LAW
OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Prom.
SG. 88/7 Oct 2003, amend. SG.
19/1 Mar 2005
Chapter
one
GENERAL
Art.
1. (1) This law settles the public relations
regarding the telecommunications.
(2)
Telecommunications are transfer, emission, transmission or receiving of signs,
signals, written text, images, sound or communications of any kind through a
conductor, radio waves, optic or other electromagnetic
medium.
(3)
Telecommunication activity is carrying out telecommunications through
telecommunication networks an/or through providing
telecommunication services.
Art.
2. The
objective of this law is to provide preconditions for:
1. development of the telecommunication market, creation of
conditions for equality of the operators and encouragement of the competition
between them;
2. guaranteeing the freedom and confidentiality of the
communications;
3. protection of the interests of the users of telecommunication
services;
4. provision of a universal telecommunication
service;
5. effective using of a limited resource;
6. protection of the public interest and providing the national
security and the defence of the
country.
Art.
3. The
public relations regarding the telecommunications shall be settled by observing
the following principles:
1. legal status;
2. effectiveness, transparency and
equality;
3. predictability, proportionality and
objectiveness;
4. public discussion;
5. bringing the regulatory impact to the necessary
minimum.
Art.
4. The
public relations regarding the telecommunications for civil purposes shall be
regulated by the state through an independent specialised state body by the order of this
law.
Art.
5. (1) This law shall not apply for the
telecommunication activities for the own needs of the Ministry of defence, the Ministry of Interior, the National Guard
Service and the National Intelligence Service, as well as regarding the interior
distribution of the frequencies and the determination of the beckoning of their
operative radio connections.
(2) The
administrative bodies and services under para 1 shall
use the public telecommunications and services by the order of this
law.
Chapter
two
MANAGEMENT
OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Section
I
General
provisions
Art.
6. The
management of the telecommunications shall be carried out by the Council of
Ministers, by the Council for the national radio frequency spectrum and by the
Minister of Transport and Communications.
Art.
7. (1) The Council of Ministers shall determine the
state policy in the telecommunications by adopting a sector policy and
promulgating it in the State Gazette.
(2) The
sector policy shall contain the strategy, the principles and the stages of
development of the telecommunications.
(3) The
sector policy shall be updated periodically.
Art.
8. (1) The Council of Ministers shall adopt a state
policy of planning and distribution of the radio frequency spectrum and shall
promulgate it in the State Gazette.
(2) The
Council of Ministers shall adopt a National Plan for distribution of the radio
frequency spectrum to radio frequencies and radio frequency bands for civil
needs, for the needs of the national security and the defence, as well as for joint using between them, and shall
promulgate it in the State Gazette.
Section
II
Council
for the national radio frequency spectrum
Art.
9. (1) The Council for the national radio frequency
spectrum at the Council of Ministers, called hereinafter "the Council", shall
work out and, after a public discussion, shall propose for adoption by the
Council of Ministers the state policy of planning and distribution of the radio
frequency spectrum and shall implement it.
(2) Members
of the Council shall be representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry
of Economy, the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Interior, the Commission for
regulation of the communications, the National Guard Service and the National
Intelligence Service.
(3) Chairman
of the Council shall be the Minister of Transport and Communications or a person
authorised by him. The state bodies and services under
para 2 shall appoint their representatives and shall
provide their participation in the work of the Council.
(4) The
Council of Ministers shall adopt regulations for the activity of the Council at
a proposal of its chairman.
(5) The
administrative servicing of the Council shall be carried out by the
administration of the Ministry of Transport and
Communications.
Art.
10. (1) The Council shall work out a National Plan for
distribution of the radio frequency spectrum to radio frequencies and radio
frequency bands for civil purposes, for the needs of the national security and
the defence, as well as for joint using between
them.
(2) The
interested state bodies shall coordinate between themselves the concrete
distribution of the radio frequencies and radio frequency bands allocated for
joint using for civil purposes, for the needs of the national security and for
the defence. If a consent is
not reached the issue shall be referred to the Council which shall propose to
the Council of Ministers to take a decision.
(3) The
Council shall consider issues related to the electromagnetic compatibility and,
in the event of discord between the interested state bodies, shall propose to
the Council of Ministers to take a decision.
Art.
11. (1) The Council, upon coordination with the
interested state bodies, shall permit the using of concrete radio frequencies
and radio frequency bands by radio equipments with their technical parameters,
the term and the place of their using on the territory of the Republic of
Bulgaria by foreign countries, on the grounds of mutuality, as well as by
international organisations, when it ensues from
international obligations undertaken by the Republic of
Bulgaria.
(2) In the
cases of para 1 a request for using radio frequencies
and radio frequency bands by foreign countries and international organisations shall be filed through the respective embassy
or representation to the Council, which shall announce a decision on the request
within a period not longer than one month.
(3) In the
cases of para 1, where there is a stipulation for
issuance of a licence by the order of this law, the
Council shall notify the Commission for regulation of the communications which
shall:
1. issue the respective licence;
2. collect the determined fees, unless an international act
provides otherwise.
Section
III
Minister
of Transport and Communications
Art.
12. The
Minister of Transport and Communications shall carry out the state policy in the
telecommunications on the grounds of this law, of the sector policy and of the
state policy of planning and distribution of the radio frequency
spectrum.
Art.
13. (1) The Minister of Transport and Communications
shall work out and present for adoption by the Council of Ministers the sector
policy in the sphere of the telecommunications.
(2) The
Minister of Transport and Communications shall publish an announcement in a
national daily newspaper and in the Internet site of the Ministry of Transport
and Communications for the worked out draft under para
1, indicating the place where the interested persons can obtain it and a period,
not shorter than 30 days, within which they may file written
statements.
Art.
14. (1) The Minister of Transport and Communications
shall:
1. issue the by-laws stipulated by the law according to his
competence;
2. store, with the obligation of confidentiality, samples of
cryptographic keys in case of their using by telecommunication operators, under
conditions and by an order determined by an ordinance adopted by the Council of
Ministers;
3. take measures for providing the freedom and confidentiality
of the telecommunications;
4. represent the Republic of Bulgaria in the international organisations in the sphere of
telecommunications;
5. participate in the work of the international organisations for standardisation
and in the technical committees for standardisation
related to the telecommunications;
6. issue
certificates of legal capacity of the radio operators of the air mobile radio
service, the air mobile satellite service, the World Sea System for calamities
and safety of the sea mobile radio service and the sea mobile satellite radio
service, of radio operators of radio stations of vessels navigating in internal
waterways;
7. carry out international registration of radio frequencies and
radio frequency bands, as well as of radio equipments using
them;
8. carry out
international coordination of radio frequencies and radio frequency bands, as
well as of the radio equipments using them for the needs of the national
security and the defence and for the radio services –
air mobile, air mobile-satellite, air radio-navigation, air
radio-navigation-satellite, sea mobile, sea mobile-satellite, sea radio
navigation and sea radio navigation-satellite;
9. appoint an official for keeping registers for the issues
certificates under item 6, which shall be public.
(2) The
Minister of Transport and Communications, before issuing the by-laws stipulated
by this law, shall publish an announcement in a national daily newspaper and in
the Internet site of the Ministry of Transport and Communications for the worked
out drafts, indicating the place and the Internet site where the interested
persons may obtain them and, within a period not shorter than 14 days they can
file written statements on them. The Minister of Transport and Communications
shall study the statements and shall accept them or shall motivate his decision
for not accepting them.
Art.
15. The
Minister of Transport and Communications shall carry out activities related
to:
1. development of the telecommunications, information and
communication technologies;
2. creation and development of the information
society;
3. the European integration.
Section
IV
Agency
"Development of the communications and of the information and communication
technologies"
Art.
16. (1) The activities of assisting the
telecommunication and postal infrastructure and the information and
communication technologies shall be carried out by the Minister of Transport and
Communications through Agency "Development of the communications and of the
information and communication technologies", called hereinafter "the
Agency".
(2) The
Agency is a corporate body at budget support and a seat in
Sofia.
(3) The
activity, the structure, the organisation of the work
and the staff of the Agency shall be determined by structural regulations to be
adopted by the Council of Ministers.
Art.
17. The
resources for assisting the development of the telecommunication and postal
infrastructure and the information and communication technologies shall be
deposited to the budget of the Ministry of Transport and Communications and
shall be raised from:
1. twenty
five percent of the initial licence fees when the
licence for telecommunication activity was obtained
through a tender;
2. twenty
five percent of the additional one-time fees for submitting additional radio
frequency spectrum;
3. thirty
five percent of the annual fees for using a radio frequency
spectrum;
4. twenty
five percent of the annual fees for using the positions of the geo-stationary
orbit allocated for the Republic of Bulgaria by international
agreements;
5. forty
five percent of the licence fees and the fees for
registration for postal services;
6. resources for co-financing of projects for development of the
communications, the information and communication
technologies;
7. donations;
8. interest;
9. other revenue.
Art.
18. (1) The resources under
art. 17 shall be spent for:
1. projects and activities determined by the plans for regional
development in the sphere of telecommunications, postal services, information
and communication technologies;
2. telecommunication and postal projects and conferences,
seminars, projects and other events and activities in the sphere of
communications, information and communication
technologies;
3. projects related to the management, the national security and
defence of the country in the sphere of
telecommunications;
4. scientific projects, studies and marketing for the purposes
of the telecommunications, postal services, information and communication
technologies;
5. release of radio frequency spectrum for civil
purposes;
6. assisting projects and activities in the sphere of the
information and communication technologies for the purposes of education and
professional training;
7. activities related to the organisation and realisation of
telecommunication and postal projects and projects in the sphere of the
information and communication technologies;
8. support of the administration of the
Agency.
(2) The
spending of the resources for the activities under para 1, item 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7 shall be made by observing the
principles of competitiveness, transparency and equality.
(3) The
Agency shall work out an annual report for the spending of the resources under
para 1, which shall be published by March 31 in the
information bulletin and in the Internet site of the Ministry of Transport and
Communications.
Chapter
three
COMMISSION
FOR REGULATION OF THE COMMUNICATIONS
Section
I
Status
and structure
Art.
19. (1) The Commission for regulation of the
communications, called hereinafter "the Commission", is an independent specialised state body – a corporate body with a seat in
Sofia.
(2) The
Commission shall carry out the sector policy in the telecommunications, the
state policy of planning and allocation of the radio frequency spectrum for
civil purposes and the sector postal policy.
(3) The
Commission shall regulate and control the telecommunications by the order
stipulated by this law, as well as the providing of the postal services by the
order determined by the Law of the postal services.
(4) The
Commission shall register and control the activity of providing certifying
cervices related to the electronic signature by the order determined by the Law
of the electronic document and the electronic signature.
Art.
20. (1) The Commission is a college body consisting of
five members, including chairman and deputy chairman.
(2) Members
of the Commission may be only Bulgarian citizens with higher education and at
least 5 years of service, of whom at least one qualified lawyer and one
economist.
(3) The
chairman of the Commission shall be appointed and released by a decision of the
Council of Ministers and shall be employed by an order of the Prime Minister for
a period of 5 years.
(4) The
deputy chairman and two of the members of the Commission shall be appointed and
released by a decision of the National Assembly for a period of 5
years.
(5) One of
the members of the Commission shall be appointed and released by an edict of the
President of the Republic of Bulgaria for a period of 5
years.
(6) The
number of the consequent mandates shall not be more than two for all members of
the Commission.
(7) The
members of the Commission shall have all rights under legal terms of employment,
except those which contradict or are incompatible with their legal
application.
Art.
21. (1) The members of the Commission may not be sole
entrepreneurs, owners, partners, stock-holders, managers (procurators),
consultants or members of bodies of management of trade companies, state
enterprises and non-profit corporate bodies in the sphere of
telecommunications.
(2) The
members of the Commission may not occupy another paid position in the sphere of
telecommunications, as well as receive remuneration under a civil contract,
except in the cases when they practice scientific or lecturing
activity.
Art.
22. (1) The legal authorities
of the members of the Commission shall be terminated upon death and by the
respective bodies before the expiration of their mandate in the following
cases:
1. on their
written request;
2. on
established incompatibility with the requirements of this
law;
3. when sentenced to imprisonment for a deliberate crime of
general nature;
4. for
impossibility of fulfilment of the obligations for a
period longer than three months.
(2) On
termination of the legal authorities of a member of the Commission, within one
month from the day of termination of the legal authority, the competent body
shall appoint, elect or employ a new member until the expiration of the
respective mandate.
Art.
23. The
remuneration of the members of the Commission shall be determined as
follows:
1. of the
chairman – 95 percent of the basic remuneration of a national
representative;
2. of the
deputy chairman – 90 percent of the basic remuneration of a national
representative;
3. of the
rest of the members – 85 percent of the basic remuneration of a national
representative.
Art.
24. (1) Every member of the Commission shall be
obliged to disclose in writing before the Commission every substantial
commercial, financial or other business interest which, he and/or members of his
family will have in taking a concrete decision, and not participate in its
consideration and voting.
(2)
Substantial commercial, financial or other business interest shall be present
always for the persons under para 1, as well as for
persons with whom each of them is economically related when they apply for or
obtain an individual licence or registration under a
class licence under this law.
(3) On
assuming office the members of the Commission shall file declarations stating
the presence or the absence of the circumstances under para 1. The declarations shall contain the names and
addresses of persons economically related to the members of their families, as
well as the business interests which have occurred. The declarations shall be
stored in a special public register of the Commission.
(5) The
affected person, as well as any interested person, may request the Supreme
Administrative Court to revoke, by the general order, decisions taken in
violation of para 1.
(6) One year
after the termination of the mandate the members of the Commission may not be
owners, stock holders, partners, managers (procurators) or members of bodies of
management of trade companies and state enterprises licensed under this law, as
well as to exercise rights under licences, issued by
the order of this law, as sole entrepreneurs.
Art.
25. The
chairman of the Commission shall:
1. represent the Commission or shall authorise persons to represent it;
2. organise and manage the activity of
the Commission;
3. set and chair sittings of the
Commission;
4. conclude, amend and terminate the employment contracts with
the employees of the administration;
5. control and be responsible for the fulfilment of the budget of the
Commission;
6. inform the public for the activity of the
Commission.
Art.
26. (1) The Commission shall be assisted by an
administration in its activity.
(2) The
Commission shall adopt regulations determining the structure, activity, the
organisation of the work and the structure of the
Commission and its administration, which shall be promulgated in the State
Gazette.
(3) The basic
monthly remunerations of the employees of the administration shall be determined
by the chairman according to the internal rules for the salaries and the
available resources of the budget of the Commission.
(4) The
employees of the administration shall receive extra remuneration to their basic
remuneration for fulfilment of specific functions
under conditions and by an order determined by the internal rules for the
salaries.
(5) The
resources under para 4 shall be determined in a size
of 25 percent of the gross annual size of the resources for salaries and shall
be included in the budget of the Commission.
Section
II
Legal
capacity
Art.
27. The
Commission shall:
1. carry
out, jointly with the Council for Electronic Media, studies and shall submit to
it information regarding the technical parameters necessary for the ground radio
broadcasting of radio and television programmes to
settlements, regions or the whole territory of the Republic of Bulgaria
determined by the Council for Electronic Media, including free radio
frequencies, admissible capacities of broadcasting, possible points of
broadcasting, as well as other necessary technical
information;
2. prepare the documents and carry out the necessary actions
related to the issuance of the licences stipulated by
this law and approve the obligatory documents stipulated by the law and/or the
licences;
3. issue, amend, supplement, suspend, terminate and revoke
individual licences for telecommunication
activities;
4. issue, amend, supplement, suspend, terminate and revoke
individual licences for telecommunication activities
for telecommunications through ground digital radio
broadcasting;
5. inform the Council for Electronic Media which will open a
procedure by the order of the Law of the radio and television when the radio and
television activity is carried out through ground digital radio
broadcasting;
6. issue,
amend, supplement, suspend, terminate and revoke individual licences for telecommunication activities for carrying out
telecommunications through available and/or new telecommunication networks for
ground radio broadcasting only upon a decision of the Council for Electronic
Media;
7. amend, supplement, suspend, terminate and revoke individual
licences for telecommunication activities for carrying
out telecommunications through available and/or new telecommunication networks
for ground radio broadcasting on the grounds stipulated by art. 75, para 1, item 1 – 3, art. 77, para 1, art. 78 and
84;
8. issue class licences for
telecommunication activities, register and write off their
registration;
9. provide the necessary conditions for telecommunication
activity for sea and air tracking and rescue and information for safety,
including the provision of the necessary radio frequency spectrum, and issue the
respective licences;
10. work out a regulatory policy of using numbers, addresses and
names for carrying out telecommunications;
11. organise submitting by
international organisations of numbers, addresses and
names for the telecommunications in the Republic of
Bulgaria;
12. work out the National Numbering Plan;
13. submits for using numbers, addresses and names to
telecommunication operators by an order determined by an
ordinance;
14. work out and present to the Minister of Transport and
Communications draft normative acts stipulated by this law, to be issued
according to his competence;
15. work out and present for adoption by the Council of Ministers
draft normative acts stipulated by this law;
16. inform the public and carry out public consultations and
discussions on important issues of the telecommunications;
17. determine and study the respective markets for the purpose of
determining operators having a substantial impact on the
market;
18. determine the operators having a substantial impact on the
market and take decisions regarding the imposing of specific obligations for
them stipulated by this law;
19. assign the providing of universal telecommunications
service;
20. work out, jointly with the Council for Electronic Media,
update and present for adoption by the National Assembly, a strategy for
development of the radio and television activity through ground
broadcasting.
Art.
28. (1) The Commission shall have the following legal
authorities related to the management of the radio frequency
spectrum:
1. manage the radio frequency spectrum for civil needs
by:
a) working out the regulatory policy for its
management;
b) work out and publish principles of its management and
allocation;
c) submit for using radio frequencies and radio frequency bands
to the telecommunication operators licensed by the order of this
law;
d) approve, give prescriptions for amendment and supplement of
technical projects or other obligatory documents which are an integral part of
the individual licences;
2.
carry out
the international coordination of radio frequencies and radio frequency bands,
as well as of radio facilities using them; the international coordination shall
be carried out for all radio services, with exception of the air radio service
and air satellite radio service;
3. carry out
preliminary national coordination and synchronisation
with all interested state bodies and departments the radio frequencies and radio
frequency bands for civil needs, which are submitted by individual licences to public operators; carry out the national
coordination of the radio frequencies and radio frequency bands and of the radio
facilities for civil needs with all interested administrative bodies; the
coordination shall be carried out for the purpose of providing the safety of the
air and sea navigation; for protection of the national security the national
coordination shall also be carried out with the bodies providing the national
security and defence of the
country;
4. prepare
documents for registration in international organisations for telecommunications of the coordinated, for
civil purposes, radio frequencies and radio frequency bands and radio facilities
using them; the preparation of the documents regards all radio services with
exception of the air mobile, air mobile satellite, air radio navigation, air
radio navigation – satellite, air sea, air sea satellite, sea radio navigation
and sea radio navigation – satellite; the documents for registration shall be
submitted to the Ministry of Transport and Communications for international
registration;
5. issue permits for legal capacity of radio operators –
amateurs;
6. control the effective using of the radio frequency spectrum
for civil needs and/or the sources of radio interference in the radio frequency
spectrum for civil needs;
7. control the observance of the internationally determined
procedural rules for the radio services;
8. allocate the distinction signs of the transmitting radio
facilities of the amateur radio service;
9. provide conditions for telecommunication activity for the
purposes of the sea and air tracking and rescue, as well as for broadcasting
current information for providing the safety of the sea and air navigation and
of the ground transport;
10.
participate, jointly with the Minister of Transport and Communications, in the
work of the international organisations, related to
the management of the radio frequency spectrum;
11. work out draft ordinances determining procedural rules and
technical parameters for the work of the radio services.
