RESTRICTED
GENERAL AGREEMENT S/NGBT/W/3/Add.10
20October 1994
ONTRADE INSERVICES
(94-2129)
Original: English Negotiating Group onBasic Telecommunications
COMMUNICATION FROM NORWAY
Response toQuestionnaire onBasic Telecommunications
TheattachedcommunicationiscirculatedattherequestofNorwaytoMembersoftheNegotiating
Group onBasic Telecommunications.S/NGBT/W/3/Add.10
Page2
PART I
Definition
1. IfNorway becomes amember oftheEU,ournational lawhastocomply withEUlaw,and
theNorwegian position intheGATT negotiations havetobecoordinated withtheEU.Theanswers
below areaccording tothepresent regime.
There doesnotexistaformal definition ofbasic telecommunications services inNorwegian
regulatory regime. Ourlegislation hasdefined those services which arereserved tosupply bymonopoly
orbysuppliers withaspecial right. Forallother services competition ispermitted.
However, forthepurpose ofthisquestionnaire, thefollowing services areconsidered tobe
basic services:
Infrastructure
Voice telephone services
Telex services
Packet-switched datatransmission services
Circuit-switched datatransmission services
Leased lines
Cellular telephony
Satellite
2. No.
3. Wedonotconsider facsimile services tobebasic telecommunications. They areconsidered
tobeanextension ofthevoice telephone services, andtherearenorestrictions ondelivering facsimile
through thepublic network.
Seequestion 1.
Market structure
4. Voice telephone services
Telex services
Leased lines(resale allowed)
Satellite
Analogue cellular telephony
5. Voice telephone services
Telex services
Leased lines
Analogue cellular telephony
ThePTThasanobligation tosupply these services withnational coverage. Today PTTis
apublic utility, butby1November 1994 itwillbeawholly government-owned corporate entity.
6. Theonlymonopoly inNorway istheNorwegian PTT. Wehavetwosuppliers ofdigital cellular
telephony, oneprivately owned company andonesubsidiary ofthePTT. Theprivatly owned company
hasforeign equity participation. Weinterpret "exclusive supplier" tobeasolesupplier ofaservice.S/NGBT/W/3/Add.10
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Thismeans wedonotconsider thedigital cellular operators tobeexclusive suppliers, anddigital cellular
telephony willbementioned inPartII.
7(a) Basic telecommunications notreserved tothemonopoly: datatransmission anddigital cellular
telephony. Corporate networks based onleased linesfrom theNorwegian PTTarepermitted.
Seealsoquestion 3.
7(b) No.
8. TheNorwegian Government hasentered intothefollowing special agreements:
Thefollowing instruments oftheInternational Telecommunications Union (ITU):
ITU-Constitution, Geneva 1992
ITU-Convention, Geneva 1992
International Telecommunication Regulations, Melbourne 1988
ITURadio Regulations
Agreements withinternational satellite organizations:
INTELSAT
INMARSAT
EUTELSAT
AndNorway hasalsoentered intotheEEA-agreement.
PART II
A. SUBSECTORS
Subsectors inwhich competition ispermitted inNorway:
1. Packet-switched datatransmission services
2. Circuit-switched datatransmission services
3. Digital cellular telephony (GSM)
4. Paging
(i) Overview
Ad1and2
Competitionispermitted.Foreignsupplierscanparticipateunderthesameconditionsasdomestic
suppliers.S/NGBT/W/3/Add.10
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Ad3
TheGovernment haspermitted twosuppliers ofdigital cellular telephony (GSM). Thetwo
operators areacompany owned bytheNorwegian PTTandaprivately owned company. Bothofthe
operators areNorwegian, buttheprivate owned company hasforeign equity participation.
Ad4
TheGovernment hasdecided topermit competition forthissubsector (1991), butforthetime
being theonlylicensed supplier isTele-mobil, owned bytheNorwegian PTT. Newregulations are
being prepared inthissector.
(ii) Modes ofsupply
Most services arecurrently supplied through themode ofcommercial presence. Forsuppliers
ofdigital cellular telephony andpaging, other modes ofsupply mayapply.
(iii) Market access
Ad1and2
Nolimitations.
Ad3
TheGovernment haslicensed oneprivate mobile operator inaddition tothenational PTT.
Indecidingwhoshouldhavethelicence,geographicalcoverageandimplementationtimewereconsidered
tobeimportant elements. There arelimits onforeign equity participation fortheprivately owned
company. Themaximum percentage share allowed is49.9percent,which thecurrent levelofforeign
participation is.
