registration document France Telecom 2009 - Orange.com

6 OVERVIEW
overview of the Group’s Business
OF BUSINESS
Belgium
The Regulatory Environment
Legal and Regulatory Framework
The 2002 regulatory framework for electronic communications
networks and services is transposed in the law on electronic
communications of June 13, 2005, amended the last time by
the law of December 30, 2009.
The law on the protection on economic competition
of September 2006 was completed in 2009.
Authorities
The Ministry for Simplifi cation & Enterprises is in charge
of electronic communications and information society.
The Institut belge des services postaux et des
télécommunications (IBPT) is the regulatory authority for the
telecommunication sector.
The three media regulators in charge of broadcast issues in
each Belgian Community have also to be consulted by the BIPT
on some decisions that could impact broadcast services.
The Competition Council is in charge of the promotion and the
effectiveness of competition.
Regulation of Mobile Telephony
Z KEY EVENTS
January 15 Electromagnetic fields: The Constitutional Court rejected the operators’ appeal against the ordinance of the
Brussels Region to impose a 3V/m cumulative norm.
March 27 Licensing: The Belgian Council of Ministers approved the royal decree extending the 2G licenses until 2015 but
postponed its entry into force.
May 26
Competition: The Competition Council fi ned Belgacom Mobile 66 million euros for abuse of dominant position by
squeezing prices on the mobile market in 2004 and 2005.
June 30 Mobile call termination rates: The Court of Appeal annulled the MTR levels defi ned by the IBPT for 2006 and 2007
as well as the IB PT decision imposing additional decrease as from February 2008.
July 17
Licensing: The Council of Minister adopted a Royal decree extending 2G licenses until 2021, not entered into force.
September 22 Licensing: The Court of appeal annulled IBPT’s decision regarding Mobistar’s license.
October 2 Competition: in the damage claim procedure against Belgacom Mobile, the legal experts issued a draft report with
damages caused by Belgacom Mobile abuses against KPN Group Belgium & Mobistar totaling 1.18 billion euros.
November 18 Spectrum: The IBPT launched a public consultation on a draft law whose objective is to defi ne spectrum fee
methodology in the case of license allocation and renewal.
December 23 Spectrum: The IBPT launched a public consultation on the draft law amended whose objective is to defi ne spectrum
fee methodology in case of license allocation and renewal, as well as on draft Royal decrees relating to 2G renewal, 4 th
MNO conditions and 2.6 GHz band allocation rules.
February 2010 Mobile call termination rates: The IBPT issues a draft decision for consultation on a glide path which reduces
MTRs to 1.07 euro cent/min in January 2013.
Electromagnetic Fields
In January 2009, the Constitutional Court rejected the appeal
of the operators against the ordinance of the Brussels Region
to impose a 3V/m cumulative norm. This ordinance has been
completed by secondary legislation in H2 2009. However, since
January 2009, Brussels authorities have imposed a moratorium
regarding the delivery of building permits preventing the mobile
network operators from installing new antennas.
In April 2009, the Walloon Parliament also adopted its own
norm (the 3V/m non-cumulative norm). The Flanders Region is
currently discussing the issue.
Licensing
In March 2009, the Belgian Council of Ministers approved a royal
decree extending the 2G licenses until 2015 and postponed the
royal decree publication to organize a public consultation on the
2G licenses extension until 2030.
In July 2009, the Council of Ministers adopted a Royal decree
extending 2G licenses until 2021, including renewal fees and
defi ning allocation procedure for a new entrant. This Royal
decree has still not entered into force.
In September 2009, the Court of appeal annulled IBPT’s
decision regarding Mobistar license for lack of motivation and
violation of the rules governing the consultation of the media
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2009 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT / FRANCE TELECOM