal person wishing to contribute selflessly to the financing of any activity of the universal service.

2. Financial contributions shall be deposited in a restricted account opened for that purpose in a credit institution. The total assets will be deducted from the expenses of the fund management.

3. The fund's resources may only be invested in high-liquidity and cost-effective financial assets.

4. The procedure for setting the contributions and carrying them out will be as follows:

(a) Within two months of the publication of the list referred to in Article 47.1, each operator shall send the information relating to his income from the last financial year which has been closed three months before the date of the publication of the list referred to in Article 4 (1). publication of that list to the Telecommunications Market Committee.

(b) The Telecommunications Market Commission will calculate the market shares of the operators required to contribute and the contribution they will make to each. Within two months from the end of the previous period relating to the sending of information on revenue, it shall publish in the "Official State Gazette" the annual contribution to be made to each operator obliged to this concept and shall require them to carry out the corresponding revenue, in a single payment within one month of such notification.

(c) Operators entitled to compensation shall receive it within the month following the end of the payment period, in accordance with the contributions made.

5. If an operator obliged to make contributions does not carry them out within the prescribed period, the debt shall be of interest for late payment equal to the legal interest plus two points from the day following the end of the payment period.

The Telecommunications Market Committee may exercise legal action to recover the amounts due, and shall be liable to the debtor for the costs incurred.

6. The obligation to provide the universal service shall in no case be conditional upon receipt of compensation from the fund.

7. The Telecommunications Market Commission shall make available to interested parties, at their request, the updated information on the management of the National Fund for the Financing of Universal Service.

Article 52. Fund administration costs.

The management costs of the fund include at least the following:

a) Those that cause the manager to monitor the net cost.

b) Administrative.

c) The derivatives of the management of the contributions.

These costs will be shared between operators who have the same criteria as the net cost of the universal service, forming part of their corresponding contributions to the fund. "

Single additional disposition. Coordination on accessibility issues

The Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Commerce shall forward to the Permanent Bureau of the National Council on Disability the information it requests on the state of affairs of its obligations. real decree determines in terms of accessibility.

Single repeal provision. Regulatory repeal

The second transitional provision of the Regulation on the conditions for the provision of electronic communications services, the universal service and the protection of users, approved by the Royal Decree, is hereby repealed. 424/2005, of April 15, as well as how many provisions of equal or lower rank are opposed to what was established in this royal decree.

Final disposition first. Competence Title

This royal decree is issued under the exclusive competence on telecommunications recognized in article 149.1.21. of the Constitution.

Final disposition second. Regulatory development and implementation.

The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade is authorized to make the necessary provisions for the development and implementation of this royal decree.

Final disposition third. Incorporation of European Community law

This royal decree incorporates into the internal legal order, as regards the universal service of telecommunications, Directive 2009 /136/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2009, amend Directive 2002/22/EC on the universal service and the rights of users in relation to electronic communications networks and services, Directive 2002/58/EC on the processing of personal data and on the processing of personal data protection of privacy in the field of electronic communications and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 on cooperation in the field of consumer protection.

Final disposition fourth. Entry into force

This royal decree will enter into force on the day following its publication in the "Official State Gazette".

Given in Madrid, 20 May 2011.

JOHN CARLOS R.

The Minister of Industry, Tourism and Trade,

MIGUEL SEBASTIAN GASCON