(2) In
managing the radio frequency spectrum for civil needs the Commission shall
observe the principles of transparency, equality and
publicity.
Art.
29. The
Commission is a national organisation for standardisation before the European Institute for Standardisation in the
Telecommunications.
Art.
30. (1) The Commission shall keep registers
for:
1. the issued individual licences;
2. the issued certificates for registration under a class licence.
(2) The
registers under para 1 shall be
public.
(3) The
individual licences of the public operators shall be
public with exception of the texts and the appendixes to the licences containing:
1. data related to the national security and the defence of the country;
2. technical data and parameters of the
network;
3. financial information which is a commercial
secret.
(4) Copies of
the licences under para 3,
with exception of the information under item 1 – 3, shall be submitted to the
Commission against a paid fee for administrative service.
Art.
31. The
Commission shall control the observance of:
1. the normative acts in the sphere of
telecommunications;
2. the principles of price formation stipulated by this
law;
3. the quality of the services;
4. the terms of the licences;
5. the requirements for providing universal telecommunication
service according to this law.
Art.
32. (1) In fulfilment of the legal capacity under art. 31, item 4 the
Commission shall carry out inspections regarding the fulfilment of the law and the terms of the licences, including on requests of persons affected by
non-fulfilment of the terms of the licence regarding:
1. refusal to provide a specific access;
2. refusal to provide a unbundled access to a subscriber
line;
3. refusal to provide the service "rented
lines";
4. refusal to provide interconnection;
5. refusal of joint using of premises, telecommunication
installations, channels, towers, etc.;
6. failure to fulfil the provisions of
this law.
(2) When the
inspection establishes a violation of the law or of the terms of the licence the Commission shall give a chance to the operator
and to the persons affected by not meeting the terms of the licence, to present statements, and it may require further
evidence where necessary. Taking into consideration the objective circumstances
and the possibilities of the licensed persons the Commission shall give, by a
decision, obligatory instructions for removal of the offence within a set
period.
Art.
33. (1) The Commission may require from everyone
carrying out telecommunication activities an
information necessary for the fulfilment of its
regulatory activities.
(2) The
Commission shall interact with state bodies and institutions, as well as with
the bodies of the local independent government and local administration and with
non-profit corporate bodies in working out draft normative acts, exchange of
information and other forms of cooperation.
(3) The
members of the Commission and its administration shall be obliged to not make
public the information obtained under para 1 when it
is an official or commercial secret, for which they shall sign a declaration in
a form adopted by a decision of the Commission.
Art.
34. (1) In exercising its
legal capacity the Commission shall adopt motivated
decisions.
(2) The
decisions under para 1 shall be individual or general
administrative acts and shall be subject to appeal before the Supreme
Administrative Court.
(3) The
general administrative acts shall be promulgated in the State
Gazette.
Art.
35. (1) The Commission shall establish consultative
structures in connection with the implementation of its legal
capacities.
(2) The
decision for establishing structures under para 1
shall determine their head and members, the order of carrying out their activity
and their functions and tasks.
Art.
36. (1) The Commission shall carry out a procedure of
public discussion with the interested persons in working out general
administrative acts stipulated by this law, as well as on other issues of public
importance for development of the telecommunications.
(2)
Interested persons under para 1 are state bodies,
branch organisations of telecommunication operators,
organisations of users and telecommunication operators
directly related to the developed project.
(3) The
Commission shall discuss with the interested persons the basic principles
underlying in the project, and it shall set a term for presentation of
statements on it which shall not be shorter than 14 days.
(4) The
Commission shall consider all statements received from the interested persons
and shall motivate in writing their non-acceptance, publishing its motives in
its Internet site.
Art.
37. The
Commission shall represent the Republic of Bulgaria in international organisations of the regulatory bodies in the sphere of
telecommunications.
Art.
38. (1) The Commission shall work out annually, and
not later than the end of the second quarter of the next year shall submit to
the National Assembly, the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Council of
Ministers and the Council for Electronic Media a report obligatorily
containing:
1. analysis of the state of the universal telecommunication
service in compliance with the requirements of the law;
2. distribution of the frequencies for civil needs in services
and mechanisms for their effective using;
3. distribution of the numbers of the National Numbering
Plan;
4. analysis of the market of telecommunication services and
trends of development;
5. the results from the market study, carried out for the
purpose of determining an operator having a substantial impact on the
market;
6. state of the competition in the sphere of telecommunications
and applying the principles of price formation stipulated by this
law;
7. financial state and institutional development of the
Commission and its administration.
(2) In
working out the report under para 1, item 6 the
Commission shall take the opinion of the Commission for protection of the
competition.
(3) The
Commission shall publish the report for its activity in its information bulletin
and in its Internet site.
Section
III
Financing
Art.
39. The
Commission is a primary administrator of budget credits.
Art.
40. (1) The Commission shall administer the following
revenue of its budget:
1. five
percent of the initial licence fees when the licence for telecommunication activity has been obtained
through a tender;
2. five
percent of the additional one-time fees for submitting additional radio
frequency spectrum;
3. forty
percent of the annual fees for using a radio frequency
spectrum;
4. of the
annual fees for using numeration capacity;
5. five
percent of the annual fees for using the positions of the geo-stationary orbit
allocated for the Republic of Bulgaria by international
agreements;
6. of the
initial licence fees;
7. of the
registration fees;
8. of the
annual licence fees;
9. of the
fees for amendment and supplement of the licences;
10. twenty
percent of the fines and proprietary sanctions stipulated by this
law;
11. of
interest on overdue receivables;
12.
of
donations;
13.
of the
revenue from administrative services provided by the
Commission.
(2) The
resources of the budget of the Commission shall be spent for financing its
activity, including projects related to the regulation and liberalisation of the market, for capital expenses, for
providing effective and active control, for improvement of the material basis,
for qualification and training.
Art.
41. The
Commission shall work out and annually, by May 30, shall publish in its Internet
site a project for the expected revenue under art. 40, para 1, item 1 – 7 and for the respective expenses for its
activity for the next year, which shall be presented for coordination to the
Minister of Finance.
Art.
42. (1) In the event that the expected revenue for the
respective year does not cover the expenses for the activity of the Commission
the difference shall be covered by annual licence fees
for providing the regulation activities, paid by the public operators carrying
out telecommunication activities on the grounds of individual licences.
(2) The size
of the fees under para 1 shall be determined according
to the expected revenue from the activities of the operators under para 1, proportionally allocated among
them.
(3) The
Commission, by September 30 of the current year, shall propose annually to the
Council of Ministers to adopt the size of the fees under para 1, to be included in the Tariff for the fees collected
by the Commission according to art. 224, para 1. The fees shall be collected from January 1 of
the next year.
Chapter
four
TELECOMMUNICATION
OPERATORS
Section
I
General
provision
Art.
43. (1) The telecommunication
operators are public and individual.
(2) Public
operator is every person carrying out telecommunications through a public
telecommunications network and/or carrying out telecommunications through
providing telecommunications services on the grounds of an individual licence or registration under a class licence.
(3)
Individual operator is every person carrying out telecommunications through an
individual telecommunication network for own needs on the grounds of an
individual licence or registration under a class licence.
Section
II
Telecommunication
operators having substantial impact on the market
Art.
44. (1) The Commission shall determined, by a
motivated decision, that a public operator has a substantial impact on the
market when the operator possesses a share, equal or larger than 25 percent, of
the respective telecommunications market with a territorial range determined by
his licence.
(2) The
Commission may determine that an operator has a substantial impact on the market
for a share less than 25 percent of the respective market.
(3) The
Commission may determine that an operator has no substantial impact on the
respective market for a share equal or larger than 25 percent of the respective
market.
(4) The
decision under para 2 or para 3 shall be based on:
1. an ability of the operator to have an impact on the
respective market;
2. a size of the share of the realised
turnover by the operator within the total volume of the respective
market;
3. degree of impact of the operator on the accession devices to
the end users;
4. access of the operator to financial resources and gathered
experience in providing services on the respective market.
Art.
45. (1) The conditions and
the order of determining operators having a substantial impact on the market,
according to art. 44, shall be settled by a methodology
to be worked out by the Commission, in coordination with the Commission for
protection of the competition, and it shall be adopted by the Council of
Ministers by a decree.
(2)
Determined as operators having substantial impact on the market may be
telecommunication operators under art. 44, carrying out telecommunications
through:
1. fixed telephone networks and providing fixed voice telephone
services;
2. providing service "rented lines";
3. mobile telecommunication networks and providing voice
telephone services through them.
Art.
46. (1) The public operators shall submit to the
Commission the necessary documents and information for determining operators
having substantial impact on the market. The operators may not refuse the
submitting of documents and information referring to official and commercial
secret.
(2) The
members of the Commission and its administration shall be obliged not to make
public the information received according to para 1 if
it represents an official or commercial secret, for which they shall sign a
declaration in a form adopted by a decision of the
Commission.
Art.
47. (1) The Commission shall impose to the operators
having a substantial impact on the market obligations stipulated by this law,
related to:
1. mutual connection;
2. providing service "rented lines";
3. providing specific access;
4. providing unbundled access to a subscriber
line;
5. joint using of premises, telecommunication facilities,
channels, towers, etc.
(2) The
Commission may assign to the operators having substantial impact on the market
an obligation for providing a universal telecommunication
service.
Chapter
five
CARRYING
OUT TELECOMMUNICATION ACTIVITIES
Section
I
General
provisions
Art.
48. (1) Telecommunication activities shall be carried
out freely – without individual licence and
registration under a class licence
when:
1. telecommunications are carried out through telecommunication
networks for own needs without using a radio frequency
spectrum;
2. telecommunications are carried out through radio facilities
and networks by radio facilities for own needs by using a radio frequency
spectrum for common using;
3.
telecommunications are carried out by providing services using public
telecommunication networks of operators licensed or registered under a class
licence, and under the conditions of a real
competition, whereas the life and health of people are not threatened by their
providing, and preconditions are not created for the disruption of the entirety
of the networks through which they are provided, and the interests of the users,
the national security and the defence of the country
are not threatened;
4. "Internet
access" is provided.
(2) The
conditions and the order of carrying out telecommunications under para 1, item 2 shall be determined by an ordinance of the
Minister of Transport and Communications.
(3) The
ordinance under para 2 may contain only requirements
related to the preservation of the life and health of people and not creating
interference in using the radio frequency spectrum.
Art.
49. (1) Telecommunication activities shall be carried
out on the grounds of a registration under a class licence when telecommunications are carried out
through:
1. a telecommunication network or radio facilities by using a
radio frequency spectrum for common using, determined by the
Commission;
2. providing a telecommunication service – access to satellite
systems;
3. public telecommunication network without using a limited
resource.
(2)
Telecommunication activities shall be carried out on the grounds of individual
licences when telecommunications are carried out
through:
1. a telecommunication network with provided individually
determined limited resource;
2. providing a fixed voice telephone service and/or universal
telecommunication service;
3. air
mobile radio service, radio location and radio navigation services for air
traffic control and providing the air navigation servicing of the flights in the
civil air space;
4. telecommunication network for providing the service "rented
line", including international rented lines;
5. telecommunication networks for sea tracking and rescue and
broadcasting current information for providing the safety of the sea
navigation;
6. providing telecommunication services through a
telecommunication network under item 5;
7. telecommunication network for tracking and rescue and
broadcasting current information for providing the safety of the air
navigation.
(3) The
Minister of Transport and Communications shall determine by an ordinance the
types of telecommunication activities subject to individual licensing and
registration under a class licence.
Art.
50. (1) The requirements for
issuance of individual licences shall be equal for all
applicants for one and the same type of telecommunication
activity.
(2) The
issuance of individual licences shall be carried out
under conditions of objectivity, equality and
transparency.
Art.
51. (1) The number of
operators shall not be restricted in issuing individual licences, unless the resource is
limited.
(2) In cases
of issuance of individual licences for using a limited
resource under para 1 the Commission shall inform the
public through one national daily newspaper and through its Internet site about
the reasons requiring the restriction.
Art.
52. (1) The Commission shall issue individual licences for telecommunication activity by using available
and/or new telecommunication networks for ground broadcasting only on the
grounds of a decision of the Council for Electronic Media.
(2) The
subject, the range and the term of the licence for
telecommunication activity under para 1 may not differ
from the subject, term and range of the licence for
radio or television activity.
Section
II
Issuance
of individual licences
Art.
53.
Individual licences shall be issued to sole
entrepreneurs, corporate bodies and representations and other organisations having a statute of diplomatic missions. The
individual licences for individual networks using a
limited resource shall be issued to individuals.
Art.
54.
Individual licences shall be issued without a
competition or a tender when a limited resource is not used, observing the
principles of transparency and equality.
Art.
55. (1) Individual licences
shall be issued upon holding a competition or a tender when a limited resource
is used.
(2)
Individual licences shall be issued without a
competition or a tender when the resource is limited in the following
cases:
1. the number of applicants is less or equal to the operators
who may be licensed for the respective free limited
resource;
2. to public
operators who need a radio frequency spectrum used for providing a transfer
medium in their networks;
3. for
telecommunication activity carried out by an individual operator – to the first
one having declared his request in writing according to the principles under
art. 28, para 1, item 1, letter "b"
and the ordinances under art. 58;
4. for own needs of the state bodies related to their
functions;
5. for the needs of representations of state and international
organisations having a status of diplomatic
missions;
6. upon a
decision of the Council for Electronic Media on the grounds of a competition
held by the order of the Law of the radio and television;
7. for telecommunication activity – carrying out
telecommunications through telecommunication networks under art. 49, para 2, item 3, 5 and 7 and providing
telecommunication services under art. 49, para
2, item 6.
Art.
56. (1) Individual licence
shall be issued without a competition or a tender by the Commission on the
grounds of a written application in a form, accompanied by all required
documents.
(2) The
documents shall be in Bulgarian language in two equal
copies.
(3) The filed
application and the attached documents shall be considered within 30 days from
their receipt.
(4) For
missing and/or irregular documents the applicant shall be notified to remove the
incompletes or irregularity within 7 days from receipt of the notification. If
the incompletes or irregularity are not removed within
the set term the application shall not be considered.
(5) The
Commission shall announce its decision on the application within 6 weeks from
its receipt and shall notify the applicant about it. When an international
coordination is required for the radio frequencies and radio frequency bands
necessary for the activity the term under para 3 shall
be extended by the period of time necessary for the international coordination,
and the applicants shall be notified about that.
Art.
57. (1) The Commission shall refuse by a decision the
issuance of an individual licence
when:
1. there is no free limited resource;
2. the activity would threaten the national security and the
defence of the country or it contradicts international
obligations of the country;
3. the person applying for the licence:
a) has been declared bankrupt or he is under proceedings for
declaring bankruptcy;
b)
is in
liquidation;
c) has been divested of the right to practice
trading;
d) has
monetary liabilities to the state established by an enforced act of a competent
body or a liability to insurance funds or to the
Commission;
e)
whose licence has been withdrawn for the same telecommunication
service within the period set by the Commission according to art. 84, para 3;
f) has been punished for carrying out telecommunication activity
without a licence under the conditions of art. 233,
para 7;
4.
the
circumstances under art. 59 are present.
(2) The
circumstances under para 1, item 3, letter "a", "b"
and "d" shall be certified by a document issued by the respective competent
body, and those under letter "c" – by a declaration.
(3) The
provisions of para 1, item 3, letter "c" shall also
regard managers or members of managing bodies of the
applicant.
Art.
58. The
conditions and the order of issuing individual licences without a competition or a tender for definite
telecommunication activities shall be determined by ordinances of the Minister
of Transport and Communications.
Art.
59. (1) Individual licence
for telecommunication activity with national coverage shall not be issued to a
public operator or to a related person in the meaning of the Commercial Law,
holding other licence for the same kind of
telecommunication activity.
(2)
Individual licence for telecommunication activity
shall not be issued to a public operator or to a related person in the meaning
of the Commercial Law, holding a licence for national
coverage for the same kind of telecommunication activity.
Art.
60. (1) The individual licence shall be valid for a period of 20
years.
(2) The term
may be extended at a request of the person licensed by the Commission for
Regulation of the Communications when:
1.
the licensed
person meets the requirements of the acting legislation, including requirements
related to the national security and defence of the
country;
2. the circumstances under art. 57, para 1, item 3 are not present with the licensed
person.
(3) The
Commission shall extend the term of the issued individual licences for telecommunication activity for carrying out
telecommunications through available and/or new telecommunication networks for
ground radio broadcasting upon a decision of the Council for Electronic Media
for extension of the term of the respective individual licence for carrying out radio and television activity, and
where the preconditions under para 2 are present. In
this case both licences shall be extended for an equal
term.
Section
III
Issuance
of individual licences upon holding a competition or a
tender
Art.
61. (1) A procedure for
issuance of an individual licence through a
competition or a tender shall be opened at the initiative of the Commission or
at a request of an interested person.
(2) Upon a
filed request by an interested person the Commission shall study the technical
capacities for issuance of an individual licence and,
within 30 days, shall notify him about the result.
(3) In the
cases of para 1, and upon established availability of
technical capacity under para 2, the Commission shall
publish an announcement in at least one national daily newspaper and in its
Internet site, declaring its intention to issue an individual licence for telecommunication activity, the technical
parameters of the free limited resource and the term in which the interested
persons may file their requests. The term may not be shorter than 30
days.
(4) Should
the number of the persons, having filed a request under para 3, by lesser or equal to the number of the persons who
may be licensed according to the free limited resource, the Commission shall
inform the persons under para 3 within 7 days and
shall issue individual licences on the grounds of art.
55, para 2, item 1, under the conditions and by the
order of issuing individual licences without a
competition or a tender. When their number is larger the Commission shall
announce a competition or a tender.
Art.
62. (1) Within three months
from expiration of the term under art. 61, para 3 the
Commission shall announce, by a decision, a competition or a tender for issuance
of an individual licence for telecommunication
activity using a limited resource.
(2) The
decision under para 1 shall
contain:
1. subject and type of the competition or
tender;
2. specific requirements for the persons who may participate,
regarding technical or financial requirements, or conditions of observing the
competition;
3. place, term and order of buying the competition or tender
papers;
4. term and place of filing applications for
participation;
5. size and way of payment of the deposit for
participation;
6. initial tender price and step of bidding in announced
tender;
7. date, place and hour of holding the competition or
tender;
8. other concrete requirements related to the procedure of the
competition or tender.
