RESTRICTED
GENERAL AGREEMENT S/NGBT/W/3/Add.20
1December 1994
ONTRADE INSERVICES
(94-2639)
Negotiating Group onBasic Telecommunications Original: English
COMMUNICATION FROM THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC
Response toQuestionnaire onBasic Telecommunications
Theattached communication iscirculated attherequest oftheSlovak Republic toMembers
oftheNegotiating Group onBasic Telecommunications.S/NGBT/W/3/Add.20
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PartI
Definition andMarket Structure
Definition
According to§1ofArticle 2ofLawNo.96/1993 ontelecommunications andaccording to
theLawNos. 150/1992 and110/1964, theState decides about theinstallation andoperation of:
(a) transmission paths fortransmitting ofallkinds ofinformation ontelecom equipment,
besides distribution ofradio andTVsignals through cables.
(b) equipment forproviding telecom services.
(c) TVandradio broadcasting equipment forbroadcasting ofoperators bylaw.
Theterm "telecommunication services" caninvolve voice telephony, services oftext
communication(publictelegraph,teleprinter),servicesoftextdocumentcommunication(telefax,postfax)
anddatatransmission services.
There isastatemonopoly forsupplying basic telecommunications intheSlovak Republic.
TheSlovak Telecommunications s.e.,onthebasis ofthepermission andLawNo.110/1964
ontelecommunicationsanditsamendmentsNos.150/1992and96/1993,operatesthetelecommunication
network.
Thesupply theservices inaprivate network forother participants isnotallowed.
Market structure
TheSlovak Telecommunications [s.e.] (ST)hasamonopoly position insupplying telecom
services.
EUROTEL hasgotexclusivity forapublic radio mobile network (450MHz) andpublic packet
datanetwork (according totheagreement) andoperates under thelicence sincetheendoftheyear1991.
Intelecommunications thereisastatemonopoly untiltheendof1988. Foreign banks (EBRD,
WB,EIB)haveprovided loans forthedevelopment andtheexchange ofananalogy technology toa
digital one.
From thesphere ofmonopoly fortelecom services thefollowing services could beexcluded:
- paging
- fax
- satellite services
Thefuture situation depends ontheprocess ofprivatization intheareas oftelecommunication,
aswellasontheopportunity andthecapacity ofthemonopoly supplying ofservices.S/NGBT/W/3/Add.20
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PartII
Competition
IntheSlovak Republic there isnocompetition inthefieldoftelecom services because ofthe
monopoly position ofST.
There isnoforeign supplier ofservices. EUROTEL isregistered inthecommercial register
anditisaSlovak-American jointventure.
Restrictions inmarket access
1. Themonopoly position ofSTinthebasic telecom services.
2. Thetelecom services supplier hastoobtain alicence (excluding basic telecom services).
3. Comply withtheTelecommunication lawandother legalregulation.
4. Comply withlicence conditions.
5. Technical orlegaladministration restrictions.
Foreign suppliers needforsupplying ofservices
- licence
- tousetechnical equipment approved bycertificate
- tocomply withallaccepted actsandregulations
A. Sub-Sectors
1. State monopoly.
B. Other categories
1. State monopoly.
Theexistence ofprivate networks isallowed. Supplying ofservices inprivate networks for
thethirdperson isnotallowed (voice telephony).
Thefollowing havetherighttoestablish andoperate thetelecom equipment without anylicence
besides theUnified Telecommunication Network (UTN) according totheTelecom law:
1. Bodies oftheMinistry ofDefence, theArmy oftheSlovak Republic.
2. Bodies oftheMinistry ofInternal Affairs.
3. Bodies oftheRailways ofSRforrailway traffic.
4. Organizations ofenergetics forcontrolling, providing andautomatization forelectrical network.
Foreign companies havetherighttosell,install andrepair telecom equipment andtobuild
telecom networks.S/NGBT/W/3/Add.20
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Foreign consulting firms arebeing used.
STcontrols public phones.
Only approved equipment canbeconnected (directly orindirectly) totheterminal point of
thetelecom network. There isaspecial legal regulation thatdefines conditions andtheprocess of
verifying, approval andconditions ofthisequipment.