Ad4
Seeprevious question (Overview).
(iv) National treatment
Norway hasnotgotanyspecial limitations onnational treatment extending toforeign suppliers
oftelecommunications services lessfavourable thanthatfordomestic suppliers. Theonlyexception
isthelimitonforeign equity participation concerning theprivately owned GSM operator.
(v) Licensing
Ad1and2
Licensing isnotrequired today, butNorwegian national lawreserves theright torequire
licensing. Thearrangement shallbenon-discriminatory andbebased onobjective criteria.
Ad3
Alicence isrequired, buttheGovernment hasdecided tohaveonlytwooperators inNorway.
Oneoftheoperators should beowned byNorwegian PTT(public utility), andthesecond licence wasS/NGBT/W/3/Add.10
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tendered. Theprocedures concerning thelicensing arementioned inaprevious question (III). Both
operators mustactincompliance withtheONP-principles (EU-law) setoutintheNorwegian legislation.
Ad4
Seequestion (i).
B. CATEGORIES
Local/long distance/international
1. Notapplicable.
2. Notapplicable.
Wire-based
Notapplicable.
Radio-based
Seeprevious answers about paging anddigital cellular telephony (GSM).
Resale basis
3. Resale ofleased circuit capacity ispermitted forallservices thathavebeenliberalized. Resale
ofcapacity ispermitted bothwhen connected tothepublic network atoneendandatbothends. For
switched voice capacity, resale capacity isnotallowed when there isconnection atbothendstothe
public network.
4. Yes. Theonlycondition isthatexcess capacity isnotsoldtoprovide public voice telephony.
There isnoregulation prohibiting resale ofbasic telecommunications which arenotreserved
tosupply bymonopoly orexclusive suppliers.
Facilities-based
5. Only ifthesuppliers useleased circuits form thenational PTT.
Public/non-public supply
6. Seequestion 7(a), PartIandquestion 9(thispage).
7. TheNorwegian PTT(public utility) isrequired tomake thepacket-switched datatransmission
services andcircuit-switched datatransmission services available tothepublic generally. Bothofthe
GSM-suppliers arerequired tomake theirservice available tothepublic generally. Forpaging the
regulation isnotyetimplemented.
8. Packet-switched datatransmission services andcircuit-switched datatransmission services.S/NGBT/W/3/Add.10
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9. Certain obligations withregard togeographical coverage (universal service) andimplementation
timeareimposed ontheGSM-suppliers. Inaddition thePTTisrequired tosupply X.21 andX.25
asuniversal services.
10. Forliberalized services there arenorestrictions.
11. Onlytheoperationofpublicpay-phonesplacedonpropertynotrestrictedtothepublicisreserved
tomonopoly, e.g.theoperation ofpay-phones atairports issubject tocompetition.
PART III
Relationship between regulatory andoperational functions
1. Basic telecommunications suppliers areinvolved inregulatory policy through public inquiries,
buttheytakenopartintheenforcement ofregulations. Theregulatory authorities, independent of
thesuppliers,areresponsiblefortheenforcement.Suppliersmayinfluencethestandardsbyparticipating
inthestandardization process andthrough public inquiries.
2. Norwegian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority isanational telecommunications
standardization bodyresponsible forformulating standards. Inpractice thismeans transposing European
Telecommunications Standards intoNorwegian standards. Enforcing standards istosome extent done
through regulations. Normally standards arevoluntary.
3. There isonlyonelevel ofgovernment having responsibility forregulations affecting basic
telecommunications, andthisisthenational level. Theauthorities aretheNorwegian Ministry of
Transport andCommunications andtheNorwegian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.
Thesuppliers canhaveacasereviewed bytheNorwegian Telecommunications Regulatory
Authority. Thedecision canbeappealed totheNorwegian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority
Complaints andAdvisory Board ortotheMinistry ofTransport andCommunications.
Frequency allotment orassignment
4. Frequencies areallocated bytheNTRA according toanational plan. Applicants aremainly
served onafirst-come first-served basis, depending ontheavailability offrequencies andthetypeof
service.
