The National Regulatory Authority for Communications (ANRC) published on its website for public consultation the draft Decision on the Principles and Prerequisites of the Reference Offer for Unconditioned Access to the Local Loop. This draft was launched after the ANRC President issued the Decision no.801/EI/2003, on which grounds S.C. Romtelecom S.A. was designated as having significant power on the market for full or shared access to the twisted metallic pair local loop for the purpose of providing broadband Internet access services and publicly available telephony services at fixed locations. The local loop represents the physical circuit connecting the local exchange of the operator to the subscriber.
Romtelecom has the obligation to provide unconditioned access to the local loop, under non-discriminatory terms, to all the operators of electronic communications services or networks that have requested it. Also, the operator must publish a reference offer, which will include both a minimum set of services for providing access to local loop, and the tariffs and conditions for the provision of these services.
The draft decision describes the methods and technical options for the service provision and contains the terms for negotiation and the implementation Romtelecom has to observe when concluding agreements on the provision of unconditioned access to the local loop. The deadline for the negotiation of a standard agreement for the provision of access to local loop is of two months after a request is received, and the effective provision of the service cannot begin later than 45 days after the conclusion of the agreement. The agreements shall be concluded for an indefinite period of time, if not otherwise requested by the beneficiaries.
The draft is accompanied by an explanatory memorandum that explains in detail the decisions’ provisions.
The public consultation for the draft Decision on the Principles and Prerequisites of the Reference Offer for Unconditioned Access to the Local Loop will end on November 1, 2003. The document is available for consultation on ANRC’s website. Please, send your comments to fax: +40 21 307 54 02 or to: consultare@anrc.ro.