So far, 11 providers have already concluded agreements for the unbundled access to the local loop on grounds of the RUO, as a result of the expansion of broadband services in Romania.
ANRC proposes amendments to the Reference Unbundling Offer (RUO), thus allowing the industry to assess and make a stand on the Romtelecom tariffs for the services associated with the provision of the unbundled access to the local loop and providing more detailed conditions under which alternative providers may benefit from the unbundled access to the local loop.
"The draft decision we have launched for public consultation today is an essential step on the way to strengthening and enhancing a favourable frame for the continuous development and diversification of the telephone and broadband Internet service offer. So far, 11 providers have already concluded agreements for the unbundled access to the local loop on grounds of the RUO, as a result of the expansion of broadband services in Romania. The new regulations will promote competition, triggering further benefits for the Romanian users, i.e higher quality and an enriched offer of services", the ANRC vicepresident, Ms. Alexandrina Hirtan, declared.
RUO is a reference document providing all the services Romtelecom has the obligation to make available to the alternative operators who intend to supply telephone and broadband Internet services through the local loop (the twisted metallic pair connecting a subscriber's telephone set to the local exchange).
The documents under public consultation include all the Romtelecom tariffs charged on the companies requiring unbundled access to the local loop, as well as explanatory information on the method of establishing these tariffs. The procedure of consultation with the industry will enable the latter to state its opinion on the activities that Romtelecom considers to be associated with the services it charges, as well as on the cost calculation method. The outcome of this consultation with the business environment will give relevant feedback on the opportunity of setting maximum tariffs for certain services, such as shifting from the shared access service to the full access service, disconnecting the local loop, operating and maintaining the link cables, setting up a technical solution for the implementation of the unbundled access to the local loop etc. The current level of the monthly lease and the connection tax for the unbundled access to the local loop have been preserved.
As far as collocation (provision of the space and resources required for the installation and connection of the alternative providers' equipment) is concerned, Romtelecom will have the obligation to publish the monthly rental tariffs per square meter for the maintenance of the collocation space as well as to notify the alternative provider on any modifications thereof.
In addition to the obligation of publishing the Reference Unbundling Offer (RUO), the draft decision provides Romtelecom's obligation to publish its Internal Reference Conditions for the Unbundled access to the local loop (IRCU), in order to enforce the transparency and non-discrimination obligations, so that the alternative providers could benefit from local loop access conditions which are equivalent to Romtelecom's ones. IRCU is - in fact - an "Internal Reference Unbundling Offer" stating the full set of services for the unbundled access to the local loop, as well as the detailed conditions for the domestic provision of these services, for the purpose of providing Romtelecom's own services.
IRCU's content and structure will be similar to RUO's, including the full list of internal services provided for the purpose of ensuring the unbundled access to the local loop, the cross-subsidies for each of these services, quality conditions, terms for the service provision, repair terms and a detailed description of the internal procedures for the provision of these services. IRCU will explain in detail the differences between the conditions within which the unbundled access services are provided internally and the conditions for the provision of these services to alternative operators.
Furthermore, by virtue of the transparency and non-discrimination obligations, Romtelecom shall publish on its website - on a monthly basis - a set of indicators describing the conditions observed by the company in providing services of access to the local loop over the previous 3 months, internally as well as to alternative operators. These indicators refer to the quality and availability conditions, service provision terms and repair terms for Romtelecom's own services as compared to the services provided to other operators.
The draft decision on the amendment and completion of the ANRC President's Decision no.1098/2004 on the principles and prerequisites of the reference offer for the unbundled access to the local loop and the imposition of clauses in the Reference Unbundling Offer of S.C. Romtelecom S.A., as well as the support-documents are available on the ANRC website. The deadline for receiving suggestions and comments is November 15, 2005.
What is full access to the local loop?
If an alternative provider benefits from full access to the local loop, it means the respective provider takes on lease the twisted metallic pair connecting a subscriber's telephone set to the local exchange (i.e. the local loop), which is to be used exclusively for the provision of both broadband Internet access services and telephone services.
What is shared access to the local loop?
If an alternative provider benefits from shared access to the local loop, it means that Romtelecom shall use the low frequency channel (0-4KHz) for the provision of publicly available telephone services, at fixed locations, while the other frequency channels shall be used by the respective alternative provider for the provision of broadband Internet access services. The equipment for the provision of broadband Internet access services belong to the alternative provider.
