The Hungarian Communications Market Developments and ...

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The Hungarian Communications Market Developments and Regulation between 2004 and 2008 Furthermore, the Authority contributes to the preparation of legislation, provides data supply, performs cost calculation tasks and controls accounting separation. The number of postal service providers with reporting obligation and listed in the Authority’s register more than doubled since 2004. Within the framework of the postal market surveillance activity, the Authority initiates five to seven nation-wide investigations each year, including about 150 to 200 site surveys. During the period between 2004 and 2008, the Authority annually investigated a hundred customer complaints on average. Figure 2.11: Changes in the number of postal service providers pcs 150 100 50 Number of registered service providers Number of cancelled service providers 173 70 96 111 24 137 49 54 Figure 2.12: Changes in the number of postal service-related customer complaints pcs 100 50 0 83 98 84 117 0 0 8 2004 2005 2006 2007 2004 2005 2006 2007 10.09.2008 Source: NHH Source: NHH Currently, universal services may only be provided by a single service provider, with the rest of the sub-markets being multi-player markets. The introduction of competition has opened a new era also in the activity of the Authority. Due to the present, special market situation, while performing authority duties, NHH must concurrently take into account the needs of players acting within liberalised market segments and the expectations expressed by the universal service area protected from competition. Contrary to the field of electronic communications, the postal duties of the National Communications Authority are less regulatory in nature in the present legal environment. What is much more focalised is the market surveillance duty associated only to a limited extent with the power of decision to influence the postal market. The most important duties are as follows: • temporary relief of the designated universal postal service provider from fulfilling its door-to-door delivery obligation, • approval of service providers’ accounting statements, service quality reports and measurement methodology of waiting time calculation, • authority decisions as regards modifications to by-laws, • authority approvals, • decisions on prohibiting organisations from unlawfully providing postal services, and • substantive decisions as a result of procedures prompted by individual complaints. In addition to postal market surveillance duties, the Authority continuously monitors the operation of the market, evaluates the situation of postal markets on an annual basis, and reports thereon to the Government. Furthermore, the Authority contributes to the preparation of postal legislation, takes part in impact assessments as well as in various international forums to represent the position of Hungary on a regular basis. International activity Authority duties include tasks related to the work of the European Commission, thus the supply of country information and professional contribution to the studies made by the Commission. Over the past five years, the Commission basically ordered a series of different European-level studies with the aim of monitoring the compliance of the Member States with the European postal directive 24 and in preparation of full liberalisation. The Authority has also contributed to the preparation of the third postal directive. Another international and annually recurring task is the collection of EU postal statistical data. EUROSTAT, the statistical office working under the General Directorate of the European Commission has been involving CERP and NRA members including NHH in postal data collection since 2005. The Authority is involved in the working and project groups of the European Committee for Postal Regulation, with active participation in the work of several working groups. The Authority is actively involved in the work of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) as well. During the 9 years of the past two election periods, Hungarian administration, including NHH, was also
28 29 a member of the Council of Administration and Postal Operations Council of UPU. Postal standardisation work became less intense after Hungary’s EU accession. By now it is limited to the evaluation of publications on European standards, and, to a lesser extent, to professional contribution to the development of standards and to the professional evaluation of the Hungarian translations thereof. It must also be noted that the Authority continuously participates in drawing up standardisation draft proposals. The Authority has also played a role in the publication of the Hungarian language version of the set of postal standards. 