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Law N# 96-659 26 jully 1996
© Secretary of State for industry - France Art. 6.Chapter II of Title I of Book II of the Posts and Telecommunications Code shall be worded as follows: "Chapter II "Legal Regime "Section I "Networks "Art. L. 33 - Telecommunications networks shall be established under the conditions laid down in this section. "This section shall not apply to the following: "1) - network infrastructure established by the Government in the interests of national defence and public security, or using frequency bands or frequency spectrum allocated by the Prime Minister to an administration for its own requirements, in accordance with article 21 of the Freedom of Communications Act n· 86-1067 of 30 September 1986; "2) - network infrastructure(3) referred to in articles 10 and 34 of the same law. Network infrastructure of this type used for the provision of public telecommunications services shall be subject to the provisions of this code governing the operation of public networks, only insofar as it is used for the provision of telecommunications services. "Art. L. 33-1. "I - The establishment and operation of public networks shall be authorised by the telecommunications minister. "Licences may only be refused on the grounds of public order or in the interests of national defence and public security, or as a result of technical constraints due to the limited availability of frequencies, or when the applicant does not have the technical and financial capacity to sustainably meet the obligations resulting from the conditions under which its activity is carried out, or when it has been the subject of one of the penalties referred to in articles L. 36-11, L.39, L. 39-1, L. 39-2 and L. 39-4. "Licences shall be granted subject to compliance with the provisions contained in the schedule of conditions governing the following: "a) - the nature, characteristics, service coverage area and network extension schedule; "b) - the operating hours, quality and availability of the network and access conditions, particularly for public pay phones; "c) - the conditions of confidentiality and neutrality of the service with regard to the information transmitted; "d) - the standards and specifications for networks and services, particularly European standards when appropriate; "e) - the provisions required for the protection of the environment and for town and country planning objectives, including, where appropriate, conditions governing the occupation of the public domain and the sharing of facilities; "f) - provisions required in the interests of national defence and public security; "g) - the contribution of the operator to research and training in the field of telecommunications; "h) - the use of the radio spectrum, the fees related to this use and the costs of spectrum management and monitoring; "i) - the allocation of individual numbers or numbering ranges, fees due for the management and control of the numbering plan, under the conditions laid down in article L. 34-10; "j) - universal service obligations incumbent on the licence holder in accordance with articles L. 35-2 and L. 35-3, and with regard to the mandatory services set out in article L.35-5 ; "k) - the provision of the information required to establish and manage the universal directory referred to in article L. 35-4; "l) - the rights and obligations of the operator with regard to interconnection; "m) - the conditions necessary to ensure fair competition; "n) - the conditions necessary to ensure the equivalent treatment of international operators in accordance with the provisions of III and IV below; "o) - the conditions necessary to ensure the interoperability of services; "p) - the obligations incumbent upon the operator to allow the telecommunications regulatory authority to enforce the operator's schedule of conditions; "q) - fees payable for the grant, management and control of licences under the conditions stipulated in the Finance Act; "r) - the equal treatment and provision of information to users, particularly concerning the contractual conditions under which the service is provided, and allowing for compensation to the consumer in case of breach of the quality requirements specified in b). "Licences shall be granted for a period of fifteen years. At least two years before the date of expiry of the licence the minister shall notify the licence holder of the licence renewal conditions or of its reasons for refusing renewal. In the case of the establishment and operation of experimental networks, of the modification or adaptation of the licence or when so requested by the applicant, the licence may be granted for a duration shorter than fifteen years; in this case the schedule of conditions shall specify the minimum time within which the licence holder shall be notified of the renewal conditions or the reasons for refusing renewal. "A decree, issued following the opinion of the public service commission for posts and telecommunications, shall specify which of the clauses enumerated above must conform with standard clauses of which it shall determine the content. The provisions of the draft decree relating to the clause referred to in m) above shall be submitted for opinion to the competition authority(4). "II - An operator with an annual turnover exceeding a threshold set by the telecommunications minister and the minister for the economy shall be required to keep separate accounts for the authorised activity. "Moreover, if the competition authority considers that an operator enjoys a monopoly or dominant position in a sector other than the telecommunications sector, and the infrastructure used for this activity may be separated, the operator shall be required to separate this activity from his telecommunications activities on a legal basis for the purposes of fair competition. "III - Subject to international agreements signed by France comprising a clause of reciprocity applicable to the telecommunications sector, the licence referred to in this article, when relating to a network using radio frequencies, may not be granted to a company in which more than 20% of the share capital or the voting rights are held, either directly or indirectly, by foreign nationals. "Furthermore, a foreign national may not make any transaction the result of which is to increase, either