Internationaal telecommunicatie reglement

Preamble

While the sovereign right of each country to regulate its telecommunications is fully recognized, the provisions of the present Regulations supplement the International Telecommunication Convention, with a view to attaining the purpose of the International Telecommunication Union in promoting the development of telecommunication services and their most efficient operation while harmonizing the development of facilities for world-wide telecommunications.

Article 1. Purpose and Scope of the Regulations

• 1. 1.1 a) These Regulations establish general principles which relate to the provision and operation of international telecommunication services offered to the public as well as to the underlying international telecommuncation transport means used to provide such services. They also set rules applicable to administrations*or recognized private operating agency(ies).

• 1. b) These Regulations recognize in Article 9 the right of Members to allow special arrangements.

• 1. 1.2 In these Regulations, "the public" is used in the sense of the population, including governmental and legal bodies.

• 1. 1.3 These Regulations are established with a view to facilitating global interconnection and interoperability of telecommunication facilities and to promoting the harmonious development and efficient operation of technical facilities, as well as the efficiency, usefulness and availability to the public of international telecommunication services.

• 1. 1.4 References to CCITT Recommendations and Instructions in these Regulations are not to be taken as giving to those Recommendations and Instructions the same legal status as the Regulations.

• 1. 1.5 Within the framework of the present Regulations, the provision and operation of international telecommunication services in each relation is pursuant to mutual agreement between administrations*or recognized private operating agency(ies).

• 1. 1.6 In implementing the principles of these Regulations, administrations*or recognized private operating agency(ies) should comply with, to the greatest extent practicable, the relevant CCITT Recommendations, including any Instructions forming part of or derived from these Recommendations.

• 1. 1.7 a) These Regulations recognize the right of any Member, subject to national law and should it decide to do so, to require that administrations and private operating agencies, which operate in its territory and provide an international telecommunication service to the public, be authorized by that Member.

• 1. b) The Member concerned shall, as appropriate, encourage the application of relevant CCITT Recommendations by such service providers.

• 1. c) The Members, where appropriate, shall cooperate in implementing the International Telecommunication Regulations (For interpretation, also see Resolution No. 2).

• 1. 1.8 The regulations shall apply, regardless of the means of transmission used, so far as the Radio Regulations do not provide otherwise.

Article 2. Definitions

• 1. For the purpose of these Regulations, the following definitions shall apply. These terms and definitions do not, however, necessarily apply for other purposes.

• 1. 2.1 Telecommunication: Any transmission, emission or reception of signs, signals, writing, images and sounds or intelligence of any nature by wire, radio, optical or other electromagnetic systems.

• 1. 2.2 International telecommunication service: The offering of a telecommunication capability between telecommunication offices or stations of any nature that are in or belong to different countries.

• 1. 2.3 Government telecommunication: A telecommunication originating with any: Head of a State; Head of a government or members of a government; Commanders-in-Chief of military forces, land, sea or air; diplomatic or consular agents; the Secretary-General of the United Nations; Heads of the principal organs of the United Nations; the International Court of Justice, or reply to a government telegram.

• 1. 2.4 Service telecommunication A telecommunication that relates to public international telecommunications and that is exchanged among the following:

• -. administrations;

• -. recognized private operating agencies,

• -. and the Chairman of the Administrative Council, the Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretary-General, the Directors of the International Consultive Committees, the members of the International Frequency Registration Board, other representatives or authorized officials of the Union, including those working on official matters outside the seat of the Union.

• 1. 2.5 Privilege telecommunication

• 1. 2.5.1 A telecommunication that may be exchanged during: between, on the one hand, representatives of Members of the Administrative Council, members of delegations, senior officials of the permanent organs of the Union and their authorized colleagues attending conferences and meetings of the ITU and, on the other, their administrations or recognized private operating agency or the ITU, and relating either to matters under discussion by the Administrative Council, conferences and meetings of the ITU or to public international telecommunications.