2.10 Representative of Communications Users’ Rights This office was founded in the middle of May 2004, to be chaired by the Representative of Communications Users’ Rights (HFJK). The basic duty of the HFJK is to identify the anomalies of the communications market in issues affecting a high number of consumers as well as to elaborate proposals for measures and to initiate procedures in cases of well-grounded individual complaints. Anyone suffering infringements as a result of the activity of a communications service provider, or exposed to an immediate risk thereof, may contact the Representative of Communications Users’ Rights. The HFJK handles about a thousand written complaints and nearly this many calls each year. In order to promote conscious decisions on the part of customers and thus raise their level of satisfaction, the HFJK aims at providing information to the widest possible circle of customers. Over recent years, the Authority has taken significant steps towards increasing customer awareness. In order to publicize the activity of the HFJK, the Authority has organised nation-wide road shows, press conferences and presentations, and has been permanently present in the media. It has also produced information brochures on questions affecting a large group of consumers, such as the most important aspects of subscriber contracts, premium rate services, number portability, fidelity agreements, spam and carrier selection. The HFJK also places great emphasis on providing information through the Internet. Anyone interested in his work should visit www.hfjk.nhh.hu, and get further useful information on communications services at the TANTUSZ website at www.tantusz.nhh.hu. TANTUSZ was launched in 2005 as a mobile tariff comparison service. Later it was extended with broadband, fixed-line, cable television and roaming related applications. Then, the mobile search function was supplemented with video calling and data options, to be followed by an improved television module. The latest development is the “more in one” (2-play/3-play) search. Today, the roaming application features the roaming tariffs of as many as 66 countries. There is an interactive map on the website of both the Authority and the HFJK with information on unintended roaming related phenomena in certain areas near country borders. Over recent years, the HFJK has signed several cooperation agreements: with cable television associations on data supply to the TANTUSZ website, with the National Consumer Protection Association (OFE) for addressing the problems of communications consumers and for providing better information to consumers, with Internet service providers on switching ADSL service providers while being guaranteed uninterrupted service, and with ADSL service providers on one-stop switching between Internet service providers. Solutions to problems related to the dial-up type Internet access have also been identified in cooperation with service providers. With the aim of raising consumer awareness, in 2008 the Authority launched the Consumer Awareness Programme, which defines further duties for the years ahead.
Page 1 and 2: 1 1 The Hungarian Communications Ma
Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS Contents 1. NHH’s role i
Page 5 and 6: 02 03 years. This year one of NHH
Page 7 and 8: 04 05 NHH’s role in the regulatio
Page 9 and 10: 06 07 affected parties have failed
Page 11 and 12: 08 09 Figure 1.1: NHH’s regulator
Page 13 and 14: 10 11 Key areas of regulation for t
Page 15 and 16: 12 13 2.1 Changes in institutional
Page 17 and 18: 14 15 Market analysis decisions of
Page 19 and 20: 16 17 Decision Round 1 Year Round 2
Page 21 and 22: 18 19 purposes of WMAN, which was c
Page 23 and 24: 20 21 sional knowledge but also for
Page 25 and 26: 22 23 There is the possibility of p
Page 27 and 28: 24 25 lution is well demonstrated b
Page 29: 26 27 surveillance activity. Servic
Page 33 and 34: 30 31 Electronic communications is
Page 35 and 36: 32 33 Figure 3.5: Monthly average t
Page 37 and 38: 34 35 Fixed location services In Hu
Page 39 and 40: 36 37 Figure 3.11: Changes in the n
Page 41 and 42: 38 39 Figure 3.15: Changes in the n
Page 43 and 44: 40 41 Figure 3.18: Cable television
Page 45 and 46: 42 43 Results and influence of mark
Page 47 and 48: 44 45 hindered on the retail side,
Page 49 and 50: 46 47 Figure 4.2: Voice traffic sha
Page 51 and 52: 48 49 gated price index) above the
Page 53 and 54: 50 51 Figure 4.8: Monthly spending
Page 55 and 56: 52 53 the Board imposed the obligat
Page 57 and 58: 54 55 Figure 4.10: Sales of ADSL se
Page 59 and 60: 56 57 stimulation regarding the dev
Page 61 and 62: 58 59 Figure 4.14: Broadband penetr
Page 63 and 64: 60 61 The OECD study also contains
Page 65 and 66: 62 63 postponed to the distant futu
Page 67 and 68: 64 65 mately introduced EU level re
Page 69 and 70: 66 67 According to the obligation i
Page 71 and 72: 68 69 4.5 Regulatory means applied
Page 73 and 74: 70 71 The implementation of the reg
Page 75 and 76: 72 73 Epilogue Today, electronic co
Page 77 and 78: 74 75 28 The full unbundled access

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