directly or indirectly, the share held by foreign nationals in a licensed company to more than 20% of the share capital or the voting rights at the annual general meeting. "For the purposes of this article, a foreign national means a natural person of foreign nationality or an artificial person whose majority of shares is not held, either directly or indirectly, by natural or artificial persons of French nationality. "The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to natural or artificial persons who are nationals of a member state of the European Union or a member state of the European Economic Area. "IV - Subject to international agreements concluded by France, the telecommunications minister and the telecommunications regulatory authority shall ensure that operators licensed to route international traffic to and from French public networks enjoy equivalent treatment, in particular with regard to interconnection conditions to the French and foreign networks to which they request access. "Subject to the same reserve, they shall also ensure that the rights conferred by operators in countries outside the European Union upon the operators licensed in accordance with this article and with article L. 34-1, are comparable with the rights they enjoy on the national territory, particularly with regard to the interconnection conditions laid down in this code. "V - The number of licences may be limited owing to technical restrictions due to the scarcity of frequencies. "In this case, the telecommunications regulatory authority shall propose the terms and conditions governing the licensing procedure, which shall be published by the telecommunications minister. "All cases of frequency allocation shall provide for conditions of effective competition. "Art. L. 33-2. "The establishment of independent networks, other than those referred to in article L. 33-3, shall be authorised by the telecommunications regulatory authority. "A decree, issued following the opinion of the public service commission for posts and telecommunications, shall set out the general conditions governing the establishment and operation of these networks, in relation to the essential requirements, provisions in the interests of public security and defence and the terms governing the installation of the network to be observed by independent network operators. It shall also set out the conditions under which the latter, together with those referred to in article L.33-3, may be connected to a public network, without allowing the conveyance of calls between persons other than those for whom use of the network is reserved. "A licence may only be refused in the event of non-conformity with one of the conditions governing the establishment of networks. Failing an express decision within two months following the licence application, the latter shall be deemed to be acquired. "When the licence concerns an independent network using radio frequency spectrum allocated to its operator, the licence shall be explicit and shall be accompanied by a schedule of conditions concerning the provisions referred to in item h) of point I of article L. 33-1, which shall specify the obligations incumbent on the licence holder, as laid down in the decree provided for in the second paragraph of this article. "The operator of an independent network may not open its network to the
public without the prior authorisation issued under the conditions laid down in
article L. 33- "Art. L. 33-3. "The following may be set up without restriction, on condition that they conform with the provisions of this code: "1) private networks; "2) pay phones not installed on the public highway; "3) local independent networks, other than radio networks, whose termination points are less than a certain distance apart, as defined by the telecommunications minister; "4) low power, short range radio network infrastructures whose categories are determined jointly by the ministers for telecommunications, for defence and for the interior; "5) radio network facilities which do not use an individual frequency assignment. The operating conditions for the above-mentioned radio facilities shall be set outin the provisions of article L. 36-6. "Art. L. 33-4. "The publication of lists of subscribers or users of telecommunications networks and services shall be unrestricted, subject to the protection of the rights of the persons concerned. "These rights include the right of individuals to oppose the inclusion of their details in the published lists of subscribers or users, to oppose the inclusion of the full address of their domicile in these lists, to prohibit the use of personal information concerning them in commercial operations, and to obtain the said personal information and to demand that it be rectified, completed, clarified, updated or deleted under the conditions laid down in articles 35 and 36 of the Data Protection Act(5) n· 78-17 of 6 January 1978. "Section 2 "Telecommunications services "Art. L. 34. "This section shall apply to the provision of telecommunications services to the public. "Art. L. 34-1. "The provision of a public telephone service shall be authorised by the telecommunications minister. "Authorisation may only be refused on the grounds of public order, in the interests of national defence and public security, when the applicant does not have the technical and financial capacity to sustainably meet the obligations arising out of its operating conditions, or when it has been the subject of one of the penalties referred to in articles L. 36-11, L. 39, L.39-1, L.39-2 and L. 39-4. "Authorisation shall be subject to compliance with the schedule of conditions concerning the points referred to in point I of article L. 33-1, with the exception of e) and h). "When the provision of a service presupposes the establishment of a public network, the licence granted in application of article L. 33-1 shall authorise the provision of the service. "Art. L. 34-2. "The provision of public telecommunications services other than the telephone service shall be unrestricted, on condition that there is conformity with the essential requirements and with national defence and public security requirements. "The services referred to in article L. 34-3 shall be subject to a licence and the services referred to in the first paragraph of article L. 34-4 shall require a declaration. "A State Council(6) decree(7) shall set out the content of the declaration and licence application and shall specify in the licence conditions the technical specifications to be met in order to ensure conformity with the essential requirements. "Art. L. 34-3. "The provision of a public telecommunications service using radio frequency spectrum shall be subject to a licence under the following conditions: "1) - when the provision of the service presupposes the establishment of a new network or changes to a network which has already been licensed, the provisions of article L. 33-1 shall apply; "2) - when the service is provided by a network using radio frequency
