SwedenLag (2022:482) om elektronisk kommunikation (Electronic Communications Act), chapter 7, sections 6 and 37, equivalent access and choice for end users with disabilities
Lag (2022:482) om elektronisk kommunikation, 7 kap. 6 och 37 §§
In force since .
An accessibility requirements rule binding public and private bodies.
What it requires
- If you provide a publicly available electronic communications service, take account of the needs that end users with disabilities have to get access to electronic communications services, including the related contract information, to the same extent as most end users (Lag (2022:482), 7 kap. 37 § första stycket 1; Directive (EU) 2018/1972, Art. 111(1)(a)).
- As such a provider, take account of the needs that end users with disabilities have to benefit from a range of undertakings and services equivalent to the range available to most end users (Lag (2022:482), 7 kap. 37 § första stycket 2; Directive (EU) 2018/1972, Art. 111(1)(b)).
- The first paragraph of section 37 does not apply to a microenterprise that provides only number-independent interpersonal communications services, an enterprise that employs fewer than 10 persons and whose turnover or balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 2 million (1 kap. 7 §); that provider must inform the end user of this before a contract is made (7 kap. 37 § andra stycket).
- If the regulatory authority orders you, as a provider of an internet access service or a publicly available interpersonal communications service, to do so, publish comprehensive, comparable, reliable, user-friendly and up-to-date information on the quality of the service, to the extent you control the network, and on the measures taken to ensure equivalent access for end users with disabilities (Lag (2022:482), 7 kap. 6 § första stycket; Directive (EU) 2018/1972, Art. 104(1)).
- Section 7 of chapter 7 exempts a microenterprise that provides only number-independent interpersonal communications services from sections 1 to 6 of that chapter, section 6 included, and it must inform the end user of this before a contract is made.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
The Swedish Post and Telecom Authority (Post- och telestyrelsen, PTS), the regulatory authority and the supervisory authority under the Act
What it reaches
Instrument type
an act of a legislature
Applicability criteria
Chapter 1 section 7 of the Act defines a microenterprise by Title I of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC and joins the turnover and balance sheet limits with "or". The exemption is one of scale and of service type together: a microenterprise that also provides a number-based interpersonal communications service, internet access or a transmission service is bound.
- As of
- Combinator
- All of
- Criteria
- the provider is not a microenterprise that provides only number-independent interpersonal communications services, a microenterprise being an enterprise that employs fewer than 10 persons and whose turnover or balance sheet total does not exceed EUR 2 million
What this law does
Chapter 7 section 37 of the Act requires a person who provides a publicly available electronic communications service to take account of the needs of end users with disabilities for access to electronic communications services, including the related contract information, to the same extent as most end users.
Section 37 also requires that provider to take account of the needs of end users with disabilities to benefit from a range of undertakings and services equivalent to the range available to most end users. The first paragraph of section 37 does not apply to a provider that is a microenterprise offering only number-independent interpersonal communications services, which must inform the end user of this before a contract is made.
Section 37 lets the Government or the authority it designates make regulations on the requirements to be met when the service is provided. Chapter 7 section 2 of the Ordinance (2022:511), point 11, lets the Post and Telecom Authority make regulations on the requirements in the first paragraph of section 37.
Article 111(1) of Directive (EU) 2018/1972, the European Electronic Communications Code, requires Member States to ensure that the competent authorities specify requirements to be met by providers of publicly available electronic communications services so that end-users with disabilities have equivalent access and benefit from the choice available to most end-users.
Chapter 7 section 6 of the Act lets the regulatory authority order a provider of an internet access service or a publicly available interpersonal communications service to publish comprehensive, comparable, reliable, user-friendly and up-to-date information on the quality of the service and on the measures taken to ensure equivalent access for end users with disabilities. The quality information is to be published to the extent that the provider exercises control over the network.
Article 104(1) of the Directive lets national regulatory authorities require providers to publish quality information and information on measures taken to ensure equivalence in access for end-users with disabilities. Chapter 7 section 7 of the Act makes sections 1 to 6 inapplicable to a microenterprise that provides only number-independent interpersonal communications services. The Post and Telecom Authority is the regulatory authority and the supervisory authority under the Act.
The supervisory authority supervises that the Act, the decisions made under it and the regulations made in connection with it are followed. The supervisory authority has the right of access to areas, premises and other spaces, other than homes, where activity covered by the Act is carried out. Where the supervisory authority suspects a breach it must tell the operator and give it a reasonable time to respond.
The supervisory authority may then issue the orders needed for correction at once or within a reasonable time. A supervisory order of that kind may be combined with a conditional fine (vite). The Act entered into force on .
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app ships a consumer interface or provides telecom services.
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