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 ;

^M2 “ disability ” has the same meaning as in section 1 of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 ;

^F1 ...

[^F2 “ publicly available telephone service ” means a service made available to the public for originating and receiving directly or indirectly national or national and international calls and access to emergency services through a telephone number or numbers in a national or international telephone numbering plan; ^F2]

“ 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:

^F3 ...

“ relay service ” means a service which:

“ 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.

[^F4 Modification of universal service obligations

3A. Where OFCOM has made a general condition under section 51 of the Act in relation to the matters in paragraph 6 of the Schedule, then OFCOM shall not impose a universal service obligation in respect of those matters. ^F4]

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.

Article 3

SCHEDULE

1. —(1) At least one designated universal service provider shall meet all reasonable requests by end-users for connection at a fixed location to the [^F5 public electronic communications network ^F5] and for access to publicly available telephone services[^F6 over that communications network ^F6] .

^F7 (2) The connection referred to in sub-paragraph (1) shall be capable of allowing end-users to make and receive local, national and international telephone calls ....

(3) Access to a publicly available telephone service in accordance with sub-paragraph (1) shall continue to be provided in the event of non-payment of bills for the use of that service, unless the provider of the service has first taken adequate measures regarding interruption to, or disconnection of the service.

2. —(1) At least one comprehensive directory shall be made available to end-users in a form approved by OFCOM, whether printed or electronic, or both, and it shall be updated at least once a year.

(2) This directory shall comprise, subject to the provisions of the [^F8 Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 ^F8] , the details of all subscribers of publicly available telephone services and their telephone numbers, including fixed and mobile telephone numbers.

3. —(1) At least one comprehensive telephone directory enquiry facility shall be made available to end-users, including users of public pay telephones.

(2) This facility shall comprise, subject to the provisions of the [^F9 Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 ^F9] , the details of all subscribers of publicly available telephone services and their telephone numbers, including fixed and mobile telephone numbers.

4. —(1) Public pay telephones[^F10 or other public voice telephony access points ^F10] shall be provided to meet the reasonable needs of end-users in terms of geographical coverage, the number of telephones [^F11 or other access points ^F11] and the quality of public electronic communication services.

(2) It shall be possible to make emergency calls from public pay telephones using the single European emergency call number “112” and the UK emergency call number “999”, free of charge and without the use of coins or cards.

5. —(1) Facilities, methods of billing and methods of accepting payment for electronic communications services that enable subscribers to monitor and control their expenditure in relation to the use of those services shall be provided to subscribers of services provided by designated universal service providers.

^F12 (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

6. —(1) Special measures shall be taken to ensure access to and affordability of publicly available telephone services for end-users with a disability equivalent to those enjoyed by other end-users.

(2) The measures to be taken for the purposes of sub-paragraph (1) shall include:

(a) provision of access to the directory information facilities provided for the purposes of paragraph 3 in a form appropriate to meet the needs of end-users with a disability who are unable to use a telephone directory in a form in which it is generally available to other end-users;

(b) provision of priority fault repair services to end-users with a disability as is necessary to ensure access to publicly available telephone services by such end-users;

(c) provision of, and the provision of access to, relay services for end-users with a disability where required to ensure access to publicly available telephone services by such end-users;

(d) methods of billing and methods of accepting payment for publicly available telephone services in an appropriate format for subscribers with a disability, including provision for such subscribers to nominate a third party to handle their billing issues; and

(e) accessibility and functionality of the public pay telephones to be provided for the purposes of paragraph 4 for use by end-users with a disability, including the adequate provision of textphone facilities.