spectrum allocated by an authority other than a telecommunications authority, a
licence shall be required, which shall be subordinated to the provisions
referred to in article L. 33- "Art. L. 34-4. "The provision of public telecommunications services other than the telephone service, over networks(8) established in accordance with the Broadcasting Act n· 82-625 of 29 July 1982(9) and article 34 of the aforementioned law of 30 September 1986, shall be subject to a declaration with the telecommunications regulatory authority, after informing the local authorities which established or authorised the establishment of the network. "The sole purpose of this declaration shall be to enable the telecommunications regulatory authority to control the nature of the service provided and the facilities used. "When the service proposed is the public telephone service, the
provision of the service shall be licensed in accordance with the provisions of
article L. 34- "When the purpose of the service proposed is directly concerned with the provision of radio and television services broadcast over the network, the provisions of the first paragraph of article 34-2 of the aforementioned law n· 86-1067 of 30 September 1986 shall apply. "Arrangments in force which prohibit the provision of telecommunications services over the networks mentioned in the first paragraph above or which impose restrictions of a legal or technical nature, shall be brought into conformity with this article by 1 January 1998 at the latest. These same arrangements shall guarantee the owner the proper remuneration of these networks to cover the cost of providing the service and the cost of the investments undertaken for this purpose. They shall specify the means of making additional capacity available when necessary and the technical conditions governing the use of these networks. The telecommunications regulatory authority may be called upon to settle disputes according to the provisions of article L. 36-8. "Section 3 "General provisions "Article L. 34-5. "Two specialised consultative commissions shall be set up by the telecommunications minister and by the telecommunications regulatory authority, one in the field of radio networks and services, and the other for other networks and services. These commissions shall consist of equal numbers of service providers' representatives, business service users' and individual users' representatives, and qualified persons appointed by the telecommunications minister. "The relevant consultative commission shall be consulted by the telecommunications minister and by the telecommunications regulatory authority on all proposals concerning licensing procedures, setting out or modifying technical and operating conditions and technical specifications and requirements concerning the services which lie within its field of competence, as well as the services relating to interconnection and numbering referred to in articles L. 34-8 and L. 34-10. The commissions' conclusions shall be sent to the public service commission for posts and telecommunications. "A decree shall set forth the composition, the functions and the operating conditions of these two consultative commissions. "Art. L. 34-6. "A licence granted to a person under sections 1 and 2 of this chapter may not be transferred to any other person. "A licence granted under articles L. 33-1, L. 34-1 and L. 34-3, shall be published in the French Official Journal, together with the schedule of conditions appended thereto, where applicable. "Licence refusals shall be fully reasoned and notified to the parties concerned. "The suspension, reduction of duration and total or partial revocation of a licence shall be determined by the telecommunications regulatory authority under the conditions set out in article L. 36-11. "Art. L. 34-7. "Telecommunications infrastructure installed on the public domain or for public service requirements may be operated as a public telecommunications network and used to provide a telecommunications service, subject to compliance with the provisions of this code. "Section 4 "Network Access and Interconnection "Art. L. 34-8. "I - Public network operators shall satisfy requests for interconnection from operators licensed in accordance with articles L. 33-1 and L. 34-1 in an objective, transparent and non-discriminatory manner. "Interconnection may not be refused if the request is reasonable with regard to the applicant's requirements and the operator's capacity to satisfy them. All interconnection refusals shall be fully reasoned. "Interconnection shall be a matter for agreement between the two parties involved. This agreement shall set out the technical and financial arrangements for interconnection, in accordance with this code and with the decisions concerning its implementation. A copy of this agreement shall be sent to the telecommunications regulatory authority. "When essential for the purposes of fair competition and the interoperability of services, the telecommunications regulatory authority may ask for the agreement to be modified, after consultation with the competition authority. "A decree shall set out the general conditions, particularly those relating to the essential requirements and the pricing principles which interconnection agreements must satisfy. "II - The public network operators mentioned in the list established under section 7) of article L. 36.7 shall be required to publish the technical and pricing terms of their interconnection offering, with the prior approval of the telecommunications regulatory authority and according to the conditions set out in the schedule of conditions. Interconnection tariffs shall be cost-oriented and shall