21.04.2005

Thursday, April 21, 2005, the President of the National Regulatory Authority for Communications, Mr. Dan Cristian Georgescu, delivered a speech in the opening session of the Communications Day, launching the information campaign on the rights and benefits the end users of electronic communications services may enjoy due to the competitive environment in the market.

The ANRC campaign is aimed to fulfil the information need of the users under the circumstances of the rapid transition of the fixed telephony market from monopoly to competition. The users of fixed telephony services must be informed in order to get maximum benefits from the advantages offered by a competitive market and to exercise their specific rights, as guaranteed by the Universal Service Law.

Following the market studies conducted on the providers and on the end users, with a view to identifying the knowledge level regarding the regulatory framework, the Authority and the services offered by us, as well as the rights of the end users and the telephony service offer, ANRC concluded that business users are better informed than residential users. Furthermore, the largest percent of residential users who are not aware of their rights – 53.2% - is represented by the fixed telephony users.

77.6% of the residential users do not exercise their rights, and 92.8% of the end-users do not address any public institutions for solving the problems related to the communications services they use.

The study revealed that the users are better accustomed with their generic rights, which are available for all the service consumers, rather than the specific rights of the users of electronic communications services. Thus, in the case of fixed telephony, the most frequently mentioned rights are: the right to submit complaints (18.3%), the right to prompt problem solving (15.7%) and the right to benefit from quality services (15.2%). The consumers are less familiar with their specific rights, as provided by Law no.304/2003 for Universal Service, such as the right regarding certain minimum provisions of the agreement, the right of being informed at least 30 days before the providers operates any changes on the agreement terms (services, tariffs, charging formula), the right to terminate the contract without paying any damages in case the user does not agree on the provider’s amendments, as well as the right to benefit from clear, detailed and updated information regarding the terms of provision for the respective services.

Starting from these aspects, ANRC published and will distribute a Guidebook for Fixed Telephony Users containing information regarding the rights of the telephony service users, the list of the providers offering fixed telephony services, information on the unique emergency number - 112 - and on the use of special regime numbers (08- or 09- numbers) as well as on the carrier selection procedure. The leaflet contains the list of all the fixed telephony providers who agreed to be presented in this material and indicated their contact data. Moreover, the leaflet contains a list of questions recommended by ANRC prior to buying fixed telephony services from the providers. The 2 million leaflets will be distributed by mail throughout the country, to residential users in the urban area.

 „Having identified the end-users’ problems, we intended to ensure that the information needs of the public would be met. Thus, we will have the guarantee that, in time, the Romanian consumers receive adequate education regarding their rights, and become knowledgeable consumers”, Mr. Dan Georgescu declared. 

The ANRC President announced the inauguration of a cost-free telephone line offered by ANRC to the end-users – 0800.855.855 – where all the persons interested in public interest information may call. As well, the Authority’s website hosts a special page, dedicated to the end-users, where one can find information regarding the use of telephone numbers, the users’ rights and the unique emergency number.

The end-users’ information campaign, organised with the support of the European Union, by the Phare programme, is part of a larger project designed to foster the dialogue between ANRC and the industry of electronic communications and postal services. Approximately EUR100 thousand endorsed the information campaign, which envisages both the providers and the users of electronic communications services.