The Hungarian Communications Market Developments and ...

The Hungarian Communications Market Developments and Regulation between 2004 and 2008
Observing the EU’s Lisbon Strategy and the e-government objectives,
a complex e-signature infrastructure has been established,
which is able to implement certified e-signature processes to be
used in public administration, including time stamp service and the
handling of withdrawal lists, and is also capable of supporting signature
verification and the display of e-signed documents. We have
supplied users entitled to issue authority documents with electronic
certificates to be used in public administration and software for
creating the signature. Such developments established the technological
preconditions of (public administration) e-business defined
as a government objective, which strengthens the role of NHH as a
customer-friendly and service-centred authority.
In order to promote compliance with data supply obligations prescribed
by the Authority and by taking government efforts and recommendations
into consideration, a uniform data and document interface
(Gateway) for NHH has been developed to facilitate data supply and reporting
(e.g. of licensing requests) on online forms by service providers
registered with the Authority after their identification at the government
client gate or through using e-signature. Besides saving time for clients,
this system is significant in an environmental sense as it eliminates the
need for paper-based information flow.
Efficient frequency management cannot be imagined without complex
calculations of electromagnetic wave propagation, up-to-date 3D
map information, and precise records of technical (licensing) data. All
this is integrated in FMS (Frequency Management System), which is
made up of design modules that even have geographical information
capacities facilitating efficient frequency management, design checks,
area and population coverage calculations and interference analyses.
This system is also used for international frequency coordination,
domestic frequency licensing, monthly billing of frequency usage and
reservation fees, and also functions as an inventory of the complete
range of frequency asset.
SIMON (Spectrum Interference Monitoring) is a monitoring system
(survey, data collection and processing), which consists of fixed and
mobile measuring stations connected through the e-government backbone
network. It measures factual frequency use, detects unlicensed
emissions, and thus maintains interference-free conditions defined in
the licenses. Without this system, the detection of unlicensed frequency
use – putting public service or business objectives at risk – or the elimination
of unintentional sources of disturbance would not be possible.
The Uniform Information System for Measurement (EMIR) is a system
to implement authority processes relating to measurements, in
which measuring, data collection and processing systems previously
carrying out specific tasks in isolation are integrated. As a result
of such integration, the Authority’s business is now smoother and
response times are shorter.
Number portability within Hungary, i.e. retaining the telephone
number when switching from one service provider to another, is made
possible by the Central Reference Database (KRA) developed and oper-
ated by NHH. KRA is a reference database of domestic ported mobile
and fixed telephone numbers, used by all communications service
providers, subject to strict identification, for synchronizing their own
databases via reliable and encrypted data connection. In addition to
handling individual number portability, publication of portability information
with reference to toll-free, local rate and premium rate numbers is
also realised through this system. Operation of this system by NHH is a
duty of national significance.
Telephone numbers, as a limited resource, are managed by means
of a register of allocations and reservations called Identifier Management
Database (AGA). This system registers information, automatically
generates certain authority decisions, and generates billing items within
an integrated structure. CA-SUP, a system in charge of monitoring
electronic signature service, is capable of monitoring the latest PKI
(Public Key Infrastructure) technologies and it automatically checks
compliance with the obligations of certification service providers. For
instance, it monitors the operation of certificate withdrawal and time
stamp services. The duties of the Authority also include the registration
of advanced and qualified certification service providers, managed by
the Authority’s eSIGN system.
The Authority communicates with the public through a web-based
system using a content management system under continuous
development. Our website is used for publishing general information
concerning the operation of the Authority as well as for publishing
records, decisions, other information subject to mandatory publication
and interfaces of electronic data supply.
As stipulated by law, NHH has joined the Public Information Search
System. The daily synchronization of the information of public interest
published on the Authority’s website is also performed automatically.
2.2 Market analysis procedures
Economic regulation of the electronic communications sector is
predominantly related to market analysis procedures. As authorized
by law, NHH identifies relevant markets, analyzes the competition on
these markets and the effectiveness of competition, identifies service
providers with significant market power on the relevant markets, and,
with the purpose of addressing market failures, defines the obligations
conferred upon service providers with significant market power
(Article 10 (f) of Eht.). As a first round, mainly in 2005, the Board of
NHH completed a market analysis and made decisions with reference
to 18 markets in accordance with the 2003 Recommendation of the
European Commission 11 (with the exception of Market 17 – wholesale
roaming services). The Board already made a second round of decisions
with regard to these markets as the provisions of Eht. stipulate
carrying out a market analysis every two years. Such second round
decisions gave similar results to those of the first round market analysis
in terms of SMP designation and obligations.