Lex Mundi Telecommunications Regulation Multi-Jurisdictional Survey CONTACT INFORMATION Alexandros Georgiades Dr. K. Chrysostomides & Co 1 Lampousas Street 1095 Nicosia Cyprus +357 22 777000 a.georgiades@chrysostomides.com.cy CYPRUS 1. What is the name and nature of the regulatory body(ies) in your jurisdiction? To which bodies (if any) are decisions appealed? The Office of the Commissioner of Electronic Communications and Postal Regulations (OCECPR) which is an independent body is the competent authority for Market Regulation in the fields of Electronic Communications including Networks and Services and Postal Services. The Department of Electronic Communications (DEC) of the Ministry of Communications and Works (MCW) is the competent authority for Spectrum Management. Decisions may be appealed to the Supreme Court. 2. Has your jurisdiction adopted the WTO Basic Telecommunications Agreement? If yes, with what exceptions, if any? Yes. WTO Basic Telecommunications Agreement has been adopted (OCECPR had some comments regarding the definition at interconnection services).
3. Are operators in your jurisdiction privately or publicly/state owned? With the exception of the Incumbent Operator Cyta which is state owned, other operators are privately owned. 4. What are the primary differences between the regulation of wire line, wireless, satellite, cable and VoIP providers? The provision of electronic communications networks and services require registration to the OCECPR. On the OCECPR website www.ocecpr.org.cy, under the licensing section, you can find guidelines on the types of networks and services requiring registration. Individual rights of use are granted for the use of numbering resources. Networks and services using frequency spectrum are licensed through common procedures with the DEC. Rights of Way may require further licensing from other competent public and local authorities. Regulation is differentiated between SMP and non SMP operators according to the Market Analysis of the different markets defined across the European Union. More information on the relevant decisions and regulatory measures can be found on the OCECPR website www.ocecpr.org.cy. Further obligations are enforced according to the Decision of terms and conditions of general authorizations (PA 436/2005). General obligations apply for all operators including terms for SMP and non SMP operators (e.g. data protection, number portability, collocation, customer contracts etc). Special obligations also apply for specific networks and services. 5. Are broadcasters regulated separately from telecoms? All networks and services are regulated on the same legal basis. The content of broadcasting services is regulated separately by the Cyprus Radio Television Authority. OCECPR is not responsible for content regulation. 6. How are satellite earth stations and submarine cable landings regulated? Satellite Earth Stations are licensed by DEC. Cable Landing Stations are licensed by OCECPR. Both infrastructures require all other relevant licenses from competent authorities including public and local authorities. Networks and services are regulated as applicable for the provision of services in Cyprus. 7. How is the radio spectrum generally regulated? Radio Spectrum is regulated by the DEC of MCW. For further information please contact DEC (www.mcw.gov.cy/dec).
8. Are any operators granted exclusivity? The provision of electronic communication networks and services is not exclusively granted to any operator. Exclusive rights are granted only for the use of radio spectrum and numbers, if necessary. 9. Are anti-competitive practices subject to regulation or general competition (e.g., antitrust) laws? The Cyprus Competition Authority is responsible for dealing with matters such as anti-competitive Practices and anti-trust cases even though OCECPR has in certain limited cases residual jurisdiction to deal with issues of competition in the market. 10. What services have been liberalized or designated as competitive services? All services of electronic communications have been liberalized since 2003. Market analysis is defining the competitiveness of each relevant market. Please refer to the OCECPR website (http://www.ocecpr.org.cy/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=376&tt=ocecpr&lang=gr) for further information on the relevant decisions. 11. Are there regulated tariffs or price lists? If so, for what types of services? The NRA (National Regulatory Authority) regulates the prices of operators, which have a significant market power. This price control take place usually at the wholesale level but sometimes also at the retail level depending always at the level of effective competition. There are a number of services, which are price regulated. These services are included in the various reference offers such as: Access Reference Offer Interconnection Offer WLR offer Broadband Offer Bitstream Offer 12. Are there restrictions on foreign investment in any types of communications companies? If so, what are the restrictions? No restrictions exist on foreign investment in the area of electronic communications. Companies that are authorized by OCECPR should be registered to the Department of Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver. 13. What are the approval processes for mergers and acquisitions? Do these vary by type of operator? The Commission for the Protection of Competition, which was established in 1990, is the competent authority in the Republic of Cyprus that is responsible for the
restoration, conservation and strengthening of competition in the Republic, including the control of mergers and acquisitions between enterprises. The Law on the Control of Concentrations between Enterprises, Law 22(I)/1999, as amended (Law 22(I)/1999) seeks to control important restructurings of enterprises in the form of concentrations, in relation to their effect upon the structure of the competitive market. Law 22(I)/1999 provides for a system of preventive control of concentrations between enterprises for any concentrations which fall within the ambit of Law 22(I)/ 1999. Concentrations are considered to be of major importance and thus require notification if the following cumulative three-pronged test is satisfied: the annual worldwide turnover realised by each of at least two participating enterprises exceeds 3.417.202,88; and at least one of the participating enterprises is concerned with commercial activities within Cyprus; and finally, at least 3.417.202,88 of the joint aggregate annual turnover of the participating enterprises concerns the sale of goods or the supply of services within Cyprus. The notification must be filed within the time limits set out in Law 22(I)/1999 and the enterprises must secure the relevant approval of the Commission for the notified concentration prior to effecting any such concentration. 