BEREC Guidelines following the EECC

As of 15 May 2019 any retail price (excluding VAT) charged to consumer for regulated intra-EU communications shall not exceed a maximum of 0.19 € per minute for calls and 0.06 € per SMS message. BEREC defines general provisions and specific rules for parameter to assess the sustainability of these provisions.

NRAs may impose obligations for transparency in relation to interconnection/access, requiring operators to make public both specified information as well as terms and conditions for supply and use, requiring operators to publish a reference offer. BEREC guidelines set the minimum criteria for a reference offer. The scope is:

BEREC will be in charge of maintaining an EU database of the notifications transmitted to the competent authorities and serve as a point of information. To simplify and harmonise the existing national forms, BEREC prepared guidelines on the notification template.

The location of the network termination point has an impact on whether a piece of equipment at the customer premises is part of the public network or part of the telecommunications terminal equipment. BEREC guidelines provide guidance to NRAs on common approaches to the identification of the network termination point in different network topologies.

BEREC guidelines assist on the consistent implementation of NRAs' and/or other competent authorities’ obligations to conduct a geographical survey of the reach of electronic communications networks capable of delivering “broadband networks”.

NRAs and/or other competent authorities may grant rights of use for numbering resources from the national numbering plans for the provision of specific services to undertakings other than providers of electronic communications networks or services.

BEREC guidelines describe common criteria for the assessment of the ability of the mentioned providers to manage numbering resources and the risk of exhaustion of numbering resources.

BEREC guidelines detail the quality of service parameters, including parameters relevant for end-users with disabilities, applicable measurement methods, content and format of publication of the information and quality certification mechanisms.

The guidelines are based on a qualitative assessment of factors defining coverage and affecting the capacity to reach concerned end-users of warnings transmitted. BEREC encourages information sharing so that authorities can benefit from exchange of experiences and learn about relevant technology updates.

"Very high capacity network" is a new and important concept of the EECC and is also used in other initiatives taken by the EU institutions. BEREC guidelines describe the criteria a network has to fulfil in order to be considered a very high capacity network (VHCN). They base on the definition of the term VHCN in the Code and on data collected from network operators.

The guidelines will provide guidance to the National Regulatory Authorities on criteria to determine key aspects for the application of the extended and amended provision on symmetric access regulation according to Article 61(3) EECC. Under certain circumstances, NRAs may impose access to a point beyond the first concentration or distribution point.

Undertakings, which have been designated as having significant market power in one or several relevant markets may offer commitments to open the deployment of a new very high capacity network to co-investment if it consists of optical fibre elements up to the end-user premises or base station. According to Art. 76 EECC, if the offer complies with a set of conditions set in paragraph 1, the SMP regulation for the markets affected by these commitments is lifted.

The aim of the BEREC guidelines is to foster the consistent application by NRAs of the criteria defined in paragraph 1 Art. 76 EECC.