(3) The
decision under para 1 shall be promulgated in the
State Gazette.
Art.
63. (1) Competition shall be held where there is a
necessity of a complex assessment for issuance of an individual licence. The competition may be attended and in
absentia.
(2) Tender
shall be held in the cases where, in view of the nature of the activity, the
size of the offered tender price is of substantial importance. The tender may be
held by advertised or negotiated bidding.
Art.
64. (1) The competition or
tender papers shall contain:
1.
requirements for implementation of the activity – subject of the competition or
tender, as the rates of development and/or servicing, the quality of the
services, the type of the used technology, obligations related to the national
security and the defence of the
country;
2. criteria for assessment, their relative weight and mechanism
of assessment;
3. rules for holding the competition or the
tender;
4. rules for work of the expert
commission.
(2) The
competition and tender papers under para 1 shall be
worked out and approved by the Commission.
Art.
65. (1) The Commission shall appoint an expert
commission for holding the competition or the tender.
(2) Where the
activity, subject to the licence, may affect the
interests of the national security and the defence of
the country, participants in the expert commission shall also be representatives
of the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Defence,
the Ministry of Transport and Communications and the Ministry of
Finance.
(3) A person,
having a substantial commercial, financial or other business interest, may not
participate as a member of the expert commission.
(4) Every
member of the expert commission shall be obliged to declare in writing before
the Commission the lack of a substantial commercial, financial or other business
interest, which he and/or economically related with him or with members of his
family, will have in choosing a candidate or they will not be employed in the
body of management of the applicant having won the competition or tender within
one year from the issuance of the licence.
(5) The
declaration under para 4 shall state the names and the
addresses of the economically related with him or with members of his family, as
well as the substantial commercial, financial or other business interests which
have occurred. The declarations shall be stored in a special public register of
the Commission.
(6)
Substantial commercial, financial or other business interest shall always be
present when the members of the expert commission or members of their families,
as well as persons economically connected with them receive licence under this law.
(7) The
Commission shall appoint by a decision the members of the expert commission, the
order of holding the sittings, the way of taking decisions, the issuance of
written records, the remuneration for participation in
the expert commission.
Art.
66. (1) The persons wishing
to participate in the competition or a tender announced by the Commission shall
file a written application for participation enclosing:
1. all court decisions related to the file of the applicant and
a court certificate for current status;
2. proof of financial ability to carry out the activity, such
as: annual accountancy balance and an account of the revenue and expenses,
annual tax declarations, bank recommendations, documents for acquiring long-term
assets;
3. a technical project and a business plan in compliance with
the requirements of art. 64, para 1, item
1;
4. a document for paid deposit or bank guarantee for its
size;
5. documents certifying a lack of the circumstances under art.
57, para 1, item 3;
6. declaration for protecting the confidentiality of the
information contained in the competition or tender
documentation;
7. a document for paid competition or tender
documentation;
8. other documents related to the subject of the competition or
tender.
(2) All
documents shall be filed in Bulgarian language in two equal
copies.
(3) In
holding a tender with negotiated bidding equal envelopes shall contain the
offers of the applicants for a tender price. The envelopes shall be opened in
compliance with the rules for holding the tender, included in the tender
documentation.
(4) In case
of missing and/or irregular documents under para 1,
with exception of those under item 3, the applicant shall be notified to remove
the lack or irregularity, giving him a 7-day period from receipt of the
notification. Should he fail to do so the applicant shall not be admitted to
participate.
(5) An
applicant who does not meet the requirements of art. 57, para 1, item 3 shall be removed from the competition or
tender.
Art.
67. Within
one month from the expiration of the term of acceptance of the documents the
expert commission shall hold the competition or tender.
Art.
68. (1) In a competition the
offers shall be classified on the basis of a complex assessment for meeting the
competition requirements.
(2) In a
tender the classification of the applicants shall be made considering the size
of the offered tender price.
Art.
69. (1) The expert commission, within 7 days from
conclusion of its work, shall present to the chairman of the Commission for
Regulation of the Communications a report for the completed work and for the
results from the classification, as well as the whole documentation related to
the held competition or tender.
(2) Within 14
days from receipt of the documents under para 1 the
commission shall take a decision:
1. for issuance of a licence to the
applicant having won the competition or tender;
2. for termination of the competition or tender, not determining
a winner when, as a result of the classification an applicant is not determined
as meeting the requirements of the competition or tender.
(3) Within 3
days from taking the decision under para 2 the
commission shall send it to the State Gazette for promulgation within 5 days
from its receipt.
Art.
70. (1) The commission shall
have the right to retain the deposits of the applicants who have filed
complaints against the decision under art. 69, para 2 until the settlement of the dispute by the
court.
(2) The
deposits of the failed applicants shall be released within three working days
from the expiration of the deadline for filing complaints against the decision
under art. 69, para 2.
Released within the same period shall be the deposits of all applicants on
termination of the procedure.
(3) The
deposits of the winner and of the applicant classified second shall be released
within three working days from the enactment of the decision under art. 69,
para 2, item 1.
Art.
71. (1) Within 14 days from
the enactment of the decision under art. 69, para 2,
item 1 the Commission shall issue an individual licence to the winner of the competition or
tender.
(2) The
individual licence shall bind the winner with the
offers made in the competition or tender.
Art.
72. (1) If the winner refuses issuance of an
individual licence and/or does not pay the final
tender price offered by him within the term and in the way presented in the
tender or competition documents it shall be offered to the applicant classified
second.
(2) On
refusal by the applicant classified second the procedure shall be terminated
without issuance of an individual licence.
(3) The
deposits of the persons under para 1 and 2 shall not
be returned.
Section
IV
Contents
of the individual licence
Art.
73. (1) The individual licences of public operators shall obligatorily contain the
following terms:
1. subject, term of the licence and
territorial range;
2. technical requirements to be met by the networks and the
equipment thereof;
3. an obligation for providing services to all users under
conditions of equality;
4. requirements for quality of the
services;
5. stages of construction, development or expansion of the
network, term of starting the activity;
6. (amend. – SG 19/05) obligation for guaranteeing reliability in
carrying out telecommunications through telecommunication networks in
crises;
7. obligation for providing telecommunication services in
introducing a regime of "martial law" or "war time";
8. (amend. – SG 19/05)additional
obligations related to the national security and the defence of the country and in crises;
9. requirements for guaranteeing the confidentiality of the
communications and protection of the personal data;
10. requirements for tracking telecommunications related to the
national security and social order;
11. conditions of amendment, supplement, stopping and termination
of the licence;
12. terms of withdrawal of the licence;
13. requirements related to the change of the control over the
management of the licensed person;
14. way of determining licence and
other fees and ways of payment;
15. obligation for submitting information for the purposes of
regulation and requirements for admitting control over the fulfilment of the licence;
16. protection of the environment, the life and health of
people.
(2) The
individual licences under para 1 may also contain the following requirements related
to:
1. submitted
individually determined limited resource;
2. effective using and without radio interference of the radio
frequency spectrum;
3. access and interconnection of the
networks;
4. submitting of universal telecommunication
service;
5. annual payment of an instalment for
a fund for guaranteeing the providing of a universal telecommunication
service;
6. issuance of telephone directories;
7. providing
a free of charge access to emergency calls;
8. term of coordination with the commission of general terms of
relations with end users;
9. depositing to the Minister of Transport and Communications of
a sample of cryptographic key;
10. assistance regarding the introduction in the country of
European and international telecommunications standards.
(3) The
individual licences of the operators having a
substantial impact on the market, carrying out telecommunications through fixed
telephone networks and providing fixed voice telephone services and through
providing the service "rented lines" shall contain the obligations stipulated by
this law related to:
1. interconnection;
2. providing the service "rented lines";
3. providing specific access;
4. providing unbundled access to a subscriber
line;
5. joint using of premises and telecommunication facilities,
channels, towers, etc.
(4) The
individual licences of individual operators shall
obligatorily contain the requirements of para 1, item
1, 2, 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16 and may also contain the requirements of para 2, item 1 and 2.
(5) The
requirements of para 1, item 6, 7, 8 and 10 shall be
coordinated with the competent bodies in charge of the national security and the
defence of the country.
Art.
74. The
individual licences for one and the same type of
telecommunication activity shall contain equal in nature requirements for the
operators, unless this law stipulates otherwise.
Section
V
Amendment,
supplement, stopping, transfer, termination or withdrawal of an individual licence
Art.
75. (1) Amendments and supplements of the licences may be introduced by a motivated decision of the
Commission due to:
1. insurmountable force;
2. reasons related to the national security and the defence of the country;
3. changes of the internal legislation and decisions of
international organisations in force for the Republic
of Bulgaria;
4. reasons related to the public interest, ensuing from the
effective using of a limited resource, the protection of the interests of the
users, the providing of a universal telecommunication service and the
encouraging of the competition on the telecommunications
market.
(2) The
amendments and supplements under para 1 shall be
introduced upon a written notification of the licensed person, who may express
an opinion within 7 days from receipt of the notification, when the amendments
and supplements are related to para 1, item
4.
Art.
76. (1) The licensed operator
may extend a motivated request to the Commission for amendment and supplement of
the licence. The Commission shall study the
substantiation of the request, shall assess the necessity of amendment and
supplement of the licence and shall announce a
decision within one month from receipt of the request.
(2) An
amendment or supplement of the licence without a
competition or a tender shall submit an additional limited resource to a public
operator when the operator:
1. needs such a resource for expansion, modernisation and development of the public
telecommunication network, and
2. he has used effectively the already submitted limited
resource, and
3. he has a public telecommunication network allowing expansion,
modernisation and development.
Art.
77. (1) The fulfilment of some or all activities under the licence may be suspended or terminated by a decision of the
Commission for Regulation of the Communications:
1. on a
motivated request of the Minister of Transport and Communications on
introduction in the country of "martial law" or "war time" regime, or other
extraordinary situation, where the needs so require;
2. on a
motivated request of the competent bodies on occurrence of a danger for the
national security or the defence of the country as a
result of the fulfilment of one or more of the
activities under the licence;
3. on death of the licensed individual; in this case the
successors may, within three months, declare their request before the Commission
for fulfilment of the activity, and continue to carry
out the activity until the decision of the Commission is
announced;
4. on liquidation or termination of the licensed corporate body,
or termination of the activity of the licensed sole
entrepreneur.
(2) The
decisions under para 1, item 1 and 2 shall be
motivated and shall be subject to an immediate fulfilment.
Art.
78. (1) The fulfilment of some or of all activities under the licence may be terminated by a motivated request of the
licensed person when the fulfilment of the licensed
activities becomes impossible. The Commission shall study the grounds of the
request and shall announce a decision within one month from receipt of the
request.
(2) The fulfilment of some or of all activities under the licence may be suspended at a motivated request of the
licensed person for a period not longer than 18 months. The Commission shall
study the request and shall announce a motivated decision refusing suspension
where:
1. the
request was made by an operator having a substantial impact on the market for
activities regarding which he has been determined as such;
2. individually determined limited resource has been determined
for the activity of the licensed person;
3. the activity is a result of an obligation for providing a
universal telecommunication service.
Art.
79. (1) The term of a licence for telecommunication activity shall be terminated
by a decision of the Commission when the licensed person or a person related to
him in the meaning of the Commercial Law, upon holding a competition or a
tender, has won, respectively they have won, a licence
for the same kind of telecommunication activity with national
coverage.
(2) The
decision under para 1 shall set a period of
termination of the activity under the licence.
Art.
80. On
termination or suspension of the licence due to an
occurrence of a danger for the national security and defence of the country according to art. 77, para 1, item 2, with exception of introduction of a regime
"martial law" or "war time" the licensed person shall be entitled to an
indemnification up to the size of the suffered proprietary damages related to
the suspension or termination.
Art.
81. (1) The term of an
individual licence for available and/or new
telecommunication networks for ground broadcasting shall be terminated by a
decision of the Commission upon a decision of the Council for Electronic Media
for termination of the respective licence for radio
and television activity.
(2) When a
decision of the Commission terminates the telecommunications licence for ground radio broadcasting on the grounds
stipulated by art. 77, para 1, item
1, 2 and 3 and art. 78, para 1 the individual
licence for radio and television activity shall be
terminated by the Council for Electronic Media upon an enacted decision of the
Commission.
Art.
82. (1) The individual licences shall be personal.
(2)
Individual licences issued without a competition or a
tender to telecommunications operators may be transferred to third persons upon
a permit of the Commission.
(3)
Individual licences issued after a competition or a
tender may not be transferred during the first two years from their issuance,
unless the licensed person has declared in advance his intention to establish a
corporate body for fulfilment of the licence – entirely his ownership. Upon expiration of the
two-year period the licences may be transferred to
third persons upon a permit of the Commission.
(4) The
Commission shall not permit transfer of individual licences in the cases of para 2
and 3 when the third persons:
1. do not meet the requirements of art. 57, para 1, item 3 and 4;
2. do not meet the requirements of the acting legislation,
including the requirements related to the national security and the defence of the country.
(5)
Individual licences for telecommunications activity
through available and/or new telecommunication networks for ground radio
broadcasting shall be transferred upon a decision of the Council for Electronic
Media to the person to whom the respective licence for
radio and television activity has been transferred.
Art.
83. (1) Transfer of shares or stocks of the capital or
admitting new partners in trade companies – licensed public operators may be
carried out upon a prior notification to the Commission when the transfer of
shares or stocks or the admission of new partners do not change the control over
the management of the company.
(2) Transfer
of shares or stocks of the capital or admission of new partners in trade
companies – licensed public operators, which changes the control over the
management of the company may be carried out upon a
permit of the Commission.
(3) The
licensed public operators – sole entrepreneurs may transfer their enterprises
upon a permit of the Commission.
(4) The
Commission may refuse a permit under para 2 or 3 when
the following circumstances exist for the third persons:
1. they do not meet the requirements of art. 57, para 1, item 3, and for telecommunications he sole
entrepreneurs – also the requirements of art. 57, para
1, item 4;
2. they do not meet the requirements of the acting legislation,
including the requirements related to the national security and the defence of the country;
3. the request for permit has been made within the two-year
period under art. 82, para
3.
(5) When the
individual licence regards a telecommunication
activity for carrying out telecommunications through using available and/or new
telecommunication networks for ground broadcasting the Commission shall permit
the transfer under para 2 and 3 upon obtaining a
positive decision of the Council for Electronic Media.
(6) When
stocks under para 2 have been acquired without the
prior permit in public offering on the stock exchange or on other regulated
market the acquirer may not exercise his right of voting on these stocks until
the obtaining of a written permit by the Commission.
Art.
84. (1) The Commission, upon sending a written notice
of a definite period may, by a motivated decision, withdraw the licence for:
1. a substantial or systematic violation of this law or of the
terms of the licence;
2. a financial or technical inability of the licensed person to
carry out his activity;
3. actions of the licensed person threatening the national
security or the defence of the
country.
(2) The
Commission shall withdraw by a decision the licences
upon requesting a written statement from the licensed person and, if within the
term of the written notice under para 1, the licensed
person has not rectified the offence.
(3) The
decision for withdrawal shall determine a period during which the person may not
apply for issuance of a new licence for the same
activity. This period may not be shorter than one year and longer than three
years.
(4)
Individual licences for telecommunication activity
through available and/or new telecommunication networks for ground radio
broadcasting shall be withdrawn by the Commission upon a decision of the Council
for Electronic Media for withdrawal of the respective licence for radio and television
activity.
(5) When a
decision of the Commission withdraws a telecommunications licence for ground radio broadcasting on the grounds under
para 1 the individual licence for radio and television activity shall be withdrawn
by the Council for Electronic Media upon the enactment of the decision of the
Commission.
Section
VI
Registration
under a class licence
Art.
85. The class
licence shall determine the conditions of carrying out
telecommunications activity and the requirements regarding the persons wishing
to carry it out.
Art.
86. (1) Before issuing a class licence the Commission shall publish the draft for
discussion in one national daily newspaper and in its Internet site, and shall
determine a period not shorter than 30 days, when written statements on the
draft may be presented. The Commission shall study the statements and shall
accept them or shall motivate in writing its decision for not accepting
them.
(2) The class
licence shall enter into force on the day of its
promulgation in the State Gazette unless a date is not indicated in the licence.
Art.
87. (1) The Commission may amend the class licence if it is to the public interest, ensuing from the
effective using of the radio frequency spectrum, the protection of the users and
the encouragement of the competition.
(2) The
Commission shall amend the class licence by the order
of art. 86.
Art.
88. (1) Every person wishing
to carry out telecommunications activity under a class licence shall file an application in a form for registration
by the Commission. Attached to the application shall be a current status
certificate for the court registration, a copy of a certificate for BULSTAT
registration, a tax registration and a document for paid administrative fee for
the service – consideration of an application.
(2) The
persons under para 1 shall also present documents in
compliance with the conditions and the requirements of the class licence.
(3) The
Commission shall register the persons meeting the conditions and the
requirements of the class licence within 30 days from
receiving the application under para 1 and upon
presentation of a document for paid registration fee.
(4) The
Commission shall issue a certificate for registration to every person registered
under a class licence.
(5) The
Commission shall keep a public register for the persons registered under a class
licence.
Art.
89. The
rights and obligations related to the fulfilment of
the telecommunications activity under a class licence
shall occur within 30 days from filing the application under art. 88, para 1 in the case that the Commission
has not announced a decision.
Art.
90. In the
cases when the person does not meet the requirements and conditions stipulated
by the class licence the Commission shall, by a
motivated decision, refuse the registration and shall notify the person within 7
days.
Art.
91. The class
licence shall contain the conditions under art. 73, depending on the kind of the telecommunications
activity.
Art.
92. (1) Every person,
registered under a class licence, shall be obliged to
observe the conditions and the requirements stipulated by the class licence.
(2) The
Commission, by a motivated decision, may write off the registration of every
person carrying out activity under a class licence who
violates its conditions and requirements if, after a 30-day
warning, the person has not stopped the violation and has not removed the
consequences.
Chapter
six
UNIVERSAL
TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICE
Section
I
Range
Art.
93. (1) A universal
telecommunications service is a service of definite quality, submitted to every
end user regardless of his geographic position, at an affordable
price.
(2) The
universal telecommunications service includes:
1. initial
connection to a public fixed telephone network at an end point of it and an
access to fixed voice telephone services (subscription), providing a possibility
of carrying out urban, interurban and international calls;
2. access to a fixed voice telephone service through public
telephone sets;
3. a telephone directory of the numbers of the subscribers of
the fixed networks and providing telephone reference services for the numbers of
the subscribers of the fixed and mobile networks;
4. unbundled access to emergency calls;
5. providing access to fixed voice telephone services under
special conditions and/or providing terminals, where appropriate, for the
disabled or underprivileged persons.
(3) The
conditions and the order of providing the services under para 2 and the quality they provide shall be determined by
an ordinance of the Minister of Transport and
Communications.
