The New Telecommunications Act - Part 4 - Universal Services

One of the main objectives of the Telecommunication Act is to ensure that there is an effective basic telecommunications service. The Federal Republic is under a constitutional obligation to ensure that there is an appropriate and sufficient telecommunication services covering the entire area of the Federal Republic of Germany. Under the monopoly structure of a state-owned entity, such a service could be assured by the provision of gross subsidies. In a free market, however, these services have to be ensured by an appropriate legal framework. Section 17 of the Act thus defines universal telecommunication services, as the minimum service that has to be provided to the public, which has to be of a particular quality and accessible to all users upon request within a reasonable period of time and at a reasonable price. The Government has been empowered to determine the scope and quality of these universal services by way of statutory instrument (Section 17 (2) TKG). Such an instrument