E-communications Regulation

The purpose of the Regulation is to substitute missing effects of competition, to create conditions for proper functioning of competition, and to protect users and other market players until a fully competitive environment is achieved.

Regulation of Communication Activities

Communication activities are as follows:

provision of electronic communications networks,
provision of electronic communications services,
operation of devices.

Provision of a public communication network, publicly available electronic communications services, and electronic communications networks for ensuring state security is carried out in the public interest.

Business in electronic communications includes:

provision of public communications networks,
provision of electronic communications services.

Natural and legal persons that meet general terms and conditions may undertake activity in electronic communications within the territory of the Czech Republic. Authorisation to undertake business is established for such persons on the date of delivery of notification of business activity which complies with the particulars laid down in Section 13, unless the law provides otherwise.

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The Office promotes economic competition in ensuring networks and providing electronic communications services and allocated resources and additional services by business undertakings mainly by, when taking decisions within its remit,

ensuring that users, including handicapped users, receive the maximum benefits from the perspective of the choice of service, price and quality,
ensuring that there is no disruption or restriction of economic competition in the electronic communications sector,
promoting effective investment in infrastructure and promoting motivation, and
ensuring effective administration and purposeful use of radio frequencies and numbers.

The Office contributes to the development of the internal market of the European Community primarily by:

removing, through its decision-making, obstacles to the provision of electronic communications networks, allocated finances and supplementary services and the provision of electronic communications services between European Union Member States,
promoting, through its decision making, the establishment and development of trans-European networks and the interoperability of trans-European services between Member States,
ensuring, through its decision making, that there is no discrimination, under comparable conditions, between business undertakings which provide networks or electronic communications services, and
cooperating, in accordance with the principle of transparency, with the national regulatory authorities of other Member States and with the Commission of the European Communities in ensuring uniform regulatory practice in the application of the relevant European Community directives.

The Office also promotes the interests of end users, in particular by:

ensuring, through its activities, that all end users have access to a universal service according to Section 38,
ensuring, in accordance with the provisions of that law, a high level of consumer protection,
contribution to ensuring a high level of personal data protection and privacy,
supporting the provision of clearly formulated information, in particular by pushing through the transparency of prices and conditions for the use of publicly available electronic communications services,
dealing with, in accordance with the provisions of the law, the needs of handicapped end users or persons with low incomes, and
upholding the integrity and security of public communications networks.

The Office is obliged to regularly monitor and evaluate the effects of remedial measures imposed on individual relevant markets, even in between analyses of these markets conducted in accordance with the law. Should it discover that imposed remedial measures have undesirable effects on markets or disproportionately distort it or that the reason for their imposition no longer exists, it immediately repeals them.

The Office is obliged to take into consideration the need for technological neutral regulation; technological neutral regulation means a regulation which does not impose an obligation on a specific type of technology, neither does it favour any type of technology.