Section
II
Determining
operators obliged to provide universal telecommunications
service
Art.
94. (1) The Commission shall assign to one or more
operators the providing of all or some of the services under art. 93, para 2 for the purpose of providing
the universal telecommunications service for the whole
country.
(2) The
obligation to provide a universal telecommunications service shall be assigned
and determined by the individual licences of public
operators carrying out telecommunications through fixed telephone
networks.
Art.
95. (1) The Commission shall assign an obligation for
providing a universal telecommunications service to public operators determined
as operators having a substantial impact on the market, carrying out
telecommunications through a fixed telecommunication network and providing fixed
voice telephone services.
(2) The
Commission shall hold a competition for assigning a universal telecommunications
service to public operators who do not have a substantial impact on the market
at their request. In holding the competition the conditions and the order
determined for holding a competition for issuance of individual licence shall be observed.
(3) Winner of
the competition under para 2 shall be the operator
proving financial and technical possibilities of providing a universal
telecommunications service in the most effective way and at the lowest price,
including a minimal compensation of the expenses.
Section
III
Providing
a universal telecommunications service
Art.
96. (1) The operators obliged
to provide a universal telecommunications service under art. 93, para 2, item 1 shall satisfy every substantiated application
for connection to the public fixed telephone network at an end point and for
access to fixed voice telephone services.
(2) The
connection under art. 93, para 2, item 1 shall provide
for the end users a fixed voice telephone service, facsimile transmissions
and/or data transfer in the voice frequency band with a speed of no less than
2400 bits per second.
Art.
97. (1) Information for the telephone numbers of
subscribers of public networks shall be submitted in compliance with the
requirements for protection of the personal data stipulated by this
law.
(2) The
public operators providing a universal telecommunications service under art. 93,
para 2, item 3 shall work out and publish at least
once in three years, in the form of a publication, in a definite circulation, a
telephone directory, as well as maintain an updated telephone directory in an
electronic form. The directories shall contain the telephone numbers and other
personal data for the subscribers.
(3) The
directories under para 2 shall be generally
accessible.
(4) The
public operators providing a universal telecommunications service under art. 93,
para 2, item 3 shall provide for the end users an
access to a telephone information service for all numbers of the subscribers of
networks entered in the telephone directory.
(5) The
public operators providing a universal telecommunications service under art. 93,
para 2, item 3 shall provide, free of charge,
telephone directories to the disabled or to underprivileged persons who are
subscribers of public fixed telephone networks. Depending on their technical and
financial possibilities the operators shall prepare and submit to the disabled
appropriate alternative telephone directories.
(6) Depending
on their technical and financial possibilities the public operators providing a
universal telecommunications service under art. 93, para 2, item 1 shall provide for subscribers with damaged
eye-sight, upon request, detailed accounts in a form accessible for
them.
Art.
98. (1) The public operators
providing a universal telecommunications service under art. 93, para 2, item 2 shall provide constantly and proportionally
to the number of the population of the serviced territory public telephone sets
for access to a fixed voice telephone service.
(2) The
operators under para 1 shall provide an access to the
services for emergency calls through public telephone sets without using coins,
counters, cards or other payment instruments.
(3) The
operators under para 1 shall create the necessary
conditions for providing to the disabled end users an appropriate access to a
fixed voice telephone service through public telephone
sets.
Art.
99. (1) The Commission shall work out a methodology
for the conditions and the order of determining the affordability of the price
of the universal telecommunications service and shall publish an announcement in
a national daily newspaper and in its Internet site for the worked out project,
indicating the place where the interested persons may obtain it and a period,
not shorter than 14 days, when written statements may be
presented.
(2) The
Council of Ministers shall adopt by a decree the methodology under para 1.
Art.
100. The
public operators providing a universal telecommunications service shall
determine its price as affordable on the basis of the methodology under art.
99, para 1. The price of the
universal telecommunications service shall be public.
Art.
101. The
public operators providing a universal telecommunications service, in the
presence of technical capacities, shall provide for the subscribers a
possibility of observing and restricting, in due time, the using of some
services unwanted by them, in order to control independently the expenses for
the services.
Art.
102. (1) The public operators shall provide a universal
telecommunications service according to the technical and technological
development of a public fixed telephone network, regardless of the used
technology, and with a quality in compliance with the requirements of art. 93, para 3 of the
ordinance.
(2) The
public operators providing a universal telecommunications service shall inform
the Commission during the first quarter of each calendar year about the fulfilment of the obligation for the preceding year for
providing a universal telecommunications service – coverage, quality, prices,
expenses and revenue related to its provision, servicing of the requests, number
of refusals to provide and the reasons for these refusals.
Art.
103. The
public operators may refuse by motivation the providing of a universal
telecommunications service for end users for reasons related to the following
substantial requirements:
1. guaranteeing the security of the operation of the network in
the presence of insurmountable force;
2. preservation of the entirety of the
network;
3. providing interaction of the services;
4. protection of the personal data;
5. effective using of the radio frequency
spectrum.
Section
IV
Compensation
of net losses from providing universal telecommunications
service
Art.
104. (1) The public operators
obliged to provide universal telecommunications service may request a
compensation for proved net losses when the providing of the universal
telecommunications service is an unfair burden for them.
(2) The
presence of unfair burden shall be determined on the basis of the net losses and
immaterial advantages caused by providing the universal telecommunications
service on condition that:
1. the share
of the operator obliged to provide universal telecommunications service is under
80 percent of the market of the fixed voice telephone service,
and;
2. the number of his subscribers using price packages for
economic using exceeds 17 percent of the total number of his
subscribers.
Art.
105. (1) The Commission shall make up and adopt by a
decision rules for calculation of the net losses of the public operators from
providing universal telecommunications service.
(2) The
public operators obliged to provide universal telecommunications service and
request compensation shall work out a system of determining the size of the net
losses according to the rules under para 1, which
shall be approved by the Commission.
(3) The net
losses from providing the universal telecommunications service shall be audited
by an independent auditor appointed by the Commission for its account, and shall
be published.
Art.
106. (1) The resources for
compensation of the net losses for universal telecommunications service shall be
raised in a Fund for guaranteeing the providing of telecommunications service,
called hereinafter "the Fund".
(2) The Fund
is a corporate body with a seat in Sofia.
(3) The Audit
Office shall exercise control over the activity of the
Fund.
(4) The Fund
shall be exempt from state and local fees only for the operations related to
compensation of the net losses for universal telecommunications service. The
resources of the Fund shall be stored in the Bulgarian National
Bank.
(5) The Fund
shall be transformed, terminated and liquidated by a law.
Art.
107. (1) The Fund shall be managed by a managing board
consisting of five members, including a chairman and a deputy chairman who shall
be appointed as follows:
1. the chairman – by a decision of the Commission for Regulation
of the Communications;
2. the deputy chairman – by a decision of the Commission for
Protection of the Competition;
3. one member – by the Governor of the Bulgarian National
Bank;
4. one member – by the Minister of Labour and Social Policy;
5. one member – by the Minister of
Finance.
(2) The
managing board of the Fund shall account for its activity by a report to the
Minister of Transport and Communications, the Minister of Finance, the Minister
of Labour and Social Policy, the Governor of BNB and
the Commission for Protection of the Competition.
Art.
108. (1) The decisions of the
managing board shall be taken by a common majority. The decisions shall be
accessible to the public.
(2) The
managing board shall work out and adopt regulations for the activity of the
Fund.
(3) The
administrative servicing of the Fund shall be provided by the administration of
the Commission.
Art.
109. (1) The resources of the
Fund shall be spent only for compensation of net losses from providing a
universal telecommunications service by the order of this
section.
(2) The
providing of services for emergency calls shall not be
compensated.
Art.
110. (1) The operators
providing a voice telephone service shall make instalments in the Fund under the conditions and by the
order of this section.
(2) The size
of the instalments under para 1 for telecommunications he respective year may not
exceed 0.8 percent of the gross revenue, without VAT, of each public operator,
of the provided voice telephone service, after the deduction of the expenses for
outgoing traffic in interconnection of networks and the expenses for specific
access.
(3) The
operators under para 1 shall pay the instalments within one year from the enactment of the
decision under art. 112, para
2. Failure to meet the deadline for payment of the instalments shall be considered a substantial violation of
the licence terms.
(4) The instalments of the operators shall be considered inherent
expenses of the activity.
Art.
111. (1) Applications for compensation of net losses
from providing universal telecommunications service for the previous calendar
year, accompanied by the necessary proof, shall be filed by the public operators
with the managing board of the Fund by June 30 of the current
year.
(2) The
managing board shall send, within three days, the applications accompanied by
the necessary proof, for obtaining a statement by the Commission for Regulation
of the Communications.
(3) The
Commission, upon holding a public discussion under art. 36 shall, within 45 days
from receipt of the applications under para 2, give
opinion regarding:
1. the presence of an unfair burden, including the importance of
the immaterial advantages, for the respective operator incurred by the providing
of a universal telecommunications service;
2. the size of the compensation requested by the respective
applicant.
(4) Within
the term under para 3 the Commission may request the
applicants to present, within 7 days, additional information and/or
proof.
Art.
112. (1) Within 7 days from
receipt of the statement under art. 111, para 3 the
managing board shall announce a decision regarding the total size of the
compensation due to all applicants for the preceding year, as well as regarding
the concrete sum of payment for each of them.
(2) Upon
taking a decision under para 1 the managing board
shall also determine by a decision the size of the instalment in the Fund by each operator under art.
110.
(3) Within 13
months from the enactment of the decision under para 2
the Fund shall pay the due compensations to the applicants. Deducted by the sum
of the compensations shall be the financial result of the operators providing
universal telecommunications service, for the taxation
purposes.
If the
total size of the due compensation for all applicants exceeds the size of the
Fund designated for compensation of net losses for the preceding year the
compensations shall be paid proportionally to the ratio between the total size
of the due compensation and the total size of the resources of the Fund for the
respective year. The unpaid part of the compensation shall be due during the
next year.
Chapter
seven
INTERCONNECTION,
ACCESS AND RENTED LINES
Section
I
Interconnection
Art.
113. (1) The public operators,
providing through their networks a possibility of transfer, shall have a right
and an obligation to provide interconnection between their
networks.
(2) The
operators shall carry out interconnection between their networks on the grounds
of a written contract.
Art.
114. (1) The operators under
art. 113, para 1 are:
1. operators
providing telecommunications services through the fixed and/or mobile public
telecommunications networks, managing the facilities of access to one or more
points of the network, using numbers of the National Numbering
Plan;
2. operators providing the service "Rented lines" to the place
of location of the terminal telecommunication equipment of the consumer, with
exception of operators re-renting "rented lines";
3. operators carrying out telecommunications through
telecommunication networks, whose licences stipulate
interconnection.
(2) The
operators under para 1, item 3 shall be determined by
a decision of the Commission for Regulation of the Communications in compliance
with the principles of transparency, objectivity and equality. The decision
shall be published in the Internet site of the Commission.
(3) The
conditions and the order of carrying out interconnection of the operators under
art. 113, para 1 shall be determined by an ordinance
of the Minister of Transport and Communications.
Art.
115. (1) The operators under
art. 113, para 1 shall provide interconnection
observing the following substantial requirements:
1. guaranteeing the security of the operation of the network
under insurmountable force;
2. preservation of the entirety of the
network;
3. providing interaction of the services;
4. protection of the personal data.
(2) The
operators under art. 113, para 1 may refuse
interconnection for reasons related to non-compliance with the substantial
requirements of para 1.
Art.
116. (1) The Commission may take a decision for a
temporary restriction of the obligations for interaction with an operator under
art. 113, para 1 where there are no available the
necessary resources for providing the required interconnection and the operator
has proposed other technical and commercial conditions in comparison with the
required interconnection.
(2) The
decision under para 1 shall be published in the
Internet site of the Commission.
Art.
117. The
public operators providing a voice telephone service through their fixed or
mobile networks shall be obliged to provide these services in a way by which
they can be used by the end users of other network connected to
theirs.
Art.
118. The
operators, having a substantial impact on the market, in interconnection shall
be obliged to:
1. observe the principle of equality, including regarding
persons related to them in the meaning of the Commercial
Law;
2. provide access to information and specifications necessary
for the interconnection, on request of the operators;
3. observe the commercial secret and use the information,
obtained from the operators only according to their
designation.
Art.
119. (1) The operators of fixed telephone networks
providing fixed voice telephone services, and the operators providing the
service "rented lines", having a substantial impact on the market, shall work
out a model proposal for conclusion of an interconnection
contract.
(2) The model
proposal under para 1 shall obligatorily
contain:
1. a description of the services of the interconnection of each
of telecommunications he networks, terms and conditions of their
providing;
2. requirements for quality of the
interconnection;
3. location of the points of the interconnection, conditions and
terms of their opening or closing;
4. conditions of providing additional services related to the
interconnection;
5. conditions of assembly, using and maintaining of the
facilities of the interconnection and training;
6. technical requirements and interfaces for the
interconnection;
7. acceptance tests;
8. requirements for management of the traffic of
interconnection;
9. requirements for numeration, addressing and identification of
the calling line;
10. prices and ways of payment;
11. minimal terms of notification for amendment, supplement and
termination of the contract;
12. requirements for meeting the substantial
requirements;
13. liability for failure of fulfilment;
14. conditions for joint using of premises, telecommunications
facilities, channels, towers, etc.;
15. parts of the contract containing commercial
secret.
(3) The model
proposal shall be approved by the Commission within 45 days from its receipt.
The Commission shall carry out a procedure of public discussion by the order of
art. 36 within a period not shorter than 30
days.
(4) The
operators under para 1 shall provide updated and
public accessibility to the model proposal and shall submit it free of charge on
request.
(5) The
operators may amend the model proposal by the order of para 3.
(6) The
operators under para 1 shall conclude contracts for
interconnection on the basis of the model proposal. The contracts may not amend
the model proposal.
Art.
120. The
Commission may, by a decision, oblige the operators under art. 119 to amend
their model proposals regarding the conditions for providing effective
competition, technical conditions, conditions related
to the tariffs, the providing and using of the service, the observance of
certain standards, protection of the environment and maintaining the quality of
the services, as well as to the interest of the users.
Art.
121. (1) The operators under
art. 119 shall determine the prices for interconnection, observing the
principles of transparency and equality.
(2) The
prices under para 1 shall be expense
substantiated.
(3) The
prices for interconnection shall contain the following
components:
1. initial price regarding the physical
interconnection;
2. subscription price regarding the current maintenance and
servicing;
3. price for the traffic regarding the commutation and transfer
of the outgoing traffic;
4. other prices for service and additional operations, such as
access to the reference services, operator access, gathering fee
data.
(4) The
operators under art. 119 shall keep separate book-entry for the expenses related
to the activities of the interconnection, as well as for the expenses related to
other telecommunication activities.
(5) The
operators under art. 119 shall implement a system of determining the expenses in
elements, so that the prices for interconnection on the basis of the expenses
can be established for each technically possible point of the
interconnection.
(6) The
Commission shall approve the system of determining the expenses under para 5. Before approving the system the Commission may
require an opinion of an independent auditor.
(7) The
prices for the interconnection under para 3, item 3
shall have an independent structure, whereas the person requesting
interconnection shall be obliged to pay only for the service he
requests.
Art.
122. The
Commission may require from the operators under art. 119 to
present a substantiation of the prices for interconnection and, where necessary,
issue by a decision obligatory instructions for their bringing in compliance
with their cost orientation.
Art.
123. (1) The operators under
art. 113, para 1 and art. 119
shall send their contracts for interconnection to the Commission within three
weeks before their enactment.
(2) The
Commission may, by a decision, give obligatory instructions to the operators to
amend the conditions of the concluded contracts for interconnection only in case
of a necessity of providing interaction between the services to the interest of
the users and/or providing effective competition.
Art.
124. (1) If an operator does
not fulfil his obligation under this section within
two months the affected persons may file a request to the
Commission.
(2) The
Commission shall study the request, giving a chance to the operator to present
an opinion on it and, where necessary, require additional proof regarding
telecommunications he request.
(3) Within
two months from filing the request the Commission may issue obligatory
instructions to the operator related to the filed request.
Section
II
Specific
access to a fixed telephone network and unbundled access to a subscriber
line
Art.
125. (1) Specific access to a public fixed telephone
network is an access to all points of the network determined by the Commission
for the purpose of providing telecommunication services.
(2) Unbundled
access to a subscriber line is providing by an operator of a fixed public
telephone network, having a substantial impact on the market, of individual or
joint using by other operators of the twisted copper couple connecting a
terminal point of the network in the premises of the subscriber with the main
repartition of the settlement exchange or an equivalent facility of the fixed
public telephone network.
Art.
126. (1) The public operators of fixed telephone
networks providing fixed voice telephone services, having a considerable impact
on the market, shall provide a specific access to the network upon a grounded
and technically necessary request.
(2) The
operators under para 1 shall provide a specific access
by observing the principle of equality, including regarding the persons related
to them.
(3) The
operators under para 1 may refuse a specific access
for reasons related to non-observance of the substantial requirements under art.
115, para 1. The refusal
shall be motivated.
(4) The
Commission for Regulation of the Communication may take a decision for temporary
restriction of the obligation for providing a specific access where there are no
necessary resources for providing the requested specific access and the operator
has offered other technical and commercial conditions similar to the requested
specific access.
Art.
127. (1) Operators of public fixed telephone networks
providing fixed voice telephone services, having a substantial impact on the
market, shall provide a unbundled access to the subscriber line upon a grounded
and technically necessary request.
(2) The
operators under para 1 shall provide a unbundled access by observing the principles of
transparency and equality.
(3) The
operators under para 1 may refuse a unbundled access for reasons related to non-observance of
the substantial requirements under art. 115, para 1, item 2. The refusal shall be
motivated.
Art.
128. In
providing a unbundled access to the subscriber line the
operators, obliged to provide it, shall provide and joint using of premises and
telecommunication facilities.
Art.
129. (1) The operators under
art. 126, para 1 shall determine the prices of
specific access to the network by observing the principles of transparency and
cost orientation.
(2) The
operators under para 1 shall keep separate book-entry
related to the activities of providing a specific access to the network and for
the expenses related to other telecommunication
activities.
Art.
130. (1) The operators under
art. 127 shall determine the prices of unbundled access to the subscriber line
by observing the principles of transparency and cost
orientation.
(2) The
prices of unbundled access to the subscriber line shall
be:
1. initial price covering the expenses for providing a unbundled
access to the subscriber line (equipment, resources, compatibility
test);
2. prices covering the expenses for the current maintenance of
the equipment and resources;
3. monthly prices for using the subscriber
line;
4. other prices for service and additional services, such as
access to reference services, operator connection, gathering payment
data.
(3) The
operators under art. 127 shall keep separate book-entry for the expenses related
to the activities of providing unbundled access to the subscriber line and for
the expenses related to other telecommunication
activities.
(4) The
operators under art. 127 shall implement a system for determining the expenses
in elements, so that the prices for a unbundled access
to the subscriber line on the basis of the expenses may be established for each
technically feasible access point.