cover the effective cost of using the network. "The above-mentioned interconnection offering shall be composed of a variety of conditions designed to meet on the one hand the interconnection requirements of public network operators and on the other hand the network access requirements of public telephone service providers, taking into account the rights and obligations of each of these categories of operators. The conditions shall contain sufficient detail to show the specific elements necessary to meet the various demands. "The above-mentioned operators shall provide users and suppliers of telecommunications services other than the public telephone service, with access to their network and to the audiovisual communication services(10) declared in application of article 43 of the aforementioned law n· 86-1067 of 30 September 1986 in an objective, transparent and non-discriminatory manner. They shall also satisfy justified requests from service providers and users for special access corresponding to unpublished technical and pricing conditions. "III - The telecommunications regulatory authority may be called on to settle disputes relating to the refusal of interconnection, interconnection arrangements or access conditions, as laid down in article L. 36-8. "Section 5 "Terminal equipment " Art. L. 34-9. "There shall be no restriction on the sale of terminal equipment. "Equipment intended for connection to a public network and radio network facilities shall be tested for conformity with the essential requirements. The bodies involved in the conformity testing procedure shall be designated in order to allow manufacturers to choose between them and thus ensure their independence in relation to the companies providing goods and services in the field of telecommunications. "A State Council decree shall determine: "1) the conditions under which the bodies responsible for issuing certificates of conformity are designated; "2) the conditions under which the technical specifications for equipment subject to conformity testing are drawn up and published, as well as the conditions governing the connection of equipment to public networks. "3) the cases in which a technical qualification is required for the connection and bringing into service of equipment and facilities and the conditions enabling this qualification to be guaranteed. "4) the procedure for assessing conformity and issuing the corresponding certificates, the cases in which conformity is tacitly acquired and the special conditions under which the certificate is issued for facilities intended for connection to the networks referred to in 1) of article L. 33. "Terminal equipment and apparatus subject to the conformity assessment procedure referred to above may only be manufactured for the European Economic Area, imported for inward clearance from countries outside the latter, kept in view of sale, marketed, distributed free of charge or in return for payment, connected to a public network or advertised, if it has been issued with a certificate of conformity and complies thereto at all times. "Section 6 Numbering "Art. L. 34-10. "A national numbering plan shall be established and controlled by the telecommunications regulatory authority. It shall ensure equal access for users to the various telecommunications networks and services and equivalent numbering formats. "The telecommunications regulatory authority shall allocate prefixes, individual numbers and numbering ranges to operators in an objective, transparent, non-discriminatory way, in return for a fee, set by State Council decree, to cover the management costs of the numbering plan and the control of its use. "The conditions under which prefixes, individual numbers and numbering ranges may be used shall be specified in the schedule of conditions of the operator's licence, or in the allocation decision. "The telecommunications regulatory authority shall ensure that the numbers allocated are used efficiently. Prefixes, individual numbers or numbering ranges may not be protected by industrial or intellectual property rights. Numbers may only be transferred with the prior consent of the telecommunications regulatory authority. "As of 1 January 1998 subscribers who change operator without changing
their geographical location may retain their number, on condition that there is
sufficient transfer capability at this date. Until 1 January 2001 the cost
incurred by the initial operator for the transfer shall be paid by the new
operator which may then bill the subscriber. No other fee of any kind may be
billed to the subscriber by the initial operator. Operators shall include the
necessary provisions in the interconnection agreements mentioned in article L.
34- "As of January 2001 users may, on request: "- retain their telephone number in the event of a change of operator without a change of geographical location. "- obtain a number from their operator, which they may retain in the event of a change of operator or geographical location. "As of the same date, operators shall include the necessary provisions in their interconnection agreements and shall make this facility available to their users, under conditions to be approved beforehand by the telecommunications regulatory authority.
Art. 7.At the end of article 20 of the Town and Country Planning and Development Act(11) n· 95-115 of 4 February 1995 there shall be added a paragraph, worded as follows: " Moreover, the scheme shall determine the resources necessary and in particular the equipment required to ensure that educational establishments, particularly secondary schools and universities have access to the services offered on the integrated services digital network, to on-line services and to advanced telecommunications services. To ensure that the establishments situated in a rural development area, in an urban redevelopment area and in departments where more than 50% of the territory is classified as a rural development area have access to these services, preferential tariffs shall be accorded for access."
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. In the event of a breach of these conditions the operator may
be penalised in accordance with the provisions of articles L. 36-11 and L. 39.
. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to numbers allocated to
mobile networks and used to provide mobile services.