The Consumer Protection in Electronic Communications in Bulgaria

Andreana AtanasovaMember of the Communications Regulation Commission

Prague, February 3rd, 2015 Workshop “Electronic communications services today and tomorrow”

Contents• Communications Regulation Commission

• The protection of consumers’ interests according to the Law on Electronic Communications

• Decision No. 928/19.12.2013 amending and supplementing the General requirements for the provision of public electronic communications

• Measures for transparency of the information regarding the coverage of the terrestrial mobile networks

• The protection of personal data according to the Law on Electronic Communications. The consumers consent

Communications Regulation Commission

• National Regulatory Authority. A collective body with five members, incl. a Chairperson and a Deputy Chairperson.

• Regulatory and control functions under:- Law on Electronic Communications;- Law on Postal Services;- Law on Electronic Document and Electronic Signature.

• Ensure a high level of consumer’s protection and contribute to guarantee a high level of personal data and privacy protection

The protection of consumers’ interests according to the Law on Electronic

Communications • The undertakings shall:

- prepare General Conditions of the contract with end-users;- offer conclusion of individual contracts.

• The individual contract and the General Conditions requirements:- clear and comprehensive provisions;- understandable and in a form easily accessible to consumers.

The Commission can give binding instructions.

• The Commission approves the General Conditions of the undertakings providing the US.

• The undertakings are obliged to offer contracts with a term not longer than two years as well as contracts with a term up to one year.

• Entry into force of the individual contract:- 7 days after the contract conclusion, or- immediately after the explicit written consent of the consumer.

• The term contract could be transformed as a permanent under the same conditions. This contract can be terminated with a one-month customer’s written notice, without payment of penalty.

• The undertakings providing TV programs are obliged to annex to the contract a list with the names of the programs. In case of drop-out of a programs the consumer is entitled to terminate the contract with 1-month written notice, without payment of penalty.

Decision No. 928/19.12.2013 amending and supplementing the General requirements for the provision of public electronic communications

The main goal is to guarantee the right of the users to make informed decisions through:

• easy access of the users to the General Conditions:- in the shops - on paper, on a visible place; - on the Internet - link to the General Conditions on the main page and each internal webpage;

• easy access of the users to the content of the contract – undertaking’s obligation to give the user the opportunity to read to contract before signing and give a paper copy of the concluded contract;

• clear and comprehensible clauses of the contract, including writing them with an appropriate font size - the exact date of its entry into force/expiry; at least a 10-point font; in "bold" font of at least 12 points clauses concerning penalties, the order for termination and renewal of the contract, included in as last clauses immediately before the space left for the subscriber's signature;

• guaranteeing the express, free and informed consent of the users to: - receive messages for the purposes of direct marketing; - not to receive itemised bills; - process their personal data by the undertaking for certain purposes;- the contract with the undertaking to enter into force immediately.

These clauses should be placed in the contract after the space left for the subscriber's signature.

• a notice inviting the user to become familiar with contract content and the applicable general conditions before signing ;

• easy access to all elements and conditions of the selected tariff plan, tariff or bundle - published in the individual contract or in a separate document signed by the subscriber;

• the right of users to terminate the individual contract without penalties in case of its unilaterally amendment by the undertakings;

• prevention mechanisms against “shock” bills of using the "mobile Internet" service – safeguard limit of 25 € and notice when 80 % of the set financial limit has been reached;

• opportunity to select billing tariffs “per second after the first 30 seconds” – undertakings to offer at least two tariffs for post-paid mobile telephone service, post-paid fixed telephone service and pre-paid mobile telephone service.

Mobile Networks Coverage: Transparency measures

• In general network coverage in Bulgaria is provided by all operators at reasonable levels (data declared by operators, 31.12.2013):

• The CRC received complaints from consumers about lack of coverage or weak network signal

• Leading mobile operators publish different information on network coverage and availability

• No comparison is possible between operators

Mobiltel Telenor Bulgarian Telecommunications company

Coverage by territory

97,87% (UMTS)

99,51% (GSM)

80,39% (UMTS)

99,99% (GSM)

97,90% (UMTS)

99,60% (GSM)

Coverage by population

99,73% (UMTS)

99,99% (GSM)

96,09% (UMTS)

99,98% (GSM)

99,81% (UMTS)

99,99% (GSM)

Information published by Mobiltel

Information published by Telenor

Information published by BTC

Decision 512 of 07 August 2014

• Public consultations on the draft decision• The CRC ordered operators to publish online coverage checkers subject to

requirements regarding:• Scale of each quadrant 100 meters x 100 meters which represents an area with

specific signal level (averaged)• Each signal level is represented with different colors:

• The electronic maps should contain all data on settlements and roads• Search functionalities• The coverage checker must be accompanied by guidelines on factors affecting

signal levels

Coverage Level GSM UMTS color

No coverage X ≤- 104 dBm X ≤ - 105 dBm White

Acceptable - 85 dBm < X < - 104 dBm - 85dBm < X < - 105 dBm Green

Good - 85 dBm ≤ X < - 65 dBm - 85 dBm ≤ X < - 65 dBm Yellow

Very Good X ≥- 65 dBm X ≥- 65 dBm Red

Implementation of Decision 512 of 07 August 2014

• To date all three mobile operators implemented the decisionGSM coverage

Mobiltel Telenor BTC

Implementation of Decision 512 of 07 August 2014

UMTS coverage

Mobiltel Telenor BTC

The protection of end consumers’ data according to the Law on Electronic

Communications • The protection of the personal data of the consumers of

electronic communications services is regulated by the Law on Electronic Communications in compliance with Directive 2009/136/EC (ePrivacy Directive) and Directive 95/46/EC (Data Protection Directive)

• The consumers’ data can be processed by the undertakings only where such data are designated directly for the provision of electronic communications services

• The consumers’ data include: - traffic data; - data necessary for preparation of the subscriber bills as well as for proof of their authenticity; - location data.

The consumers consent• In certain cases to process the consumers’ data the presence

of an explicit consent is required.

• The consent should be freely expressed by the consumers - no negative consequences should arise for them, in case they refuses to give their consent.

• The consent should be concrete - not a general, clearly defined, not allow an expanded interpretation, provided in special clauses, separated from the general conditions.

• The consent should be informed - the consumers shall receive directly sufficiently clear and comprehensive information regarding the purposes, for which the data shall be processed, right before giving the consent.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!