(5) The
Commission for Regulation of the Communications shall approve the system of
determining the expenses under para 4. Before the
approval of the system the Commission may request the opinion of an independent
auditor. If the system for determining the expenses under para 4 does not meet the requirements for cost orientation
the Commission shall return it to the operator with obligatory
instructions.
(6) The
prices under para 2 shall have an independent
structure, and the person requesting an access to the subscriber line shall be
obliged to pay only for the service he requests.
Art.
131. The
Commission may require from the operators under art. 127 to present a
substantiation of the prices for access to the subscriber line and, where
necessary, give obligatory instructions for their bringing in compliance with
their cost orientation.
Art.
132. (1) The operators under
art. 126 shall provide a specific access to the fixed telephone network on the
grounds of a written contract to be sent to the Commission within three weeks
before its entering into force.
(2) The
Commission may, by a decision, give obligatory instructions for amendment of the
contract for the purpose of providing interaction between the services to the
interest of the users or for providing effective
competition.
Art.
133. (1) The operators under
art. 127 shall work out a model proposal for conclusion of a contract for
unbundled access to a subscriber line.
(2) The model
proposal under para 1 shall obligatorily
contain:
1. means of providing the services (individually used or jointly
used access to a subscriber line);
2. conditions of providing, using and termination of the
access;
3. conditions of obtaining information from the provider of
unbundled access regarding the location of the physical access, a free
subscriber capacity and presence of subscriber lines;
4. technical conditions and specifications of the lines for
unbundled access to the subscriber line;
5. conditions of joint using of premises and telecommunications
facilities;
6. conditions of access to information regarding samples of
documents for applying for the service "providing unbundled
access";
7. acceptance tests;
8. protection from interference;
9. prices and way of payment;
10. changes in the way of access;
11. minimal term of the contract;
12. maximal terms of notification for amendment, supplement and
termination of the contract;
13. parts of the contract containing a commercial
secret.
(3) The model
proposal shall be approved by the Commission within 45 days from its receipt.
The Commission shall hold a procedure for public discussion by the order of art.
36 within a period not shorter than 30
days.
(4) The
operators under para 1 shall provide updated model
proposal and public access and shall submit it free of charge on
request.
Art.
134. The
Commission may, by a decision, oblige the operators under art. 127 to amend
their model proposals regarding the conditions aiming at providing effective
competition, technical conditions, conditions related
to the tariffs, the providing and the using of the service, observance of
certain standards, protection of the environment and maintaining the quality of
the services, as well as to the interest of the users.
Art.
135. The
operators under art. 127 shall send their contracts for unbundled access to the
Commission within three weeks before their entry into force. The Commission, to
the interest of the users, may oblige the operators by a decision to amend the
terms of these contracts.
Art.
136. (1) If an operator does
not fulfil an obligation under this section within two
months the affected persons may file a request to the
Commission.
(2) The
Commission shall study the request giving a possibility to the operator to
present a statement on it and, where necessary, require further proof for the
request.
(3) The
Commission, within two months from receipt of the request, may give obligatory
instruction, by a decision, to the operator related to the
request.
Section
III
Rented
line
Art.
137. The
public operators shall provide the service "rented lines" by observing the
principles of transparency, objectivity and equality.
Art.
138. (1) Every person may
request the service "rented lines".
(2) The
service "rented lines" shall be provided by licensed public
operators.
Art.
139. (1) Public operators having a substantial impact
on the respective market shall provide the service "rented lines" by observing
the following principles:
1. publicly known and objective conditions of access to the
service and its using;
2. equality of the users except in the cases of providing the
service for the needs of the defence and security of
the country;
3. guaranteeing the confidentiality of the telecommunications
and protection of the confidentiality of the personal data of the
users;
4. objective and publicly announced prices comprised with the
expenses related to the providing of the service.
(2) The
prices under para 1, item 4 shall contain the
following elements:
1. initial price covering the expenses related to the physical
connection (equipment, resources, compatibility tests);
2. subscription price related to the current maintenance and
servicing;
3. other prices for service and additional services, such as
access to the reference services, operator connection, gathering payment
data.
Art.
140. (1) The public operators shall provide the service
"rented lines" under conditions and by an order determined by an ordinance
worked out by the Commission for Regulation of the Communications and adopted by
the Council of Ministers.
(2) The
ordinance under para 1 shall determine a minimal
package of types of lines for rent, with technical requirements harmonised with the European standards, which the public
operators having a substantial impact on the market shall be obliged to provide
to their users.
(3) The
public operators having a substantial impact on the market shall work out and
submit for approval by the Commission a model proposal for conclusion of a
contract for providing the service "rented lines".
(4) The model
proposal under para 3 shall obligatorily
contain:
1. a description of the service, the conditions and terms for
its providing;
2. requirements for quality;
3. point of connection;
4. conditions for fitting, using and maintenance of the
telecommunications equipment;
5. technical requirements and interfaces;
6. acceptance tests;
7. prices and way of payment;
8. minimal terms of notification for amendment, supplement and
termination of the contract;
9. liability for non-fulfilment;
10. conditions for joint using of premises, telecommunications
facilities, channels, towers, etc.;
11. parts of the contract containing commercial
secret;
12. conditions for connection of telecommunications facilities
and terminal telecommunications devices to rented lines.
(5) The model
proposal shall be approved by the Commission within 45 days from its receipt.
The Commission shall hold a procedure of public discussion by the order of art.
36 within a period not shorter than 30
days.
(6) The
operators under para 3 shall provide updated model
proposal and public access to it and shall submit it free of charge on
request.
(7) The
operators under para 3 may amend the model proposal by
the order of para 5.
(8) The
operators under para 3 shall conclude contracts for
providing the service "rented lines" on the basis of the model proposal. The
contracts may not amend the model proposal.
(9) The
prices of the service "rented lines" of the minimal package, provided by the
operators under para 3 shall be expense
substantiated.
Art.
141. (1) The providing of the
service "rented lines" by the public operators having a substantial impact on
the market shall be carried out by observance of the following substantial
requirements:
1. guaranteeing the security of the work of the network in
conditions of insurmountable force;
2. preservation of the entirety of the
network;
3. providing interaction between the
services;
4. protection of the personal data.
(2) The
operators having a substantial impact on the market may refuse to provide the
service "rented lines" within the minimal package only in case of non-observance
of the substantial requirements of para 1. The refusal
shall be motivated in writing.
(3) The
operators having a substantial impact on the market may introduce temporary
restrictions of the providing of the service "rented lines"
where:
1. terminal telecommunications devices connected to a rented
line have no assessed compliance;
2.
activities related to the maintenance and development of the network are carried
out.
(4) On
introducing the restrictions under para 3 the
operators shall notify the users in an appropriate way and within the shortest
possible period.
(5) In the
cases of para 3, item 1 the operator may terminate the
providing of the service "rented lines" until the disconnecting of the
respective terminal telecommunications device.
Art.
142. (1) If an operator does
not fulfil any obligation under this section within
two months the affected persons may file a request to the
Commission.
(2) The
Commission shall study the request, giving a possibility to the operator to
submit a statement on it and, where necessary, shall require additional proof
for the request.
(3) Within
two months from receipt of the request the Commission may give, by a decision,
obligatory instructions to the operator regarding the filed
request.
Art.
143. For the
needs of the national security and the defence of the
country the operators having a substantial impact on the market shall provide
with priority the service "rented lines". For lack of a technical possibility
the operators shall notify immediately the competent bodies of the defence and security.
Art.
144. (1) The operators having a substantial impact on
the market may provide the service "rented lines" outside the range of the
minimal package by negotiating with the users, under conditions of publicity of
the technical characteristics.
(2) The
contracts for providing the service "rented lines" under para 1, including the contracted prices, shall be submitted
for information upon request of the Commission.
Art.
145. (1) Periodically, at least once a year, the
Commission shall carry out and publish a study of the market of the service
"rented lines" and the needs of the market of types of lines outside the minimal
package.
(2) On the
basis of the study under para 1 the Commission, upon a
consultation with the operators, shall publish lists of types of lines for rent,
subject to inclusion in the minimal package, as well as the term of this
inclusion.
Chapter
eight
PROTECTION
OF THE INTERESTS OF THE END USERS
Art.
146. (1) The public operators shall provide
telecommunications services to end users by observing the principles of
transparency, proportionality and equality, in compliance with the type of the
used technology, the categories of subscribers and the volume of the traffic,
without creating priorities for individual end users or a group of them
regarding one and the same service.
(2) The
operators under para 1 shall work out general
conditions for the relations with their end users when the conclusion of only
individual contracts with them is practically
inapplicable.
(3) The
public operators carrying out telecommunications through a fixed telephone
network and a mobile network shall obligatorily work out general
conditions.
(4) In the
cases when the service is provided only on the grounds of a concluded individual
contract shall obligatorily apply the principle of equality according to para 1, and the contract shall
obligatorily contain the requirements of art. 148.
Art.
147. The
general conditions shall be an integral part of the individual contract between
the operator and the end user.
Art.
148. The
general conditions shall obligatorily contain:
1. identification data for the operator (name and recent court
registration, seat and address of management, number/date of the issued
individual licence or registration under a class licence);
2.
description of the provided services, quality of the services and servicing,
terms of initial connection, of activation of the services and removal of
damages;
3. prices, ways and terms of their
payment;
4. basic rights and obligations of the operator and of the end
user;
5. conditions of termination and continuation of the individual
contract;
6. obligation of the operator for:
a) prior
notification for disconnection and poor quality of the provided service in
carrying out prophylactics, repairs or development of the network, as well as
for the periods of disconnection or poor quality of the
service;
b) prior notification of the end user on request for access to
his premises;
c)
public
announcement of an address and/or telephone number for contact in cases of
damages and for submitting information;
d) providing a free of charge access to the services for
emergency calls until the termination of the contract by the order of the
general conditions of the contract with the end users;
e)
storing, for a
definite period, of the data necessary for the payments;
7. procedures of considering and deciding on complaints,
applications and proposals of the end users;
8. liabilities, indemnifications and forfeits for non-fulfilment of the general conditions;
9. conditions and order of stopping the providing of the service
for not paying the due sums or contractual offences on the part of the end users
in connection with the using of the service.
Art.
149. (1) The public operators
shall submit their general conditions for coordination with the
Commission.
(2) In the
event that the general conditions do not meet the requirements of the individual
or class licence, within 14 days from their submission
the Commission shall notify the operators under para
1, giving instructions and a period for removal of the
shortcomings.
(3) Upon
removal of the shortcomings the operators under para 1
shall submit again the general conditions to the
Commission.
(4) The
Commission shall coordinate the general conditions within 14 days from their
initial or repeated presentation.
(5) The
operators shall publish their general conditions within 7 days from their
coordination in a way determined by the Commission.
Art.
150. (1) Amendments of the general conditions may be
introduced at an initiative of the operator, of the end users or of the
Commission.
(2) Amendment
of the general conditions at an initiative of the operator shall be introduced
by the order of art. 149.
(3) Amendment
of the general conditions at an initiative of the end users shall be introduced
upon filing a request for such amendment to the Commission. The Commission shall
study the request, giving a possibility to the operator to present a statement
on it.
(4) The
Commission shall announce a decision on the request under para 3 within one month from its receipt. If the Commission
approves the requested amendments the decision shall give obligatory
instructions and a term, not longer than 14 days, for their introduction by the
operator.
(5) Amendment
of the general conditions may be introduced at an initiative of the Commission
for the purpose of ensuring the interests of the end users. In this case the
Commission shall give, by a decision, obligatory instructions to the operator
regarding the respective amendments.
Art.
151. (1) The Commission may work out model general
conditions regarding the relations between the operators and the end users to be
published in its Internet site.
(2) In the
cases of para 1 the operators shall work out their
general conditions in compliance with the model ones and shall present them to
the Commission.
Art.
152. The
Commission shall send the general conditions, coordinated according to art.
149 and 150, for information to the Commission for Trade and
Protection of the Consumers.
Chapter
nine
NUMBERS,
ADDRESSES AND NAMES IN THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Art.
153. The
National Numbering Plan represents the distribution of the numbers used in the
public networks for identification, routing and charging
fees.
Art.
154. (1) The National Numbering Plan shall be worked
out by the Commission in compliance with the regulatory policy under art. 27,
item 10, by observing the principles of objectivity, proportionality, equality,
transparency and timeliness, and taking into account the national and public
interests.
(2) The plan
under para 1 shall be worked out by observing the acts
of international organisations and/or their competent
bodies and for the purpose of providing effective using of the numeration
space.
(3) The
National Numbering Plan shall be promulgated in the State
Gazette.
Art.
155. (1) The rules for distribution and the procedures
of submitting for using, reserving and withdrawal of numbers, addresses and
names shall be determined by the Minister of Transport and
Communications.
(2) The
Commission shall store information for the used addresses and
names.
Art.
156. The
public operators, using numbers of the National Numbering Plan, shall provide a
possibility for their subscribers to keep their numbers on changing their
address and/or change of the operator by an operator providing the same kind of
service.
Art.
157. The
Commission may, in issuing licences, not impose the
obligation under art. 156, or limit it within the boundaries of one settlement
only where this requirements is not applicable for technical
reasons.
Art.
158. Operators
having a substantial impact on the market, providing fixed voice telephone
services, shall provide a possibility for each subscriber to choose an operator
of the transfer medium for interurban and international
calls:
1. for each
call;
2. on
subscription basis.
Chapter
RADIO
FREQUENCY SPECTRUM AND POSITIONS OF THE GEO-STATIONARY
ORBIT
Art.
159. The
effective using, without radio interference, of the radio frequency spectrum
shall be provided in compliance with international agreements party to which is
the Republic of Bulgaria, and shall be realised by a
state policy of planning and distribution of the radio frequency spectrum, the
National Plan for Distribution of the Radio Frequency Spectrum and the
principles of management and distribution of the radio frequency spectrum for
civil needs.
Art.
160. The
National Plan for Distribution of the Radio Frequency Spectrum of radio
frequencies and radio frequency bands for civil needs, for the needs of the
national security and the defence of the country, as
well as for joint using between them, shall distribute the radio frequency
spectrum to radio frequencies and radio frequency bands to radio
services.
Art.
161. The
positions of the geo-stationary orbit for the Republic of Bulgaria shall be
determined by international agreements.
Art.
162. The radio
frequency spectrum shall be distributed to radio frequencies and radio frequency
bands from 9 kHz to 1000 GHz.
Art.
163. The
management of the radio frequency spectrum and the positions of the
geo-stationary orbit shall be carried out for the purpose of the effective
using, and without radio interference, of the radio frequency spectrum by
observing the interests of the national security and the defence of the country, and by observing the principles of
predictability, proportionality and objectivity.
Art.
164. (1) The using of the
positions of the geo-stationary orbit and of the radio frequencies and radio
frequency bands distributed for civil needs shall be carried out upon their
submission for using by the Commission by the order of this
law.
(2) The using
of the radio frequencies and radio frequency bands distributed for civil needs
in the radio frequency bands for joint using shall be carried out upon their
submission for using by the Commission, upon a national coordination and
concurrence by the order of art. 28, para 1, item 3.
(3) The radio
frequencies and the radio frequency bands, distributed only for the needs of the
national security and the defence in the National Plan
for Distribution of the Radio Frequency Spectrum shall be used without an
explicit permit, except in the cases under art. 11.
Art.
165. The
Commission shall exercise control of the effective using without radio
interference of:
1. the radio frequencies and radio frequency bands for civil
needs;
2. the radio frequencies and radio frequency bands distributed
for civil needs in the radio frequency bands for joint
using.
Art.
166. For
providing the safety of the air and sea navigation, and for the purposes of
protection of the national security and the defence of
the country, the submitting of radio frequencies and radio frequency bands shall
be carried out upon a national coordination and concurrence and international
coordination.
Chapter
eleven
CONSTRUCTION
AND USING OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS INFRASTRUCTURE
Section
I
Construction
of telecommunications infrastructure
Art.
167. (1) The construction of a telecommunications
infrastructure shall be carried out by the order of this law, of the Law of
spatial planning and by observance of the requirements of the normative acts for
the construction and the rules for control and acceptance of the construction
and mounting works.
(2) The rules
for construction of telecommunications networks and facilities, including the
requirements for safety, shall be settled by ordinances of the Minister of
Transport and Communications and the Minister of Regional Development and Public
Works.
(3) During
the construction of telecommunications networks and facilities the operators
shall take measures for protection of the environment, for not admitting damages
or their restriction and not admitting difficulties of using the real estates
according to their purpose during the works.
(4) Upon
conclusion of the activities under para 3 the
operators shall, within one month, remove for their account, the caused
damages.
(5) The
telecommunications infrastructure constructed by a telecommunications operator
shall be his property.
Art.
168. (1) When the construction or expansion of
underground and ground public telecommunications networks is carried out on a
land – private state property or on a private municipal property, the competent
state or municipal bodies, at a proposal of the Minister of Transport and
Communications shall vest to the public telecommunications operators an onerous
right of construction on the estates without a tender or a
competition.
(2) When the
construction or expansion of the sites under para 1 is
impossible the networks and facilities shall be constructed on land properties
owned by individuals and corporate bodies upon
negotiation.
Art.
169. (1) The operators shall
create and maintain specialised maps, registers and,
where possible, information systems for the telecommunications infrastructure
constructed by them.
(2) Copies of
the specialised maps and data from the registers in
information systems under para 1 shall be submitted to
the Cadastre Agency.
(3) The
contents of the specialised maps and registers, as
well as the conditions and the order of their creation and maintenance shall be
determined by an ordinance of the Minister of Transport and Communications and
the Minister of Regional Development and Public Works.
Art.
170. The
designs of the buildings shall provide for the construction of channels for
cables providing access to the telecommunications networks, which shall be
constructed simultaneously with the buildings.
Section
II
Coordination
of the construction works
Art.
171. (1) Every person planning to carry out
construction works in regulated and not regulated land property shall be obliged
to request in advance a written information from the respective cadastre offices
for the location of the telecommunications networks and facilities in the area
of the works. The requested information shall be submitted within 14
days.
(2) The
person under para 1 shall be obliged to inform the
operators of the telecommunications networks and facilities about the
construction works within 14 days from obtaining the information under para 1, and coordinate the way of their protection with the
operators.
(3) The
procedure under para 2 shall not apply in emergency
works for removal of the consequences from accidents and natural calamities. In
these cases the persons carrying out the works shall be obliged to inform
immediately the respective operators.
(4) Where it
is necessary to move telecommunications networks and facilities in connection
with forthcoming works under para 1 the interested
persons shall negotiate the conditions for the moving before the commencement of
the construction works. The moving shall be carried out by the Law of the
spatial planning upon a reached agreement.
(5) When,
after the concluded construction under para 4, it
becomes necessary for a part of the telecommunications network to be protected
by additional facilities, the expenses related to this protection shall be taken
over by the person at whose request the construction has been
made.
Art.
