Universal services in electronic communications

Općenito, Univerzalne usluge u elektroničkim komunikacijama treba promatrati iz dvije perspektive. Jedno je korisnička perspektiva gdje Univerzalne usluge predstavljaju minimalni skup usluga koje moraju biti dostupne svakom krajnjem korisniku neovisno o području u kojem se nalazi unutar jedne države, uz propisanu kvalitetu te po pristupačnoj cijeni. S druge strane, iz perspektive proglašenog operatora Univerzalnih usluga one predstavljaju uvijek obvezu da iste pruža na cijelom geografskom području jedne države (ili jednom njenom dijelu, ovisno o regulaciji) kako bi pristup Univerzalnoj usluzi imali svi krajnji korisnici, osobito oni koji žive u udaljenim područjima kao i obvezu operatora Univerzalnih usluga da pristup tim uslugama pruži po povoljnim cijenama onima koje imaju niske prihode te da te usluge omogući krajnjim korisnicima s invaliditetom. Dok su ideja i cilj Univerzalnih usluga isti od samih početaka, uslijed tehnološkog razvoja mijenjaju se usluge koje čine Univerzalne usluge. Za razliku od devedesetih godina prošlog stoljeća kada su definirana pravila Europske unije o Univerzalnoj usluzi u elektroničkim komunikacijama i kada je Univerzalna usluga činila prvenstveno pristup javnoj govornoj usluzi, danas mnoge zemlje uključuju i širokopojasni pristup internetu u opseg Univerzalnih usluga. Taj je koncept prihvatila i Republika Hrvatska koja je širokopojasni pristup internetu uključila u opseg Univerzalnih usluga počevši od ožujka 2013. godine, dok će ta usluga poseban značaj doživjeti s 1. siječnja 2015. godine kada će proglašeni operator Univerzalnih usluga imati obvezu brzinu od 1 Mbit/s omogućiti svakom krajnjem korisniku na području Republike Hrvatske, po pristupačnoj cijeni. Osim troška koji snosi proglašeni operator Univerzalnih usluga ne smije se zanemariti i korist koju taj operator ostvaruje od činjenice što pruža Univerzalne usluge. U tom smislu, a kao što je prikazano u ovom radu, relevantni EU kao i nacionalni propisi omogućuju proglašenom operatoru Univerzalnih usluga mehanizam nadoknade putem državnog ili industrijskog fonda. Ipak, kako bi do toga došlo potrebno je da proglašeni operator Univerzalnih usluga prethodno dokaže kako troškovi pružanja Univerzalnih usluga predstavljaju neopravdano opterećenje za njega na način da dokaže kako su troškovi koje on snosi uslijed obveze pružanja Univerzalnih usluga veći od koristi koje on ostvaruje. Uzimajući u obzir način na koje su Univerzalne usluge u elektroničkim komunikacijama definirane na EU i nacionalnoj razini, može se zaključiti kako one predstavljaju jednu sasvim logičnu cjelinu. S jedne strane, svaki zainteresirani operator elektroničkih komunikacija ima pravo prijaviti se za pružanje Univerzalnih usluga a u slučaju kada nema zainteresiranih onda regulator donosi odluku o tome tko će biti operator Univerzalnih usluga vodeći računa o postojanju značajne tržišne snage operatora na mjerodavnom tržištu. S druge strane, operatori koji pružaju Univerzalne usluge imaju pravo na nadoknadu neto troškova pružanja Univerzalnih usluga ako dokažu da one predstavljaju neopravdano opterećenje za njih. Sve navedeno odvija se uz načelo ne narušavanja tržišnog natjecanja, a s ciljem sprječavanja socijalne isključenosti osoba sa niskim prihodima i osoba s invaliditetom.In general, the Universal services in electronic communications should be viewed from two perspectives. One is end-user perspective where Universal services represent the minimum set of services which must be available to every end-user regardless of the area in which the end-user is located within one state, with prescribed quality and at an affordable price. On the other hand, from designated operator of the Universal services perspective, those services always represent the obligation to provide them on the whole geographical territory of one state (or part of the state, depends on the regulation) in order to enable the access of the Universal services to all end-users, especially those who live in the remote areas as well as the obligation of the Universal service operator to enable the access of those services at an affordable price to the end-users with low income and to the end-users with disabilities. While the idea and goal of Universal services are the same from the very beginning, the services which are part of Universal services are changed due to technological development. Unlike the last decade of the 20th century when the EU rules on Universal services in electronic communications was defined and when Universal services included primarily the access to the public telephony services, today many countries include broadband Internet access in the scope of Universal services. This concept was also accepted by the Republic of Croatia where broadband Internet access is part of Universal services starting from March 2013, while this service will have special importance from the 1st of January 2015 when designated operator of Universal services will have an obligation to enable 1 Mbit/s data speed to every end-user on the whole territory of the RoC, at an affordable price. Besides the cost born by the designated operator of Universal services, it should not be ignored the benefit which that operator has from the fact that he is Universal services provider. In this sense and as shown in this study, the relevant EU and national regulation enable the compensation mechanism to designated Universal services provider from the state fond or industry fond. However, the Universal service provider must prove previously that the costs of providing the Universal services represent an unfair burden for him. In other words, the Universal service provider must prove that the costs which he bears due to obligation of providing Universal services are higher than benefits which he realizes. Taking into account the way how the EU and national regulations defined the Universal services in electronic communications, it can be concluded that they represent one completely logical unit. On the one hand, any interested electronic communications operator has a right to apply for providing the Universal services and in a case when there is no interested operator the regulator brings the decision on the Universal service operator taking into account particularly the operators having significant market power on the relevant market. On the other hand, Universal service providers have a right for compensation the net costs of providing the Universal services if they prove that those services represent an unfair burden for them. All above-mentioned occurs in order to respect the principle of not distort competition and with the aim to prevent the social exclusion of people with low incomes and people with disabilities