SCHEDULE
Article 3
SCHEDULE
The Electronic Communications (Universal Service) Order 2003
| Year | 2003 |
2003 No. 1904
ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS
The Electronic Communications (Universal Service) Order 2003
Made 17th July 2003
Laid before Parliament 21th July 2003
Coming into force 25th July 2003
The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on her by section 65 of the Communications Act 20031, and following consultation with OFCOM and other appropriate persons in accordance with section 65(4) of that Act, hereby makes the following Order:
Citation and Commencement
1. This Order may be cited as the Electronic Communications (Universal Service) Order 2003 and shall come into force on 25th July 2003.
Interpretation
2. In this Order—
“the Act” means the Communications Act 2003;
“disability” has the same meaning as in section 1 of the Disability Discrimination Act 19952;
“network termination point” means the physical point at which a subscriber is provided with access to a public electronic communications network and in the case of electronic communications networks involving switching or routing, the network termination point is identified by means of a specific electronic communications network address, which may be linked to a subscriber’s number or name;
“publicly available telephone service” means a service available to the public for originating and receiving national and international calls and access to emergency services through a telephone number or numbers in a national or international telephone numbering plan, and may, where relevant, also include one or more of the following—
(a) the provision of operator assistance,
(b) directory enquiry facilities,
(c) directories,
(d) the provision of public pay telephones,
(e) the provision of service under special terms,
(f) the provision of specific facilities for end-users with a disability or with special social needs, and
(g) the provision of non-geographic services;
“public pay telephone” means a telephone available to the general public, for the use of which the means of payment may include one or more of the following:
(a) coins;
(b) credit or debit cards; and
(c) pre-payment cards, including cards for use with dialling codes;
“public telephone network” means an electronic communications network which is used to provide publicly available telephone services and supports the transfer between network termination points of speech communications, and also other forms of communications, such as facsimile and data;
“relay service” means a service which:
(a) provides facilities for the receipt and translation of voice messages into text and text into voice messages, and the conveyance of that text or voice message to the textphone of subscribers of a person providing a publicly available telephone service; and
(b) has been approved as a text relay service by OFCOM;
“subscriber” means any person who is a party to a contract with the provider of a public electronic communications service for the supply of such service; and
“textphone” means an integrated terminal incorporating an alphanumeric keyboard and means of displaying text, intended for connection to the public telephone network for the sole or primary purpose of supporting live telephone conversations between two or more individuals.
Universal service obligations
3. The extent to which the things falling within section 65(2) of the Act must be provided, made available or supplied throughout the United Kingdom is set out in the Schedule to this Order.
Guidance on the pricing of universal service obligations
4. The matters set out in the Schedule should be offered at prices that are:
(a) affordable for all end-users; and
(b) uniform throughout the United Kingdom, unless OFCOM have determined that there is clear justification for not doing so.
Stephen Timms,
Minister of State for Energy, E-Commerce and Postal Services,
Department of Trade and Industry
17th July 2003
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