172. In
issuing visas for designing construction on land properties where
telecommunications networks and facilities have already been constructed the
respective bodies shall take into consideration their location and technical
parameters.
Art.
173. (1) The coordination of
the preliminary investment designs and the permits for construction shall be
submitted:
1. by the
mayor of the respective municipality – for public telecommunications networks
and facilities with a range and importance for one
municipality;
2. by the
regional governor, on the grounds of a statement of the regional expert council
– for public telecommunications networks and facilities with a range and
importance for more than one municipality;
3. by the
Minister of Regional Development and Public Works on the grounds of a statement
of the national expert council – for public telecommunications networks and
facilities with national range and importance.
(2) Te
activities under para 1 shall be carried out under
conditions and by an order determined by an ordinance of the Minister of
Regional Development and Public Works and the Minister of Transport and
Communications.
(3) The
Commission for Regulation of the Communications shall cooperate with the
telecommunications operators in carrying out the activities under para 1.
Section
III
Right
of way
Art.
174. (1) In case of a necessity of construction or
expansion, or maintenance of existing public networks and facilities in
regulated and not regulated land properties – public or private state property
or public or private municipal property, the public operator carrying out
telecommunications through a telecommunications network shall have a right of
way. The concrete parameters of its fulfilment shall
be determined by an order of the regional governor, respectively of the mayor of
the municipality.
(2) Where the
right of way, by the order of para 1, is impossible
the operators of public networks and facilities shall have the right of way on
land properties of individuals and corporate bodies.
(3) The
operators and the owners of real estates under para 2
shall negotiate in writing terms and conditions of realisation of the right of way for the purpose of not
encumbering or worsening the customary using of the land
property.
(4) The
operator under para 1 shall indemnify the owner for
all damages caused to his property in connection with the works perform by him,
including restoration for his account of the state of the property in compliance
with its purpose or customary using.
(5) For not
reaching an agreement on the right of way and other technical solution is
apparently economically inexpedient, the right of way shall be vested by an
order of the mayor of the respective municipality by the order of the Law of the
spatial planning.
Art.
175. (1) The persons authorised by the telecommunications operators shall have
the right to carry out activities related to the using and maintenance of the
telecommunications networks and facilities in the estates where they are
located.
(2) The
persons under para 1 shall be obliged to inform the
owners or the users of the real estates under para 1
at least 24 hours before the fulfilment of the
activities related to the using and maintaining of the telecommunications
networks and facilities in these real estates.
(3) The
operators shall restore, for their account, the state of the real estate in
compliance with its purpose or usual using in connection with the activities
under para 1, and when this is impossible, they shall
indemnify the owner for all damages caused to his real estate. Disputes
regarding the size of the indemnification shall not stop the fulfilment of the activities related to the using and
maintaining the telecommunications networks and
facilities.
Art.
176. (1) The public operators shall have the right to
use roads, railways, bridges, tunnels, streets, sidewalks, easement strips and
other technical infrastructure – public property, for construction, expansion
and using of telecommunications networks in compliance with the plans of the
detailed spatial plans, in the presence of technical and physical possibilities,
and upon obtaining a permit by the bodies or the persons administering them,
providing a technical safety and undertaking measures for not admitting
damages.
(2) The order
by which the public operators shall carry out their activities under para 1 shall be determined by an ordinance of the Minister
of Transport and Communications and the Minister of Regional Development and
Public Works.
Section
IV
Joint
using of premises and facilities
Art.
177. (1) A public operator may
request a joint using of premises and facilities used by another public
telecommunications operator. The conditions and the order of joint using shall
be negotiated between the operators.
(2) Public
operators of fixed telephone networks providing fixed voice telephone services,
and public operators providing the service "rented lines" having a substantial
impact on the respective market may not refuse a request for joint using in the
presence of technical and physical possibility.
(3) The
refusal of joint using under para 2 shall be
motivated.
Art.
178. (1) In negotiating the
joint using the operators under art. 177, para 2 shall
observe the following principles:
1. equality and transparency;
2. publicity of the conditions and terms of conclusion of the
contract.
(2) In
determining the prices for joint using the operators under para 1 shall observe the principle of cost orientation,
taking into account the following elements:
1. initial price covering the expenses related to the physical
fulfilment of the joint using;
2. prices covering the expenses related to the current
maintenance of the facilities and premises.
Art.
179. (1) The operators under art. 177, para 2 shall work out general conditions for conclusion of a
contract for joint using.
(2) The
general conditions shall obligatorily contain:
1. a description of the various facilities and premises for
joint using, conditions and terms of their providing;
2. conditions of mounting, using and maintenance of the
facilities and premises;
3. technical requirements;
4. prices and ways of payment;
5. minimal terms of notification for amendment, supplement and
termination of the contract.
(3) The
general conditions under para 2 or the proposals for
their amendment and supplement shall be approved by the Commission for
Regulation of the Communications within one month from their receipt in the
Commission. The operators shall provide updated general conditions and public
accessibility and shall submit them free of charge upon
request.
(4) The
operators under art. 177, para 2 shall conclude
contracts for joint using on the grounds of the general conditions. The
contracts may not amend the general conditions under para 2.
Art.
180. The
Commission for Regulation of the Communications may oblige the operators under
art. 177, para 2 to amend their
general conditions to the interest of the users regarding technical
requirements, compliance with definite standards, protection of the environment,
the life and health of people.
Art.
181. (1) In case if a refusal
under art. 177, para 3, as well as for not reaching an
agreement within two months regarding the providing or the conditions of
providing joint using the affected party may file a request to the Commission
for Regulation of the Communications.
(2) The
Commission shall study the request, giving a possibility to the operator under
art. 177, para 2, to present a
statement on it and, where necessary, require additional proof for the filed
request.
(3) The
Commission, within two months from filing the request, may give, by a decision,
obligatory instructions to the operator under art. 177, para 2 regarding the filed
request.
Chapter
twelve
PROVIDING
TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN THE EVENT OF CRISES AND IN THE EVENT OF INTRODUCTION OF A
STATE OF MARTIAL LAW, OR A STATE OF WAR, OR OTHER STATE OF EMERGENCY (Title
amend. – SG 19/05)
Art.
182. (amend. – SG 19/05) The conditions and the order of using
telecommunication networks in the event of crises and in the event of
introduction of a state of martial law, or a state of war, or a state of
emergency under Art. 60a of the Law of Defence and
Armed Forces of the Republic of Bulgaria shall be defined by the Minister of
Transport and Communications in co-ordination with the respective competent
authorities.
Art.
183. (1) (amend. – SG 19/05) Telecommunication
operators shall render assistance in providing telecommunications in the event
of crises and in the event of introduction of a state of martial law or state of
war, or state of emergency under Art. 60a of the Law of Defence and Armed Forces of the Republic of
Bulgaria.
(2) The
obligations, requirements and restrictions related to the national defence and the security shall be defined by the individual
and class licenses issued.
Art.
184. In the
event of declaring in the country a state of martial law, or a state of war, the
Minister of Transport and Communications, at the proposal of a competent
authority, may require that the Commission for Regulation of the Communications
cancels the validity of the individual licenses issued, as well as ban the use
of radio equipment and of the radio frequency spectrum for civil
needs.
Art.
185. (1) (amend. – SG 19/05) The Bulgarian
Telecommunication Company shall use, modernise and
maintain telecommunication facilities with defence
functions and installed war-time capacities, which are part of the national
defence and security, in readiness to provide, in the
event of crises and in the event of introduction of a state of martial law or
state of war, or state of emergency under Art. 60a of the Law
of Defence and Armed Forces of the Republic of
Bulgaria.
(2)
Telecommunication facilities under para 1, as well as
the land on which they are built, may be subject to expropriation, liquidation,
lease or imposition of liens only by a decision of the Council of
Ministers.
(3)
Telecommunication facilities under para 1 and the
war-time capacities installed may be used also in time of peace for civil needs
on terms and conditions, established by the Council of
Ministers.
(4) The funds
for building, maintaining, reconstructing and modernising the facilities and capacities under para 1 shall be provided from the state budget, by the
Bulgarian Telecommunication Company and from other sources under conditions and
by an order determined by the Council of Ministers.
Chapter
thirteen
PROVIDING
CONDITIONS FOR THE INTERCEPTION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS RELATED TO THE NATIONAL
SECURITY AND THE PUBLIC ORDER
Art.
186. Public
operators shall provide for possibility of interception of telecommunications in
real time, possibility of uninterrupted monitoring, as well as real time access
to data related to a specific call. In the event that these data can not be
supplied in real time, they shall be placed at the disposal of a specialised unit under Art. 122 of the Law
of the Ministry of Interior, in the shortest possible term after the end of the
conversation. Interception possibilities, uninterruptible monitoring and
real time access to data related to a specific call shall be performed only
under the Law of Special Intelligence Devices.
Art.
187. (1) Public operators shall, at their expense,
provide one or several intercepting interfaces from which the intercepted
telecommunications may be transferred to the devices of the specialised unit under Art. 122 of the Law
of the Ministry of Interior.
(2) The specialised unit under Art. 122 of the Law of the Ministry
of Interior and the public telecommunication operators shall coordinate the
requirements for the intercepting interfaces and other related matters under the
terms and conditions defined by an Ordinance of the Minister of the Interior.
The coordinated requirements shall be submitted to the Commission for Regulation
of the Communications for the inclusion in the licence
of the respective operator.
Art.
188. Public
operators shall submit data related to the call and the content of this call in
a manner, allowing the establishing of accurate correspondence between the call
data and the content of the call.
Art.
189. In the
event that public operators undertake coding, compression or encryption of the
intercepted telecommunications, they shall submit them to the specialised unit under Art. 122 of the Law
of the Ministry of Interior in their original form.
Art.
190. Public
operators shall provide the possibility for transmission of the intercepted
telecommunications to the devices of the specialised
unit under Art. 122 of the Law of the Ministry of Interior,
through fixed or switch connections.
Art.
191.
Interception shall be realised in a way, which
excludes the possibility for illegal interference, and ensures the protection of
the information related to the interception. The intercepted telecommunications
shall be received only by the specialised unit under
Art. 122 of the Law of the Ministry of
Interior.
Art.
192. (1) Prior to carrying out
interception on a legal ground, the specialised unit
under Art. 122 of the Law of the Ministry of Interior shall request from the
public telecommunication operators to provide:
1. data for establishing the subscriber’s identity, number or
other identification sign of the telecommunication
service;
2. information for the service and the characteristics of the
telecommunication system used by the object of interception and made available
by the telecommunication operators;
3. information for the technical parameters of the transfer to
the equipment of the specialised unit under Art. 122 of the Law of the Ministry of
Interior.
(2) The data
under para 1 shall be delivered to the unit of the
Ministry of Interior under the Law of the Ministry of
Interior.
Chapter
fourteen
CONFIDENTIALITY
OF MESSAGES AND PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA IN CARRYING OUT
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Section
I
Confidentiality
of Messages
Art.
193. Public
operators shall be obligated to guarantee the confidentiality of communications
by taking all necessary technical and organisational
measures for that.
Art.
194. (1) Public operators shall be obligated not to
reveal the information or data that has become known to them in the course of
providing the telecommunication service.
(2) The
obligations under para 1 shall also apply to the
employees of the operator, having access to such information, or who could
obtain access to it.
Art.
195. (1) The confidentiality
of communications comprises the type of the service, the content of the
communication and all data, concerning the provision of the service.
(2) In case
of a danger of violation the communication confidentiality the public operator
shall notify his subscribers for the availability of such danger and for the
means of its elimination including the expected
expenditures.
Art.
196. For the
purpose of preserving the confidentiality the tracking, recording and keeping of
messages, designated to other persons shall be prohibited except by the consent
of the persons concerned or in cases stipulated by a law.
Section
II
Protection
of Personal Data and Data of End users of Telecommunication
Services
Art.
197. (1) Public operators may collect, process and use personal data and data for end users
where such data are designated for the provision of a public telecommunication
service.
(2) The data
under para 1 shall comprise the data directly related
to the provision of telecommunication services, as
follows:
1. data necessary for the provision of telecommunication
services – traffic data:
a) the
number of the calling end user and the number of the called end user, the card
number in the event that electronic prepaid cards are used, the location of a
mobile end user, when mobile terminal devices are used;
b) beginning and end of the call, specified by date and hour,
with accuracy up to a second, if technically possible, and/or - in case of data
transfer - volume of the transferred data, when this is necessary for
determination of the pricing due;
c) the type of telecommunication service used by the end
user;
d)
the
interconnection points of making the call and beginning and end of their use,
specified by date and hour with accuracy up to a second, if technically
possible;
e)
other data
necessary for making and sustaining the call;
f)
data for
billing purposes and price formation, such as type of connection or zones (time
and geographical);
2. data, necessary for the payment for provided
telecommunication services and for the formation of subscriber bills, as well as
for proving their reliability, inclusive the data under item 1, as well as the
following data:
a) data for the subscriber – name and address of the
subscriber;
b) type of the equipment used or of the telecommunication
service;
c) total number of price units, charged for the period of
drawing the bill for a regular account;
d) volume of data transferred;
e)
total amount
due for the respective period of used services;
f) information related to the option for payment chosen by the
subscriber and the made and due payments;
g) information regarding changes in the use of the service –
restriction of use, restoration after the restriction.
Art.
198. (1). Public operators shall not request from an
end user further data than those under Art. 197 para 2 for the provision of telecommunication
services.
(2) Public
operators shall not put the provision of telecommunication services under the
condition of submission of data, which is not required, for any of the services
provided or depending on the consent of a user or subscriber that his data is
used for other purposes.
Art.
199. (1) A public operator who has gathered and
processed traffic data for the purposes of a call, shall be obliged, after
termination of the call or connection, to delete these data or make it
anonymous, unless it is directly necessary for the realisation of a new call or in the cases stipulated by this
law.
(2) A public
operator shall store the data for the formation of subscriber accounts after
termination of the call or connection until the termination of the period during
which the data from the charging may be required, disputed or payment may be
made.
(3) A public
telecommunication operator may use the data under para
2 to study the extent to which the provided telecommunication services satisfy
the needs of the end users, only upon their personal written consent. The data
for the subscriber called shall be de-personified.
Art.
200. (1) Processing of traffic data and charging data
shall be carried out by persons who are in charge of:
1. the administration of traffic data and data of charging,
2. customers inquiries,
3. the establishment of misuse and
4. marketing of telecommunication
services.
(2) The
persons under para 1 shall have access only to data
necessary for their respective activity.
Art.
201. (1) At a subscriber’s
request the traffic data gathered and processed by the public telecommunication
operator shall be entirely deleted not later than the moment of sending the
bills.
(2) When the
data are deleted under the conditions of para 1, the
public telecommunication operator shall not have the duty to submit this data as
evidence in the case of contesting the bill.
Art.
202. Public
operators may gather, process and use data
for:
1. detecting, locating and eliminating defects and errors in the
telecommunication networks;
2. detecting and terminating unauthorised use of public telecommunication networks and
facilities, where there are grounds to consider that such actions are being
performed and this has been claimed in writing by the affected party or a
competent authority;
3. detecting and tracking of disturbing calls, upon a request on
the part of the affected subscriber towards the operator to take
action.
Art.
203. (1) Public operators shall, in due time, inform
the Commission for Regulation of the Communications when gathering and
processing data in the cases of Art. 202.
(2) When
carrying out the activities of Art. 202 the public operators shall inform the
persons subject to these activities in the shortest possible time, unless this
will prevent the achievement of the purposes specified in Art.
202.
Art.
204. (1) Public operators of mobile or fixed telephone
networks providing voice telephone services shall be obliged, in the presence of
a technical possibility, to provide the functions of "calling line
identification" and "called line identification".
(2) When
technical capacity for the provision of the service under para 1 is not available, the Commission for Regulation of
the Communications, jointly with the telecommunication operator and according to
the investment policy of the latter shall establish an order and
telecommunications a term for the introduction of these functions of the
network.
(3) Operators
under para 1 carrying out the "calling line
identification" function of the network shall provide the end users, free of
charge, with the opportunity to perform activation or deactivation of the
function for each call or permanently for their respective line by generally
accessible means from their terminal equipment.
(4) When
providing services for the realisation of emergency
calls, the public telecommunication operators under para 1 shall guarantee that the "calling line
identification" service can not be deactivated neither
for each separate call, nor for the respective line.
(5) Operators
under para 1 shall provide to their end users free of
charge the network function "stop of the reception of the calls re-directed to
their terminal equipment" when technical capacity for this is
available.
(6) Operators
under para 1 shall perform or grant for performing
calls or transmission of facsimile communications for direct advertising over
their respective networks only upon the personal written consent of its
subscribers.
(7) The
conditions and the order of granting and using the functions of the networks
under para 1 and para 5
shall be determined by an Ordinance issued by the Minister of Transport and
Communications.
Art.
205. (1) Public operators, working out and publishing
telephone directories in printed or electronic form, shall include free of
charge in the directories the name, address and telephone number of the
subscriber. The telephone directory may also include additional data insofar as
the subscriber has so requested.
(2) Public
operators, publishing telephone directories in electronic form, used also
through Internet or another network, shall be obliged to provide access to the
respective telephone number only provided that a minimum amount of data has been
introduced fully and accurately. The access to data only through an entered
telephone number shall be prohibited.
(3) The
subscriber shall have the right to refuse the entering of a part or of all data
into the telephone directory without obligation of payment for
that.
(4) The
subscriber shall have the right to request the entire or partial deletion, or
change in subscriber’s data in the telephone directory. The data shall be
deleted or modified when a new or an updated telephone directory is
issued.
(5) The
subscriber may request that additional information is included in the telephone
directory concerning other people using jointly the line, provided that their
written approval is given in advance.
(6) The
conditions and the order of issuing telephone directories, including operation
with the database, their transfer and using, shall be defined by an Ordinance,
issued by the Minister of Transport and Communications.
Art.
206. (1) Public operators having the obligation to
provide telephone information services, shall provide such services in
compliance with the data included in a printed or electronic telephone
directory.
(2) The
operator under para 1 shall be obliged to provide
information for the respective telephone number only provided that a minimum
amount of data has been submitted fully and accurately. The access to data only
through the information on telephone number shall be
prohibited.
(3) The
conditions and the order of providing information services shall be settled by
the Ordinance under Art. 205, para
6.
Art.
207. For all
the matters unregulated by this chapter the provisions of the Law of Protection
of Personal Data shall respectively apply.
Chapter
fifteen
RADIO
EQUIPMENT AND TERMINAL TELECOMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT
Art.
208. (1) A person who lets on the market radio
equipment that may not be put into service on the territory of the Republic of
Bulgaria, or its putting into service is conditioned on the issuance of an
individual license or on the registration under a class license, shall notify
the National Radio Frequency Spectrum Council and the Commission, at least one
month prior to letting it on the market.
(2) The
notification under para 1 shall
contain:
1. the name and address of the person placing the
radio-equipment on the market;
2. the name of radio equipment and data for its the technical
parameters;
3. the identification number of the person having assessed the
conformity of the radio-equipment with the essential requirements by the order
of the Law of Technical Requirements for Products;
4. date and signature.
