Telecoms
Legislation/regulations
The Electronic Communications Act of 2005 (Act No. 127/2005 Coll.) implements the EU Universal Service Directive in Czech law. Section 43 of the Act sets out that the universal service provider (USP) shall provide equitable access to publicly available telephone services for people with disabilities. This includes emergency call numbers, directories and directory enquiry services. The Act also specifies that the USP shall ensure that public payphones have barrier-free access and are specially-equipped. The Act is implemented by a series of governmental Acts (decrees) in relation to competition in the telecommunication market (see below). Guaranteed advantages for disabled people are stressed in these Acts (e. g. Act No. 161/2005 Coll., Act No. 336/2006 Coll.). These decrees further specify details of modifications for particular types of impairment.
Ministerial order No. 161/2005 Coll. Of 2005 on “the determination of the characteristics of the functions of specially modified telecommunication terminal equipment for different types of handicap” stipulates that the universal service provider is obliged to make available, by selling or renting, special telecommunication devices for handicapped people on the same price conditions as for the standard equipment, as specified in Section 43 of the Act 127/2005. ČTÚ (the national regulator) designated universal service providers for particular parts of the universal service via tendering procedures in 2005 and 2006. The incumbent was designated as a single provider for all parts, and there are special tariffs for disabled users and users with special social needs, for whom the incumbent is to provide this service together with two other mobile operators.
As regards social tariffs, under rules set by the Czech Telecommunications Office, socially disadvantaged people and people with disabilities are provided a price discount on either fixed or mobile services by the universal service provider Telefonica O2 Czech Republic. For fixed line services, the total discount amounts up to CZK 403 (c. EUR 15) per month. For mobile services, from 1 January 2007 the discount is CZK 286 (c. EUR 10,50). Other telecom operators offer similar price discounts with slight modifications.
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