PartIII
Regulatory Issues
Frequency allotment orassignment
TheMinistry ofTransport, Communications andPublic Works (MTCPW) controls theuse
ofthefrequency spectrum bytechnical equipment ofallbranches ofthenational economy.
Frequency allotment iscontrolled byRadio Communications Regulations, international
recommendations ofCEPT andinter-departmental agreements.
MTCPW isanadministrator ofthefrequency allotment spectrum. TheTelecommunication
Office ofSRallots frequency andfrequency branches according totheagreement withtheMinistry
ofDefence andtheMinistry ofInternal Affairs evenfortelecommunications equipment ofwhich
establishment andoperation doesnotrequire alicence.
Forapplicants (both domestic andforeign), [who] areapplying forafrequency, [there] are
thesame criteria.
Numbering andidentification codes
International country codeisdetermined andapproved byITU.
Numbering schemes fortelecommunication services intheSRarecovered byaregulation and
aredetermined byusedtechnology. Thenumbering codehas12figures.
Standards, typeapproval andequipment attachment
TheterminalpointofUTNcanbeconnected(directlyorindirectly)withtheapprovedequipment.
There isaspecial legalregulation defining conditions andprocess ofverifying, approval andconnection
ofthisequipment.
Theself-certification isnotallowed. Equipment fromabroad mustbeinvolved intheprocess
ofcertification, aswellaseachdomestic equipment connected withthetelecom network.
Interconnection
Private networks canbe[built] upbytheform ofleased circuits [resp.] ownnetwork.
Interconnection withthepublic network isallowed.
Theprovision ofvoice services toathirdparty isnotallowed.S/NGBT/W/3/Add.20
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TheTelecommunication Office provides licences fortheinstallation andtheoperation of
transmission ways, except UTN, crossing overthestateborder oftheSR.
Competitive safeguards
Slovak Telecommunications s.e.alsohasamonopoly position regarding basictelecom services.
Thatisthereason theTelecommunication Office hasbeenestablished. Itstaskistosolve controversial
cases inthefieldoftelecom services andoperation.
TheStateCommercial Inspection andtheAnti-monopoly Office oftheSRprovide theconsumer
safeguarding. According toourlegislation, thecompany hasadominant position onthemarket when
itcontrols andsupplies 40[and] more percent ofamarket. These companies arechecked bytheAnti-
monopoly Office ofSRregarding whether ornottheymisuse theirmarket position. These checks
aremade bytheAnti-monopoly Office itself oronthebasis ofamarket competition request. Now,
SRhasnoindependent anti-trust body, butonepartofitsfunctions provides Anti-monopoly Office.
TheSlovak Republic provides onlygovernmental guaranties onloans forinvestment anddevelopment
projects approved bytheGovernment.
Price-related measures
Thesupplier(ST)setsupdomesticandinternationaltariffs,intheco-operationwiththeMTCWP.
TheMTCWP submits thetariff proposal totheMinistry ofFinance.
Prices arebased oncostsofservice, taking intoaccount profitability. Thiswayofsetting up
tariffs isusedbecause ofamonopoly position oftheservice supplier.
Services aregranted according tothelegalstatus oftheSRandlicence conditions, there are
noother claims. TheMinistry ofTransport Communication andPublic Works decides about thestatus
ofaservice. Thetelecom service isgranted according tothelicence. Theapproval process runsin
accordance withthelegislation oftheSRandthevalidity ofthelicence is6years.
International Co-operation
MTCPWrepresentstheSlovakRepublicintheinternationalgovernmentalandnon-governmental
organizations. Onthegovernmental level, theSlovak Republic isthenumber of:
ITU(International Telecommunication Union) -SRwasadmitted forITUmember on
23February 1994.
INMARSAT (International [Meritime] Satellite Organization) -SRwasadmitted forInmarsat
member on20July1993.
EUTELSAT (European Telecommunications Satellite Organization) -SRbecause automatically
amember ofEUTELSAT afterthesplitting oftheformer CSFR(1January 1993).
Onthenon-governmental level, theSlovak Republic isaMember of:
CEPT (Conference ofEuropean Postal andTelecommunications Administrations) -July1993
ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) -July1993.