(3) The
person under para 1 shall put on a sign of a specific
mark for identification of the radio equipment, as the order and the way of its
placing shall be determined by an Ordinance of the Council of Ministers at a
proposal of the Commission.
Art.
209. (1) Putting into service of the radio equipment
may only be restricted for the following reasons:
a)
effective and
undisturbed use of the radio frequency spectrum allocated in accordance with the
National Plan for Allocation of Radio Frequencies
Spectrum;
b) protection of human life and health;
c)
reasons related
to the national security and defence of the
country.
(2) The
Commission, in coordination with the National Radio Frequency Spectrum Council
shall prepare a list of radio equipment, whose putting into service is
restricted, which shall be adopted by a decision of the Council of Ministers.
The decision shall be promulgated in the State Gazette.
(3) The list
under para 2 shall contain:
1. radio equipment which may not be put into service,
2. radio equipment whose putting into service is conditioned on
the issuance of an individual licence or on the
registration under a class licence for the respective
telecommunication activity.
Art.
210. (1) Public telecommunications operators carrying
out telecommunications through telecommunication networks may not refuse
connection of the terminal telecommunication equipment to the respective
interfaces for technical considerations, where the former have been assessed for
conformity.
(2) When
terminal telecommunication equipment, which have been assessed for conformity,
cause serious damage to the network, generate harmful interference, harm the
network or its functioning, or are not used in accordance with their intended
use, the operators under para 1 shall have the right
to refuse connection, to disconnect them or terminate the providing of services
through them, after performing all the necessary technical examinations. In that
cases the operators shall immediately notify the Commission and the State Agency
for Metrology and Technical Supervision.
(3) In cases
of emergency the operators may disconnect a terminal
telecommunication equipment, if the protection of the network requires its
immediate disconnection, and if an alternative solution for connection to the
network can be immediately, and free of charge, proposed to the
user.
(4) In the
cases under para 3 the operators shall immediately
notify the Commission.
Art.
211. (1) Public operators carrying out
telecommunications through telecommunication networks, prior to offering their
services, shall publish technical specifications of the interfaces for the
connection of terminal telecommunication equipment to their networks, and shall
periodically update them.
(2) The
technical specifications under para 1 shall include
all necessary data allowing the producers to carry out, by their choice, tests
for the applicable technical requirements for the terminal telecommunications
devices and restructure them in such a way as to be able to provide all services
through the respective interface.
Art.
212. (1) Radio-equipment and terminal telecommunication
equipment, incorporating equipment for encryption of telecommunication messages
shall be imported, distributed and used subject to permission by the Minister of
the Interior.
(2) The
conditions and the order of issuing permits under para
1 shall be determined by an Ordinance of the Council of Ministers, at a proposal
of the Minister of Interior.
(3) The
provision of para 2 shall not apply to radio and
television program broadcasting.
Chapter
sixteen
PRICES
AND FEES
Section
I
Prices
Art.
213. (1) The public operators
shall determine prices of the services provided by them according to the
requirements of this law.
(2) The
prices under para 1 shall be published by the
operators in a way determined by the licences.
Art.
214. (1) The prices of the telecommunication services
shall be determined by the public operators in compliance with the demand and
offering, by providing equality of the users, taking into account the type of
the used technology, the categories of end users and the volume of the
traffic.
(2) The
public operators may determine new packages of services ensuring the right of
the users to services outside the price package as well.
(3) The
public operators may offer discounts for used services under publicly announced
conditions when they are used by everyone meeting preliminarily announced
conditions for their provision.
(4) Prior to
their publishing the prices of the telecommunication services shall be submitted
to the Commission for information.
Section
II
Regulated
prices
Art.
215. (1) The Commission shall regulate the following
prices determined by the operators having a substantial impact on the market of
fixed telephone networks and fixed voice telephone services and providing the
service "rented lines":
1.
for a
fixed voice telephone service;
2. for
interconnection;
3. for
providing the service "rented lines" from the range of the minimal
package;
4. for a
specific access;
5. for a unbundled access to the subscriber
line;
6. for joint
using of premises and facilities.
(2) The
Commission shall submit an information for the prices of the services under
para 1 to the Commission for Trade and Protection of
the Consumers.
Art.
216. (1) The prices of the
service under art. 215, para 1, item 1 shall be
determined by the public operators on the grounds of rules adopted by a decision
of the Commission for their determination and the expenses related to its
submission.
(2) The
prices of the services under art. 215, para 1, item 2
and 5 shall be determined by the public operators on the basis of the expenses
related to their provision, calculated by a system of determining the expenses
approved by the Commission.
(3) The
Commission may impose restrictions regarding the prices under art. 215, para 1 for the purpose of stimulating
the effectiveness of the operator, and according to his investment expenses for
development of the network in a medium-term plan.
(4) The
prices under art. 215, para 1 may
not:
1. contain elements of the price formation based solely on the
substantial impact of the operator on the market;
2. contain discounts violating the ability of competition on the
part of other public operators for the respective service;
3. create conditions for individual users for the same or a
similar service;
4. be under the level of the expenses related to their
provision.
Art.
217. (1) The operators under
art. 215, para 1, within 4 months from their defining
as operators having a substantial impact on the respective market, shall present
for approval by the Commission the system of determining the expenses under art.
216, para
2.
(2) The
Commission shall approve the system within two months from its receipt. Before
the approval upon consultations with the respective operators the Commission may
require amendments for it which do not threaten the financial sturdiness of the
operator.
(3) The
Commission may impose restrictions regarding the prices under art. 215, para 1 for the purpose of stimulating
the effectiveness of the operator and according to his investment expenses for
development of the network in medium-term plan.
(4) The
operators shall publish annually analysis of the degree of implementation of the
principles of cost orientation and separate book-entry for the respective
services offered by them.
Art.
218. (1) The operators shall
present the prices of the services under art. 215, para 1 to the Commission one month before their publishing,
along with the documents for price formation.
(2) In the
event that the prices do not meet the requirements of art. 216 the Commission
shall oblige the operators to rework them.
(3) The
Commission may require once in 6 months proof of cost orientation of already
coordinated prices.
(4) The
Commission shall also regulate the prices of telecommunication services for
which it is established that they are offered in abuse of a dominating status in
the meaning of the Law of protection of the competition.
Art.
219. In the
event that, within one month, the operators do not rework the prices according
to art. 218, para 2, as well as in
the cases of art. 218, para 4, the Commission,
upon coordination with the Commission for protection of the competition, shall
determine limits of the prices of the respective services for a period of up to
6 months.
Section
III
Fees
Art.
220. (1) The licence and
registration fees shall cover the administrative expenses of the Commission for
activities related to the licensing, registration and control of the conditions
stipulated by the licences.
(2) The fees
for a limited resource shall provide preconditions for its effective using, the
development of the competition and the provision of new
services.
Art.
221. (1) All licensed
operators by individual licences shall pay licence fees.
(2) The licence fees are:
1. initial – for the issuance of the licence;
2. annual –
for providing the regulation activities – up to 1.2 percent of the annual gross
revenue from the licensed activity, without value added tax, after deduction of
the expenses, where applicable, for outgoing traffic, for interconnection of
networks and for specific access;
3. a fee for amendment and supplement of the licence.
(3) The size
of the initial licence fee shall be determined by
taking into account the administrative expenses related to its preparation and
issuance, including:
1. work and materials;
2. proportionally distributed development and consulting
activity and analysis of the respective market, related to the issuance of the
licence;
3. frequency planning and national and international
coordination.
(4) On
holding a tender for issuance of the licence the
initial licence fee shall be of the size of the final
tender price, containing also the fee in the meaning of para 3.
(5) The fee
under para 2, item 2 shall be determined annually by
the order of art. 42 and shall be paid in quarterly instalments by the 15th of the month following the quarter.
The instalment for the fourth quarter shall be
balancing and shall be paid within 15 days after the deadline determined by the
Accountancy Law for preparing the annual financial report. The instalments made during the year shall be balanced on the
basis of a copy, by the licensed operator, of an annual financial report
certified by an independent financial auditor, along with its
annexes.
Art.
222. (1) The individually
licensed operators shall pay annual fees for using a limited resource of the
radio frequency spectrum and/or of the positions of the geo-stationary orbit
allocated for the Republic of Bulgaria by international
agreements.
(2) On
submitting an additional radio frequency spectrum to licensed public operators
under art. 76, para 2 they shall pay an additional
one-time fee.
(3) The
individually licensed operators shall pay an annual fee for using a limited
resource of the National Numbering Plan.
(4) The sizes
of the fees under para 1 and 2 shall be determined on
the grounds of one or more of the following criteria:
1. number of registered residents who may be serviced by the
licensed activity;
2. territorial range stipulated by the licence;
3. capacity of the transmitter outlet;
4. occupied
frequency band;
5. number of used radio stations;
6. number of used radio frequency
channels;
7. type of the radio frequency channel (radio frequency band) –
simplex/duplex;
8. kind of the licensed activity;
9. number of used radio networks;
10. mode of employee of the radio stations and
networks;
11. term of using the radio frequency
spectrum.
(5) The fees
under para 1 and 3 shall be paid in 4 equal instalments by the end of the month preceding the
quarter.
(6) At a
request of the operator the fees under para 1 and 3
may be paid by the end of the first quarter of the current year. In this case
the fee shall be paid by a discount amounting to 5
percent.
Art.
223. (1) All operators
registered under a class licence shall pay a
registration fee.
(2) The size
of the registration fee shall be determined in dependence of the administrative
expenses related to the registration and the preparation and issuance of the
class licence.
Art.
224. (1) The size of the fees under this section, the
terms and the ways of their payment shall be determined by a Tariff for the fees
collected by the Commission for Regulation of the Communications, to be adopted
by the Council of Ministers at a proposal of the
Commission.
(2) The
Tariff under para 1 shall also determine the size of
the fees for administrative services provided by the
Commission.
(3) The fees
shall be determined in compliance with the following
principles:
1. equality of the operators;
2. proportionality with respect of the administrative
expenses;
3. encouragement of the competition and of the providing of new
services;
4. provision of effective using of the limited
resources;
5. satisfying the needs of the public of quality
telecommunication services.
(4) The
licensed operators shall pay equal licence fees for
equal type and size of the licensed activity.
Art.
225. (1) The licence fees stipulated by the individual licences for telecommunication activity shall be allocated
as follows:
1. the initial fee received under a tender
procedure:
a) 25
percent – for providing the resources under art. 17;
b) 5 percent
– for the budget of the Commission;
c) 70
percent – to the republican budget;
2. the initial and annual fee – for the budget of the
Commission.
(2) The fees
for using a limited resource shall be allocated as
follows:
1. the fee for using radio frequency
spectrum:
a) 35
percent – for providing the resources under art. 17;
b) 40
percent – for the budget of the Commission;
c) 25
percent – for the republican budget;
2. the additional one-time fee for submitting additional radio
frequency spectrum:
a) 25
percent – for providing the resources under art. 17;
b) 5 percent
– for the budget of the Commission;
c) 70
percent – for the republican budget;
3. the fee for using numbers of the National Numbering Plan –
for the budget of the Commission;
4. the fees for using the positions of the geo-stationary orbit
allocated for the Republic of Bulgaria by international
agreements:
a) 25
percent – for providing the resources under art. 17;
b) 5 percent
– for the budget of the Commission;
c) 70
percent – for the republican budget;
Art.
226. (1) All fees shall be
installed in the budget of the Commission and, within three months after their
receipt, shall be reallocated by the order of art. 225.
(2) No fees
shall be due by the order of this section by:
1. state bodies carrying out telecommunications for their own
needs, related to their functions;
2. diplomatic representations and other organisations having the status of diplomatic missions when
they carry out telecommunications for their own needs on the grounds of
reciprocity.
Chapter
seventeen
CONTROL
Art.
227. (1) The control over the
telecommunication activities shall be exercised by the
Commission.
(2) The
control over the commissioning of the radio facilities of the list under art.
209, para 2 shall be exercised by the
Commission.
(3) In
exercising the control under para 1 and 2 the
Commission shall interact with the Ministry of Transport and Communications, the
Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of defence and the
Ministry of Finance. The conditions and the order of the interaction shall be
settled by a joint instruction.
Art.
228. (1) For the purposes of
the control over the telecommunication activities the chairman of the Commission
shall authorise by an order employees of its
administration.
(2) The
employees under para 1 shall obligatorily be insured
for accidents having occurred during or on occasion of fulfilment of their official duties by resources of the
budget of the Commission.
Art.
229. (1) In carrying out their
functions the employees of the Commission authorised
according to art. 228, para 1 shall have the right
to:
1. carry out inspections, establish violation and issue acts by
the order of the Law of the administrative offences and
sanctions;
2. a frees to the sites subject to control, accommodating
telecommunication facilities;
3. inspect the documents issued by the Commission, proving the
legal capacity of the persons in the controlled sites;
4. require information and documents related to the
control;
5. require original documents, data, information, references and
other bearers of information from the inspected persons, as well as seize
certified copies of documents related to the telecommunication activity and/or
establishing administrative offences under this law;
6. inspect
accountancy, trade or other books or documents and bearers of information, as
well as other documents related to the telecommunication activity, subject to
individual licensing and/or to establishing administrative offences under this
law;
7.
require
from third persons information, abstracts and other documents necessary for
carrying out cross examinations related to telecommunications he control under
this law and/or the establishment of administrative offences under this
law;
8. control the quality parameters of the telecommunication
services by carrying out documentary and technical
inspections;
9. search premises used by the inspected persons for the purpose
of telecommunication activity, as well as premises containing proof of committed
administrative offences.
(2) In the
cases of inspection of premises under para 1, item 9,
used as a living place, the inspections shall be carried out by the employees
authorised under art. 228, para 1 jointly with the bodies of the Ministry of Interior,
by observing the provisions of the Penal Procedure
Code.
Art.
230. (1) On establishing offences by the order of the
Law of the administrative offences and sanctions the issuers of acts may seize
and keep material evidence related to the establishment of the offence by the
order of art. 41 of the Law of the administrative offences and
sanctions.
(2) The
seized material evidence shall be subject to seizure in favour of the state by a penal provision or by a resolution
by the order of art. 20 and 21 of the Law of the
administrative offences and sanctions for present corpus delicti according to the respective administrative penal
provisions.
(3) The
possessions seized in favour of the state shall be
stored in premises specially provided for that purpose until the expiration of
one year from the enactment of the resolution, the penal provision or court
decision confirming it.
(4) Upon the
expiration of the term under para 3 the seized
possessions shall be subject to destruction by an order stipulated by an
ordinance of the Council of Ministers, at a proposal of the Commission. The
possessions or parts of them seized in favour of the
state, which may be used without violating the laws and the acting standards of
the country, may be submitted to educational establishments for educational
purposes, to hospitals or other organisations, by a
decision of the Commission.
Art.
231. (1) In fulfilment of their official duties the employees authorised according to art. 228, para 1 shall be obliged:
1. to legitimise themselves by an
official card;
2. to keep the confidentiality of the circumstances and facts
having become known to them during or on occasion of the fulfilment of their official duties.
(2) The order
and the way of using and storing the circumstances and facts under para 1, item 2, as well as the organisation of the work in exercising the control over the
telecommunication activities shall be determined by a decision of the
Commission.
(3) The
chairman of the Commission shall appoint the employees of the administration who
will be in charge of the storing and using of the facts and circumstances under
para 1, item 2.
(4) The
employees under para 1, item 3 shall sign a
declaration in a form related to their duties, explicitly stating their
responsibility for failure to fulfil these
duties.
Art.
232. (1) The chairman of the Commission may issue
orders suspending, until the removal of the offences, the fulfilment of telecommunication activities, carried out in
violation of the law, by-laws and licence
terms.
(2) The
orders under para 1 may impose a compulsory
administrative measure for closing sites and/or facilities, having served for
telecommunication activities carried out in violation of the law, by-laws and
licence terms.
(3) The
orders under para 1 shall be subject to appeal before
the Supreme Administrative Court.
Chapter
eighteen
ADMINISTRATIVE
PENAL PROVISIONS
Art.
233. (1) Who, without a licence, carries out telecommunication activity subject to
licensing upon a competition or a tender, or continues to carry it out after the
suspending, termination or withdrawal of the licence,
unless the act represents a crime, shall be punished by a fine of 50 000 to
500 000 levs.
(2) Who,
without a licence, carries out telecommunication
activity subject to licensing without a competition or a tender, carrying out
telecommunications through telecommunication networks and/or providing
telecommunication services by using individually allocated limited resource, or
continues to carry it out after the suspending, termination or withdrawal of the
licence, unless the act represents a crime, shall be
punished by a fine of 20 000 to 250 000 levs.
(3) Who,
without a licence, carries out telecommunication
activity subject to licensing without a competition or a tender, without using a
limited resource, or continues to carry it out after the suspending, termination
or withdrawal of the licence, shall be punished by a
fine of 10 000 to 200 000 levs.
(4) Who,
without a licence, carries out telecommunication
activity, carrying out telecommunications through individual telecommunication
networks for own needs, by using individually allocated limited resource, or
continues to carry it out after the suspending, termination or withdrawal of the
licence, unless the act represents a crime, shall be
punished by a fine of 1000 to 10 000 levs.
(5) Who,
without a licence, carries out telecommunication
activity as a public operator under the conditions of a class licence shall be punished by a fine of 5000 to 10 000
levs.
(6) Who,
without a licence, carries out telecommunication
activity for own needs under the conditions of a class licence shall be punished by a fine of 1000 to 5000 levs.
(7) For
offence under para 1 – 6 committed for a second time
the administrative penal body, by a penal provision, may divest the offender
from the right to practice telecommunication activity for which he has been
punished for a period of up to one year.
Art.
234. (1) An operator having a substantial impact on the
market, who violates or does not fulfil the
requirements of the issued licence, regarding his
specific obligations as an operator having a substantial impact on the market,
shall be punished by a proprietary sanction of 100 000 to 500 000
levs.
(2) A public
operator who violates or does not fulfil the
requirements of the issued individual licence shall be
punished by a proprietary sanction of 5000 to 50 000 levs.
(3) An
individual operator who violates or does not fulfil
the requirements of the issued individual licence
shall be punished by a fine of 1000 to 10 000 levs.
(4) A public
operator carrying out telecommunication activity on the grounds of a
registration under a class licence and violates its
requirements shall be punished by a proprietary sanction of 5000 to 15 000
levs.
(5) An
individual operator carrying out telecommunication activity on the grounds of a
registration under a class licence and violates its
requirements shall be punished by a fine of 1000 to 5000 levs.
Art.
235. (1) Who violates the rules regarding the
preservation of the confidentiality of the communications sent by public
telecommunication networks, unless the act represents a crime, shall be punished
by a fine of 1000 to 10 000 levs.
(2) A public
operator who fails to fulfil an obligation for
providing conditions for interception of telecommunications, related to the
national security and public order, shall be punished by a proprietary sanction
of 5000 to 100 000 levs.
