General Authorization

In various areas, the Austrian Telecommunications Act 2003 (TKG 2003) imposes obligations on businesses which operate in the field of electronic communications. Among other obligations, providers of public communication networks and services  are required to notify RTR as detailed below.

Statutory provisions

Art. 15 TKG 2003 requires the intended operation or provision of a public telecommunications network or service, as well as any change to or discontinuation of such a network or service, to be reported to the regulatory authority before the start of operation, change or discontinuation. Under Art. 15 Par. 2 TKG 2003, this report must be submitted in writing and specifically contain the following information:

  • Name and address of the service provider
  • Legal form of the business (where applicable)
  • Brief description of the network or service
  • Expected date of the start, change or discontinuation of the service

The regulatory authority is to issue corresponding confirmation within one week of receiving complete notification. Such confirmation must also indicate the rights and obligations arising from that federal act. If, based on complete notification as received, the regulatory authority has reason to assume that the public telecommunications network is not in operation or that the service is not being provided, the regulatory authority is required to inform the notifying party of this fact within one week and to conduct further investigations. If such investigations show that the public telecommunications network is not in operation or that the service is not being provided, the regulatory authority is to issue, at the request of the notifying party, an assessment decision within four weeks of receiving complete notification or to discontinue the procedure. Otherwise confirmation pursuant to Art. 15 Par. 3 TKG 2003 is to be issued.

Formal aspects of notification

A web interface is provided for the purpose of submitting notification pursuant to Art. 15 TKG 2003 (initial notification, changes and discontinuation). In order to simplify communications between the providers and the regulatory authority, every notification should be submitted via this web interface.

Notification for the service categories of call shop and internet café

On our website we have made an online form available that allows you to register. We request that you disclose your company name, the address, the legal form of the business and the service that you provide. Once the form data is sent, RTR verifies the information. Notification must be accompanied by an excerpt from the company register or trade register or, in the case of persons not entered in any register, a copy of an official photo identification document issued in Austria. The registration form for call shops and internet cafés.

Notification procedures for other internet or voice services

To be able to use the web interface, providers are required to register in order to obtain a user ID and password. This is done by completing the corresponding form. The registration procedure requires providers to indicate the company name, address and legal form, as well as an authorised representative of the business (i.e. a natural person, law firm etc.) Registration form.

Once the data has been transmitted to the regulatory authority, the information on the authorised representative named will be verified. Representative authorisation can be based on the company register, in which case a corresponding reference will suffice, or on a power of attorney, a certificate of which is to be attached. Once verification has been successfully completed, a user ID is sent to the e-mail address given for the authorised representative named by the provider. This ID can then be used to set up additional user accounts for the provider (by assigning user IDs and passwords) and to revoke any user authorisations issued. Each provider is responsible for handling their own user administration tasks. The user IDs and passwords can then be used by the provider’s authorised users to access the web interface.

Information entered in the web interface is transmitted under encryption using a server certificate. If you encounter any difficulty viewing the form, install the certificate of the supervisory authority for electronic signatures (http://www.signatur.rtr.at/currenttop.cer) as well as the certification service provider’s certificate (https://www.a-trust.at/certs/A-Trust-nQual-01a.crt).

Please address any enquiries to: agg@rtr.at