SpainLey 11/2022 (General Telecommunications Law), Article 39 and transitional provisions 5 and 6, accessibility of the universal service
Ley 11/2022, art. 39 y disposiciones transitorias quinta y sexta, General de Telecomunicaciones
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
What it requires
- If you are an operator designated to provide the universal service, give consumers with disabilities access to the services included in the universal service at a level equivalent to that enjoyed by other consumers (Art. 39(1)).
- If the Government imposes them as universal service obligations, make available and affordable the related terminal equipment and the specific equipment and services that favor equivalent access, including text conversion services and total conversation services in text mode (Art. 39(2)).
- If you are the operator designated for the universal service, until regulation provides otherwise, apply the price plan for blind or severely visually impaired subscribers and the price plan for deaf or severely hearing-impaired users on the cases, requirements and conditions of paragraph 4 of the annex to the Agreement of (transitional provision 6).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
If you get it wrong
Penalty structure
Under Ley 11/2022 a serious infringement is fined up to EUR 2,000,000 and a minor infringement up to EUR 100,000 (Article 109(1)(c) and (d)). The two ceilings are total caps per infringement, not daily amounts. Repeating a serious infringement, meaning a final administrative penalty for two or more infringements of the same type within three years, is a very serious infringement (Articles 106(16) and 109(6)) that carries a fine of up to EUR 20,000,000 and can bring disqualification from supplying networks or providing electronic communications services for up to five years (Article 109(1)(a) and (b)); repeating a minor infringement in the same way is a serious infringement (Article 107(44)). Where the offender is a legal person, its legal representatives and the members of its governing bodies who took part in the decision can also be fined up to EUR 5,000 for a minor, EUR 30,000 for a serious and EUR 60,000 for a very serious infringement (Article 109(5)). Article 110(1) grades the amount by factors that include the seriousness of earlier infringements, the damage caused, voluntary compliance with interim measures, obstruction of the inspection, cessation of the infringing activity, harm to users' rights and active cooperation with the authority. To enforce its decisions and information requests the Ministry or the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia can also impose coercive fines of EUR 125 to EUR 30,000 per day (additional provision 6), independent of and compatible with the penalties.
- Rule
- Fixed only
- As of
- Currency
- EUR
- Fixed cap
- 2,000,000
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The head of the Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones e Infraestructuras Digitales imposes the sanctions in the cases not reserved to the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia or, for the data protection and privacy rights of Article 66, to the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (Ley 11/2022, Article 114(1)). The Ministry and the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia may require operators to supply the information needed to check compliance with the obligations that ensure equivalent access for end users with disabilities (Article 9(1)).
What this law does
Article 39(1) of Ley 11/2022 provides that consumers with disabilities are to have access to the services included in the universal service at a level equivalent to that of other consumers. Article 39(2) lets specific measures be imposed as universal service obligations so that related terminal equipment and specific equipment and services that favor equivalent access, including text conversion services and total conversation services in text mode, are available and affordable.
Article 39(3) leaves it to a royal decree to adopt the measures that give consumers with disabilities the choice of operators that most consumers enjoy. Article 37(1) lists the services of the universal service as adequate broadband internet access and voice communications services through an underlying connection at a fixed location. Article 40(1) has the Ministry designate one or more operators to provide the universal service where commercial conditions do not guarantee it.
Transitional provision 5 keeps Telefónica de España, S.A.U. in charge of the connection and telephone service elements of the universal service on the conditions of Orden ECE/1280/2019 until its designation ends or a new designation is made. Orden ECE/1280/2019 set that designation for a period that ended at 0:00 on .
Transitional provision 6 defines the price plan for blind or severely visually impaired subscribers and the price plan for deaf or severely hearing-impaired users by the 2007 agreement of the Government delegated committee for economic affairs until regulation provides otherwise.
Article 85(4) of Directive (EU) 2018/1972 requires Member States to ensure that support is provided to consumers with disabilities and that related terminal equipment and specific equipment and services that enhance equivalent access are available and affordable.
Article 14(2) of Orden IET/1090/2014 lets the Secretaría de Estado require the measurement of the universal-service quality parameters for persons with a given type of disability where there are reasonable signs that their quality of service is getting worse.
Article 15(3) of Orden IET/1090/2014 lets the Secretaría de Estado set by resolution a plan to restore the quality of service for persons with a given type of disability who systematically receive a quality of service worse by more than 50 per cent than the global values set for each parameter. Article 107 classes as a serious infringement the breach of the public service obligations set out in Title III.
Article 108 classes as a minor infringement the breach of the obligations of a public character set out in Title III. Article 109(1)(c) sets the fine for a serious infringement at up to EUR 2,000,000. Article 109(1)(d) sets the fine for a minor infringement at up to EUR 100,000.
Article 114(1)(c) gives the sanctioning power to the head of the Secretaría de Estado de Telecomunicaciones e Infraestructuras Digitales in the cases not reserved to the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia or the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app provides telecom services or ships a consumer interface.
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