(3) A public
operator who does not fulfil an obligation related to
the provision of the protection of the personal data in the sphere of the
telecommunications shall be punished by a proprietary sanction of 1000 to
20 000 levs.
Art.
236. Who
interferes and/or changes the contents of communications of third persons in a
public telecommunication network by using telecommunication facilities, unless
the act represents a crime, shall be punished by a fine of 200 to 2000 levs.
Art.
237. Who
transfers, through a public telecommunication network, false calls or misleading
signs and/or signals for help, calamity, accident, incident or alert, shall be
punished by a fine of 2000 to 50 000 levs.
Art.
238. Who, for
the purpose of obtaining for himself or for another a benefit, using
telecommunication facilities, thus causing damage to a telecommunications
operator or to a third person, unless the act represents a crime, shall be
punished by a fine of 3000 to 10 000 levs,
whereas the damages shall be indemnified by the general actionable
order.
Art.
239. Who
commissions radio equipment in violation of the requirements of art. 209, unless the act represents a crime, shall be
punished by a fine of 3000 to 15 000 levs.
Art.
240. Who
causes damages to public telecommunication networks and facilities, thus
interrupting or obstructing the telecommunications, unless the act represents a
crime, shall be punished by a fine of 100 to 5000 levs, whereas the damages shall be indemnified by the
general actionable order.
Art.
241. (1) Who, at a request of the Commission, does not
provide information related to the implementation of this law, or presents
untrue, incomplete, incorrect or untimely information within the period which
may be determined by the request, shall be punished by a fine of 100 to 500
levs.
(2) Who
obstructs the exercising of the control of the Commission under art. 227 shall be punished by a fine of 1000 to 5000 levs.
(3) Who does
not fulfil an enacted decision of the Commission shall
be punished by a fine of 1000 to 10 000 levs.
(4) A public
operator who does not submit to the Commission documents and information
necessary for defining an operator having a substantial impact on the market
shall be punished by a proprietary sanction of 2000 to 20 000 levs.
(5) An
operator, having a substantial impact on the market, who does not fulfil an enacted decision of the Commission regarding his
specific obligations as an operator having a substantial impact on the market,
shall be punished by a proprietary sanction of 10 000 to 100 000 levs.
Art.
242. The
persons under art. 228, para 1 who make public,
submit, publish, use or circulate in any other way, data and circumstances
representing official secret, shall be punished by a fine of 500 to 5000 levs and shall be divested of the right to occupy the
respective position for a period of 6 months to one year.
Art.
243. A
proprietary sanction of 50 000 to 500 000 levs shall be imposed for violation of art.
185.
Art.
244. A fine of
100 to 1000 levs shall be imposed for violation of
this law and of the acts issued pursuant to it, where another punishment is not
stipulated.
Art.
245. For the offences under art. 233, para 1 – 6, art. 234, para 3 and 5, art. 235, para 1, art. 236, 239, 240,
art. 241, para 1 and 3 and
art. 244 committed by corporate bodies or sole entrepreneurs proprietary
sanctions of the sizes of the fines shall apply.
Art.
246. (1) On establishing the
offences under art. 233 – 244 the employees authorised
according to art. 228, para 1 shall issue acts by the
order of the Law of the administrative offences and
sanctions.
(2) On the
grounds of the acts under para 1 the chairman of the
Commission, or a person explicitly authorised by him –
a member of the commission, shall issue penal provisions or motivated
resolutions for termination of the administrative penal
proceedings.
(3) The
establishment of the offences, the issuance, the appeal and the fulfilment of the penal provisions shall be carried out by
the order of the Law of the administrative offences and
sanctions.
(4) Penal
provisions imposing a fine or a proprietary sanction up to 200 levs shall not be subject to appeal.
ADDITIONAL
PROVISIONS
§
1. For the
purposes of this Law:
1.
"Telecommunication network" shall mean a set of transmission equipment and in
case of necessity commutation equipment and other resources which enable the
provision of telecommunications.
2. "Public
telecommunication network" shall mean a telecommunication network used fully or
partially for the provision of public telecommunication services and/or for the
realisation of telecommunications to an unlimited
circle of users.
3.
"Individual telecommunication network" shall mean a telecommunication network
designed for the realisation of telecommunications in
a non-commercial manner, for personal needs. The use for the personal needs is
present, where the private network is not used as the means for providing
telecommunication services.
4. "Cable
network for distribution of radio- and television programs" shall mean a public
telecommunication cable-based network, designed for the provision and
distribution of radio and television signals
5. "Fixed
public telephone network" shall mean a public telecommunication network for
transferring voice and sound information, with the width of frequency band of
3100 Hz, the terminal points of which are geographically fixed, and which
supports voice telephony, facsimile messages and data transfer through modems of
at least 2400 bit/s speed.
6. "Mobile
network" shall mean a telecommunication network, where the end points are not
geographically fixed.
7. "Terminal
point of the network" shall mean the physical point in which the user gets
access to the public telecommunication network. The location of the terminal
point shall be determined by the Commission, and it represents the boundary of
the public telecommunication network for the purposes of
regulation.
8.
"Interconnection" shall mean physical and/or logical connection of
telecommunication networks, belonging to one and the same or to different
operators, in such a manner, that the users connected to one of these networks,
obtain the possibility to access the users connected to the same or the other
networks, or to telecommunication services offered through these other networks.
9. "Rented
lines" shall mean telecommunication equipment through which a transparent
transfer capacity between termination points of the network is ensured, and
which do not include commutation on demand – commutation functions, controlled
by the user as part of the letting the lines on rent.
10.
"Telecommunication service" shall mean performance of telecommunications in
commercial manner.
11. "Public
telecommunication services" shall mean telecommunication services designed for
an unlimited circle of users accessible by the general
public.
12. "Voice
telephone service" shall mean a public telecommunication service for direct
transfer of speech in real time over any public telecommunication network, using
commutation and/or routing regardless of the technology used for transfer, which
enables an end-user that is connected to a terminal point to communicate with
another user connected to another terminal point.
13. "Fixed
voice telephone service" shall mean a voice telephone service with defined
quality over any fixed telecommunication network realised between fixed terminal points of this
network.
14.
"Telephone information services" shall mean telecommunication services enabling
the calling end user to obtain information about the telephone number of a
subscriber through submitted data for individualisation of the subscriber – name, and if
necessary, address.
15. "Services
for emergency calls" shall mean unpaid telecommunication services enabling
telecommunication access of every user to the "Emergency Medical Assistance",
"Police" and "Fire and accident safety" services.
16. "Terminal
telecommunication equipment" shall mean a device, allowing the performing of
telecommunications, or an element of the given device, designed for direct or
indirect connection in any manner to the terminal points of the
telecommunication network.
17. "Public
payphone" shall mean a telephone devices accessible to
the public, the use of which is paid by coins, chips, debit/credit cards or
pre-paid cards.
18. "Limited
resource" shall mean a resource, limited due to natural phenomena or to
technical reasons, such as the numbers from the National Numbering Plan, the
radio-frequency spectrum, positions from the geo-stationary orbit, allocated to
the Republic of Bulgaria by international agreements.
19. "Cost
orientation of the price of services" shall be present when the price of
services include the costs made for their provision, including the price of the
invested capital and an acceptable profit according to the Law of the Corporate
Income Tax.
20. "Net
losses" shall mean difference between the expenses of the operator, obligated to
provide universal service, and the expenses without obligation to provide
universal service, plus revenues from the provision of universal service and the
advantages resulting from the obligation to provide universal service shall be
taken into account.
21. "Radio
equipment" shall mean a device (product) or part thereof for the provision of
telecommunications through emission or emission and reception of radio waves,
using the spectrum allotted for ground or space radio
messages.
22.
"Radio-frequency spectrum" shall mean a spectrum of frequencies within the
radio-frequency range of 9 kHz to 3000 GHz.
23.
"Radio-frequency band" shall mean a part of the radio-frequency spectrum,
between two frequencies.
24.
"Cryptographic key shall mean a method designed for concealing (coding) of
exchanged information in a way, that it will remain intelligible only to the
persons authorised therefore.
25.
"Telecommunications for maritime and air search and rescue" and "Information on
safety" shall mean all telecommunications, designated as such in the Regulations
of the International Telecommunications Union.
26. "Ground
radio broadcasting" shall mean emission from land-based radio stations of radio
and/or television signals, intended to be received by the
public.
27.
"Telecommunication infrastructure" shall mean the technical infrastructure
according to the Law of the spatial planning.
28.
"Interface" shall mean a medium for physical and/or logical connection of
systems, equipment or devices.
29.
"Technical interface specification" shall mean specification in a document,
setting out the type, quantity, form, and sequence of the interconnections and
the way of interoperability between interfaces.
30. "Phone
card" shall mean a type of payment instrument (pre-paid, debit or credit card),
which is intended to serve as payment for telecommunication services provided
through public payphones.
31. "Routing"
shall mean the process of determination of alternative route or method for
performing telecommunications between two terminal points of one ore more
telecommunication networks.
32. "Number"
shall mean a sequence of decimal digits, which uniformly identifies the
termination point in the public network. The number contains information
necessary for routing and/or billing of one call up to this termination
point.
33.
"Numbering space" shall mean the whole range of numbers, used in the
telecommunications.
34. "Address"
shall mean a sequence of digits and/or symbols, used for the identifying of a
given specific or termination point of the network during the realisation of connection, used for routing, excluding
Internet address.
35. "Name"
shall mean a sequence of letters, digits and/or symbols identifying given
element of a network and aimed to access to services excluding Internet
name.
36.
"Subscriber" shall mean an individual or a corporate body, party to a contract
with the operator, providing telecommunication services, for provision of these
services.
37. "User"
shall mean individual or a corporate body, using or having declared intent to
use telecommunication services.
38. "End
users" shall mean users, including subscribers, using telecommunication service
without providing telecommunication service through it.
39. (revoked – SG 19/05)
40. (revoked – SG 19/05)
41. "Call"
shall mean every action of an end user intended to establish a connection with
another end user or to obtain access to service, regardless of whether this
action has been successful or not.
42. "Calling
line identification" shall mean a service, enabling the subscriber called to
receive a message about the number of the calling one prior to the establishment
of connection.
43.
"Interception" shall mean activity of obtaining access and providing the
telecommunications to a given subscriber, as well as the data related to these
calls, to the competent authorities under Art. 20, par. 1 of the Law of Special
Intelligence Devices, performed on the basis of legal authorisation.
44.
"Intercepting interface" shall mean an input-output software technical device of
the telecommunication operator, where access to the intercepted
telecommunications or to data, related to the call is provided. The intercepting
interface can be in more than one fixed point.
45. "Radio
service" shall mean a combination of technical and organisational rules during the transmission, emission
and/or reception of communications through radio waves for different specific
cases of performing of telecommunications.
46. "Full use
in case of unbundled access" shall mean providing by an operator of access to
subscriber’s line using the complete frequency band of a twisted copper pair for
provision of services to entity different other than the
operator.
47. "Shared
use in case of unbundled access" shall mean providing access to the subscriber’s
line with the purpose of using the part of its frequency band other than the
part designated for voice transfer, whereas the operator providing unbundled
access to the subscriber’s line shall have the technical capacity to continue
providing voice services over the same subscriber’s line
48. "Mobile
network cell" shall mean the geographical area, covered by the radio signal of a
base station of a mobile network, within the boundaries of which the mobile
network subscribers have access to it.
49. "Price
package for economy use" shall mean a package of prices including a reduction of
the subscriber's fee and the price of the fixed voice telephone service, the
latter over certain amount having higher price than the price of the same
service, provided to the subscribers not using this
package.
50.
"Telecommunication facility with defence functions of
the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company network" shall mean facility situated
at different places of the telecommunication network built, including set of
architectural-constructively protected telecommunication node, management
station, connecting cable highways, communication lines and equipment that are
components of the national security and defence
system.
51. "Control
over the management of a company; is present in case that an
entity:
a) possesses, including through daughter company or by agreement
with
other entity
more than the half plus one of the votes at the General meeting of the company,
or
b) can determine directly or indirectly more than the half of
the Managing board of the company, or
c) can, in any other way, influence the decisions related to the
telecommunication activity of the company.
52.
"Repeated" shall mean a violation committed within one year from the coming into
effect of the penal provision for the same type of
violation.
53.
"Systematic violation" is present when within two years three or more
administrative violation of this law or of the by-laws for its implementation
are committed.
54.
"Substantial" is a violation impeding the achievement of the objectives under
Art. 2 and in result negative effects on the normal functioning of the
telecommunications market come or could come.
§
2 (1) Operator having a substantial impact on the
market of fixed public telecommunications networks and of fixed voice telephone
services may provide telecommunications over cable network for broadcasting of
radio and television programs only through an independent corporate body
constituted to that purpose.
(2) The
Bulgarian National Television and the Bulgarian National Radio shall provide
their national and regional programs free of charge to operators realising telecommunications through cable telecommunication
networks intended for the broadcasting of radio and television
programs.
(3) The
operators under para 2 shall broadcast the national
and regional programs of the Bulgarian National Television and the Bulgarian
National Radio through their networks free of charge.
TRANSITIONAL
AND CONCLUDING PROVISIONS
§
3. (1) This law revokes the law of the
telecommunications (prom., SG 93/1998; amend., SG 26/1999, SG 10 and 64/2000, SG
34, 42, 96 and 112/2001 and No 45 and 120/2002), with exception of art. 19, art. 37, para
1, art. 116, para 3, item 3 and art. 119 which shall apply until December 31,
2003.
(2) The
by-laws related to the implementation of the revoked Law of the
telecommunications shall remain in force inasmuch as they do not contradict this
law.
§
4. (1) From January 1, 2004 the employees of the
administration of the Commission for Regulation of the Communications shall
receive an extra to their remuneration in the size of the percentage of the
growth in the preceding year of branch "Communications", according to data of
the National Institute of Statistics.
(2) The legal
terms of relations of the civil servants in the administration of the Commission
for Regulation of the Communications shall be settled under the conditions and
by the order of art. 106, para 1,
item 2 of the Law of the civil servant. The term of the advanced notices
shall start running from the enactment of this law.
§
5. (1) This law shall enter into force on the day of
its promulgation in the State Gazette with exception of:
1. the provisions of art. 17, art.
40, para 1, art. 217, art. 221, para 2, art. 222, para 2 and art. 225 which shall enter into force on
January 1, 2004;
2. the provision of art. 119, para 4, art. 121, para 2, 4 and 5, art. 140, para 6 and 9 and art. 216 – regarding the fixed voice
telephone service, the interconnection, the provision of the service "rented
lines" of the range of the minimal package, which shall enter into force three
months from the enactment of this law;
3. the provisions of art. 95, para 2, art. 104 – art.
112, art. 130, 131, 133 and
art. 158, item 2 which shall enter into force on January 1,
2005;
4. the provision of art. 156 which shall enter into force on
January 1, 2007 regarding the operators of public mobile telecommunication
networks;
5. the provision of art. 156, which shall enter into force on
January 1, 2009 regarding the operators of public telecommunication fixed
telephone networks.
(2) The
Commission for Regulation of the Communications shall determine an operator
having a substantial impact on the market of fixed public telephone networks and
fixed voice telephone services and for providing the service "rented lines"
within 6 months from the enactment of this law.
(3) Until the
determination of the operator under para 2 as operator
having a substantial impact on the market of fixed public telephone networks and
fixed voice telephone services, and for providing the
service "rented lines" shall be considered the operator who has carried out
activities of a state monopoly on the grounds of the revoked Law of the
telecommunications.
(4) The
operator under para 3 shall submit the system of
determining the expenses under art. 217, para 1 within
one month from the enactment of this law, and the Commission for Regulation of
the Communications shall take a decision within 14 days from its
receipt.
§
6. (1) The public telecommunication operators
carrying out telecommunications through cable telecommunication networks for
broadcasting radio and television programmes in
settlement with over 3000 residents, who have created the networks by using the
electric poles for low voltage up to 400 volts, shall lay them under the ground
in underground technical conductors by January 1, 2007.
(2) The
public telecommunication operators carrying out telecommunications through cable
telecommunication networks for broadcasting radio and television programmes in settlements with up to 3000 residents shall
have the right not to lay their networks underground in technical
conductors.
(3) The
operators under para 1 and 2 shall create their
networks in compliance with the requirements for safety.
§
7. (1) The started procedures for issuance of
individual licences or for registration under a class
licence shall be concluded in compliance with the
provisions of this law.
(2) The
issued individual licences and certificates for
registration under a class licence under the revoked
Law of the telecommunications shall retain their validity.
(3) The
Commission for Regulation of the Communications shall bring the licences under para 2 in
compliance with the requirements of this law within 9 months from its
enactment.
(4) In the
cases of para 3 licence fees
shall not be paid.
§
8. (1) The
operators who, by the enactment of this law, have been carrying out
telecommunication activity on the grounds of an individual licence, and this law determines that this activity is
carried out on the grounds of a registration under a class licence, shall obtain certificates for registration by the
Commission for Regulation of the Communications within one month from the
promulgation of the class licence in the State
Gazette.
(2) The
Commission for Regulation of the Communications shall issue the class licence under para 1 within three
months from the enactment of this law.
(3) The
operators under para 1 shall continue their activity
in compliance with the issued individual licences not
paying, considering from the enactment of this law, the respective instalment for the licence fees
for 2003.
(4) On
obtaining the certificate under para 1 the operators
shall pay a registration fee.
§
9. (1) The telecommunications carried out under a
free regime according to the revoked Law of the telecommunications shall
continue to be carried out freely if they meet the requirements of art.
48.
(2) In the
event that the persons carrying out telecommunications under para 1 are subject to the provision of art. 49 they shall be
obliged to undertake the necessary actions for issuance of an individual licence or for registration under a class licence within 6 months from the enactment of this
law.
(3) The
Commission for Regulation of the Communications shall issue, by July 1, 2004,
the licence or the certificate of registration under
para 2.
§
10. (1) The Bulgarian Telecommunication Company shall
be obliged to provide the universal telecommunication service without
compensation for the net losses from its provision by December 31,
2004.
(2) Within
three years from the enactment of this law the telecommunication sites of defence designation and the installed capacities under art.
185, para 1 shall be separated from the
telecommunication network of the Bulgarian Telecommunication Company by an order
determined by the Council of Ministers.
(3) The
resources for the separation under para 2 shall be
provided by the state budget, the Bulgarian Telecommunication Company and by
other sources under conditions determined by an act of the Council of
Ministers.
(4) The
individual telecommunication sites with defence
designation and the installed capacities under para 2
shall be used under conditions and by an order determined by the Council of
Ministers.
§
11. The
members of the Commission for Regulation of the Communications, by the moment of
the enactment of this law, shall complete their mandate according to the
requirements of § 72, para 2 of the transitional and
concluding provisions of the Law of amendment and supplement of the Law of the
telecommunications (SG 112/2001).
§
12. (new – SG 19/05) Everywhere in the law the words "of non
military character" shall be deleted.
The law
was adopted by the 39th National Assembly on September 23, 2003 and was affixed
with the official seal of the National
Assembly.