Section 65: Obligations to be secured by universal service conditions, Communications Act 2003

The Secretary of State must by order ... set out the extent to which the things falling within subsection (2) must ... be provided, made available or supplied throughout the United Kingdom.

Those things are—

electronic communications networks and electronic communications services;and

facilities capable of being made available as part of or in connection with an electronic communications service;

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The provision made under subsection (1) is referred to as "the universal service order".

The universal service order may in particular say that broadband connections and services at a fixed location must be provided to any extent, but may not do so unless—

it specifies the minimum download speed that must be provided by those connections and services, and

the speed so specified is at least 10 megabits per second.

The universal service order may in particular say that mobile services must be provided to any extent, but may not do so unless this appears to the Secretary of State necessary to ensure the full social and economic participation in society of qualifying end-users.

In subsection (2BA)—

"mobile services" means—

broadband services provided otherwise than at a fixed location; and

telephone services provided otherwise than at a fixed location;

"qualifying end-user" means an end-user who is—

an individual acting for purposes other than those of a business;

a micro, small or medium-sized enterprise, as defined by Article 2(1) of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC of 6 May 2003 concerning the definition of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises; or

a not-for-profit body.

The universal service order may continue to contain provision setting out the extent to which any of the following things must be provided, made available or supplied throughout the United Kingdom—

public pay telephone or other public voice telephony access points;

particular methods of billing for electronic communications services or of accepting payment for them;

directories capable of being used in connection with the use of an electronic communications network or electronic communications service;

directory enquiry facilities capable of being used for purposes connected with the use of such a network or service;

publicly available telephone services capable of allowing end-users to send and receive facsimile.

The universal service order may contain—

guidance about matters relating to the speed to be provided by broadband connections or services at a fixed location or other characteristics of broadband connections or services that it says must be provided (as well as or, except in the case of the minimum download speed, instead of setting out any of those characteristics); and

guidance about any other matters relating to those connections or services.

The universal service order may contain guidance about matters relating to the pricing of things that the order says must be provided, made available or supplied, other than matters relating only to social tariffs as defined by section 72F(2).

Before making or varying the universal service order, the Secretary of State must consult OFCOM and such other persons as he considers appropriate.

Before making or varying the universal service order, the Secretary of State must take due account of the desirability of not favouring—

one form of electronic communications network, electronic communications service or associated facility, or

one means of providing or making available such a network, service or facility,

over another.

In this section "public pay telephone" means a telephone available to the general public, for the use of which the means of payment may include one or more of the following—

coins;

credit or debit cards; and

pre-payment cards, including cards for use with dialling codes.

Section 65: Obligations to be secured by universal service conditions

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