5. Yes.
Numbering andidentification codes
6. Thenational regulator (NTRA) administrate national numbering plans. Theexact procedures
andcriteria areunder development andareexpected tobefinalized latein1994. Itistherefore not
possible togivetheexact details fornumbering assignments atthepresent time. Wewillhowever
giveabriefoutline oftheexpected procedures andcriteria below:
E.164 numbering plan
Alllicensed operators providing services needing E.164 numbers (telephone, mobile
NMT +GSM, paging) canapply forallocation ofnumbering capacity. NTRA willallocate blocks
ofnumbers totheoperators.S/NGBT/W/3/Add.10
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When considering applications fornumbering capacity, NTRA willamong otherthings lookat:
- Efficient useofthenumbering plan
- Total capacity inthenumbering plan
- Equal treatment ofcompeting operators
- Relevant international agreements, standards orrecommendations
- Thepreference oftheusercommunity
TheNTRA mayrefuse anapplication fornumbering capacity, ormaynotgrant theapplication
infull,having considered theapplication assetoutabove.
X.121 numbering plan
Anyservice provider whooffers orintends tooffer X.25 orX.21 services canapply fora
DNIC. NTRA willallocate aDNIC, withrestriction onusing onlyasingle specified value inthefirst
digitoftheNetwork Terminal Number. When alackoffreeNorwegian DNICs arises, allocations
from thesame DNIC willbedone. Thenewservice provider mustthenuseadifferent value inthe
firstdigitoftheNTN.
Aservice provider receiving aDNIC mustestablish fullinterconnection withanother DNIC
service provider within areasonable period oftime(normally sixmonths) aftertheallocation. New
DNICs willnormally notbeallocated toservice providers whoalready havebeenallocated aDNIC
forthesame typeofservice, either inNorway orabroad.
X.400 domain names
NTRA isrunning aregistration service forADMD andPRMD domain names. Theregistration
isvoluntary. NTRA ensures thattheADMS orPRMD name suggested bytheapplicant issyntactically
correct andthatthename isunique within theregister maintained byNTRA. Theapplicant whois
having hisADMD orPRMD name registered willbecharged asmall feefortheregistration.
NSAP addresses andobject identifiers
NTRA istheNorwegian registration authority forNSAP addresses andobject identifiers.
NTRA willaccept allapplications forNSAP addresses andwillallocate NSAP address prefixes
toapplicants. Theapplicant willbecharged asmall feefortheallocation.
Asimilar scheme isintheprocess ofbeing setupforobject identifiers.
7. Yes.
Standards, typeapproval andequipment attachment
8. Based ontheEEA-agreement between EFTA andEUNorway actsinthesame wayasevery
other country intheEFTA/EU. Most standards areEuropean standards. Mandatory standards are
European harmonized technical standards likeCTRs. IfnoEuropean standard exists, astandard or
specification canbemade mandatory through regulation.S/NGBT/W/3/Add.10
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9. Public review andcomments arepossible. Thedevelopment ofstandards which mainly are
theEuropean standardization process, isopentoeverybody being amember ofETSI. Alsotheprivate
sector mayparticipate.
10. Allequipment which maybeconnected topublic network issubject totypeapproval. The
CTRregime hasalsobeenintroduced, ref.theEEA-agreement. Today self-certification isnotallowed,
ref.however theCTR regime. Noother agreement exists.
11. Terminal equipment hastobetypeapproved orapproved through theCTRregime. According
toregulations equipment intended forbeing attached tothepublic network, mustbe(type) approved
andinaddition bemarked byanational mark and/or aCE-mark.
12. Yes,forliberalized services.
13. Customer-supplied terminal equipment maybeused. Ref.question 11.
Interconnection
14. Interconnection isregulated through theimplementation oftheprinciples ofOpen Network
Provision (EU-law).
Theaccess toanduseofpublic telecommunications networks orservices mustnotberestricted,
except forreasons based onessential requirements. Theessential requirements arethefollowing:
security ofnetwork operation, maintenance ofnetwork integrity, interoperability ofservices and
protection ofdata.
15. Yes.
Norwegian national lawrequires suppliers ofpublic telecommunications networks which have
exclusive orspecial rights tonotrestrict access tothenetwork, except forreasons based onessential
requirements, ref.question14.
16. Yes.
17. TheNorwegian legislations setsoutrequirements fortheareas subject tospecial orexclusive
rights. Thetariffs must bebased onobjective criteria, becost-oriented, transparent and
non-discriminatory.
There arenorequirements tosubmit thecharges toaregulatory body forapproval.
Interconnection charges arenegotiated onacase-by-case basis, buttheconditions mustbein
accordance withtheprinciples mentioned above. There existnoobligations topublish, make publicly
available ortosupply details ofinterconnection agreements toregulatory authorities.