14. Is interconnection between carriers mandatory? Yes. Interconnection between carriers is mandatory for the provision of end to end communications especially in case of operators that control the access to end users. 15. Are interconnection fees/rates regulated? Yes. There is a published Interconnection Offer, which includes all relevant services. 16. Must carriers make available network components to competitors? If so, what are fees/prices based on cost, or market rates? SMP operators are obliged to provide access to their networks mainly through Reference offers and Agreements. Collocation and facilities sharing is enforced to all network operators. Must carry obligations are enforced only in the case of the digital broadcasting (DVB-T) operator. 17. Is there an obligation to serve all customers? If yes, is there a fund to subsidize eligible carriers? Which carriers contribute to the fund? Which carriers are eligible to receive these funds? Are broadband services subsidized or otherwise promoted through tax or other incentives? (A) Yes, CYTA as the designated Universal Service Provider is obliged, based on art.108 of the Cyprus Law on electronic communications regulation L.112(I)/2004, to
provide to all end-users in the light of specific national conditions, at least the following services: Connection at a fixed location to the public telephone network and access to publicly available telephone services at a fixed location, provided that the relevant request is considered to be reasonable. Directory enquiry services, and directories in a printed or/and an electronic form. Public pay telephones. Special measures for disabled or soci8ally disabled end users Assistance services (free selective call barring for outgoing calls, itemized billing, pre-payment systems, payment of connection fees in installments) Free access to emergency services, using the call number 112 or other emergency numbers. (B) Yes, in the sense that the Decree on the Universal Service Funding provides a funding mechanism which however is not activated since CYTA as the USP has not requested for compensation yet. The said Decree provides that Contributors to the Universal Telecommunications Service Fund shall include any and all Organisations providing electronic communications networks or services within the territory of the Republic of Cyprus, except: any categories of licence holders that the Commissioner may exclude from the scope of this definition, by reasoned Decree or Decision of the Commissioner; the Beneficiaries themselves, but not any separate companies or other legal entities owned or controlled by them and not subject to an obligation to provide Universal Telecommunications Service; organisations providing electronic communications networks or services within the territory of the Republic of Cyprus with a gross turnover for the provision electronic communications services not exceeding 427,150.36 EURO. 18. Are there mandatory requirements to customer agreements (subscriptions, etc.)? Yes, under art. 69 of the Law 112(I)/2004, the contracts based on which electronic communications services are provided to the subscribers, include at least the following elements: (i)details and the address of the operator (ii)services to be provided to the consumers, quality of services, and time of initial connection (iii)maintenance methods of the provided services (iv)details of prices and tariffs, and means with which information is acquired with regard to the total of tariffs and the dues of maintenance that are in effect (v)duration of convention, and the terms on the renewal and termination of services and contracts (vi)any compensation and refund arrangements which apply if contract service quality levels are not satisfied (vii) method of initiating procedures for the settlement of disputes in accordance with the
relevant provisions of Part 7 of the Law 112(I)/2004 and also (viii)the obligations of of providers and the rights of the end-user 19. Are there any general or telecommunication specific requirements as to data retention? According to Art. 4 and 5 of the Decree on Data retention, all the authorized providers of fixed or/and mobile telephony are obliged to retain the subscriber s and end-user s billing data as described by art. 100(1)(a) of the L. 112(I)/2004 for the period of 6 months only for the purposes of dispute resolution on billings. 20. Is number portability mandatory? If so, for which types of carriers (e.g., wireline, wireless, voice over internet protocol)? Number Portability in mandatory for all fixed and mobile operators that provide public services (e.g. wireline, wireless, voice over Internet Protocol). According to the PA 565/2003 (and amendment) and PA 343/2004 procedures and obligations refer to geographical and operator portability. 21. Is equal access dialing selection mandatory? If yes, for which types of carriers? If the question refers to the carrier pre/selection services, these are available and are regulated through the Reference Offer of the incumbent operator. 22. Is access or other contributions ( ADCs ) required of new entrants? Access obligations are enforced to the SMP operator and are implemented mainly through the Reference Offers. Obligations and procedures for collocation and facilities sharing apply equally to all operators. 23. Is VoIP regulated? If yes, to what extent? VoIP is authorized by OCECPR according to the provisions of the decision of the terms and conditions of general authorizations PA 436/2005 and the Order of the Cyprus numbering plan PA 850/2004. In general, the same regulatory rules apply as those of PSTN services. Special provisions apply for the access of VoIP calls to emergency services. 24. Are any major changes to telecommunications laws expected in the near future? The next major change to the existing telecommunications laws is expected after the approval of the new European electronic communications framework by the European Parliament in 2010.
25. Is resale of telecom services permitted? If yes, is this activity regulated? What is the process to become a reseller? Are foreign companies permitted to be resellers? Yes. Operators of telecoms resale services that provide for billing and customer services should be registered by OCECPR according to the provisions of article 38 of the Law 112(I)2004. Terms and conditions for the provision of these services apply according to the type of service (see the decision on the terms and conditions of general authorizations PA 436/2005).