Competitive safeguards
18. CompetitionLawencompasseseverykindofcommercialactivity,regardlessofgoodsorservices
theactivity provides, regardless ofwhether itisprivate orcarried outbycentral orlocalgovernment,
inaccordance with§1-3. Relation todecision bytheparliament andother legislation ismentioned
in§1-4oftheAct.S/NGBT/W/3/Add.10
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Thisimplicates thattheCompetition Laws §3-1to§3-4concerning prohibition ofprice and
estimate cooperation andmarket sharing isalsovalid inrelation withmonopolies anddominating
suppliers onthetelecommunications market. Thisalsoapplies totheCompetition Authority 'swarrant
tointervene inaccordance withCompetition Law§3-10, which givestheCompetition Authority warrant
tointervene against terms ofbusiness, agreements andaction, iftheAuthority finds thatthese have
thepurpose ineffect ofrestricting competition contrary tothepurpose ofAct§1-1. Furthermore,
theCompetition Authority haswarrant in§3-11tointervene against business agreements within the
telecommunications sector, provided theAuthority finds thattheactivity inquestion willresult in
strengthening aconsiderable restraint ofcompetition contrary tothepurpose oftheActs§1-1.
TheEEA-agreements competition rules, which prohibit competition restraint cooperation
Article 53andimproper exploitation ofdominating themarket Article 54concerns parties inthe
telecommunications sector.
19. Competition Lawdoesnotinitially distinguish between dominant andnon-dominant suppliers.
Thesupplier 'sposition intherelevant market istaken intoconsideration whereas anaction issuited
toappear competition restraining contrary toCompetition Laws purpose oneffective useofresources
inactual cases. Thismeans thatanaction performed byadominant supplier canbeevaluated differently
thanthesame action carried outbyasupplier withlesser market dominance.
Regarding safeguards concerning suppliers whohavemonopoly ordominant control ofaccess
tocertain markets ornetwork segments, therearegeneral regulations relating toopentelecommunication
networks andnetwork services (ONP principles).
20. TheCompetition Lawapplies totrading ingeneral, Act§1-3,while general regulations relating
toopentelecommunication networks andnetwork services (andasuggested regulation related toleased
linesinpublic networks) contains special rules forthetelecommunications sector.
Regardingtherulesandregulationsregardingmergersandacquisitions,theCompetitionAuthority
mayinaccordance with§3-11ofCompetition Lawintervene against acquisition ofenterprises, whereas
theAuthority findsthattheparticular acquisition willcreate, orstrengthen asignificant restriction of
competition contrary tothepurpose of§1-1. Mergers, acquisition ofstocks andshares orpartial
acquisition ofenterprise ismeant byacquisition ofenterprise.
21. TheCompetitionLawrulesalsoapplywithregardtosuppliersinthetelecommunicationsmarket
whooffer telecommunications equipment inaddition totelecommunications services.
Price-related measures
22. TheGovernment approves theprices forpublic voice telephony andleased linessupplied by
themonopoly. Themonopoly andsuppliers withaspecial rightarerequired tosetprices inrelation
totheprinciple ofcostorientation.
23. Seequestion 22.
Costaccountingisrequiredinadraftregulationrelatedtoleasedlines(complieswithCommunity
Law).
24. Theprinciple ofnon-discrimination isabasic principle intheNorwegian legislation. This
allows fortariff packages suchasvolume discounts. Therelated principles arecostorientation, equal
treatment, objective criteria andtransparency inpricing.S/NGBT/W/3/Add.10
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Accounting rates arenegotiated onacase-by-case basis between thePTTandtheforeign
operators, andtheGovernment isnotinvolved inthese negotiations.
25. No.
26. Seequestion 22.
27. According totheanswer inquestion 22,therearenospecial rulestothepricing ofanewservice,
unless itisdefined asaservice which isreserved tosupply bymonopoly orbysupplier withaspecial
right.
Rights ofwayfortheconstruction ofinfrastructure
28. No,theinfrastructure isreserved tosupply bythemonopoly. TheGSM-operators mayown
theirownbasestations, butinterconnection between thebasestations mustgothrough leased linesfrom
theNorwegian PTT.
29. Yes,forliberalized services.
Newtelecommunications services
30.and31. Ourlegislation hasdefined those services which arereserved tosupply bymonopoly
orbysuppliers withaspecial right. Forallother services competition ispermitted.