• -. sessions of the ITU Administrative Council,

• -. conferences and meetings of the ITU

• 1. 2.5.2 A private telecommunication that may be exchanged during sessions of the ITU Administrative Council and conferences and meetings of the ITU by representatives of Members of the Administrative Council, members of delegations, senior officals of the permanent organs of the Union attending ITU conferences and meetings, and the staff of the Secretariat of the Union seconded to ITU conferences and meetings, to enable them to communicate with their country of residence.

• 1. 2.6 International route: Technical facilities and installations located in different countries and used for telecommunication terminal exhanges or offices

• 1. 2.7 Relation: Exchange of traffic between two terminal countires, always referring to a specific service if there is between their administrations*or recognized private operating agency(ies):

• 1. a) a means for the exhange of traffic in that specific service:

• -. over direct circuits (direct relation), or

• -. via a point of transit in a third country (indirect relation), and

• 1. b) normally, the settlement of accounts.

• 1. 2.8 Accounting rate: The rate agreed between administrations*or recognized private operating agency(ies) in a given relation that is used for the establishment of international accounts.

• 1. 2.9 Collection charge: The charge established and collected by an administration*or recognized private operating agency(ies) from its customers for the use of an international telecommunication service

• 1. 2.10 Instructions: A collection of provisions drawn from one or more CCITT Recommendations dealing with practical operational procedures for the handling of telecommuncation traffic (e.g., acceptance, transmission, accounting)

Article 3. International Network

• 1. 3.1 Members shall ensure that administrations*or recognized private operating agency(ies) cooperate in the establishment, operation and maintenance of the international network to provide a satisfactory quality of service.

• 1. 3.2 Administrations*or recognized private operating agency(ies) shall endeavour to provide sufficient telecommunication facilities to meet the requirements of and demand for international telecommunication services.

• 1. 3.3 Administrationsor recognized private operating agency(ies) shall determine by mutual agreement which international routes are to be used. Pending agreement and provided that there is no direct route existing between the terminal administrationsor recognized private operating agency(ies) concerned, the origin administrationor recognized private operating agency(ies) has the choice to determine the routing of its outgoing telecommunication traffic, taking into account the interests of the relevant transit and destination administrationsor recognized private operating agency(ies)

• 1. 3.4 Subject to national law, any user, by having access to the international network established by an administration*or recognized private operating agency(ies), has the right to send traffic. A satisfactory quality of service should be maintained to the greatest extent practicable, corresponding to relevant CCITT Recommendations

Article 4. International Telecommunication Services

• 1. 4.1 Members shall promote the implementation of international telecommunication services and shall endeavour to make such services generaly available to the public in their national network(s).

• 1. 4.2 Members shall ensure that administrations*or recognized private operating agency(ies) cooperate within the framework of these Regulations to provide by mutual agreement, a wide range of international telecommunication services which should conform, to the greatest extent practicable, to the relevant CCITT Recommendations.

• 1. 4.3 Subject to national law, Members shall endeavour to ensure that administrations*or recognized private operating agency(ies) provide and maintain, to the greatest extent practicable, a minimum quality of service corresponding to the relevant CCITT Recommendations with respect to:

• 1. a) access to the international network by users using terminals which are permitted to be connected to the network and which do not cause harm to technical facilities and personnel:

• 1. b) international telecommunication facilities and services available to customers for their dedicated use;

• 1. c) at least a form of telecommunication which is reasonably accessible to the public, including those who may not be subscribers to a specific telecommunication service; and

• 1. d) a capability for interworking between different services, as appropriate, to facilitate international communications.

Article 5. Safety of Life and Priority of Telecommuncations

• 1. 5.1 Safety of life telecommunications, such as distress telecommunications, shall be entitled to transmission as of right and shall, where technically practicable have absolute priority over all other telecommunications, in accordance with the relevant Articles of the Convention and taking due account of relevant CCITT Recommendations.

• 1. 5.2 Government telecommunications, including telecommunications relative to the application of certain provisions of the United Nations Charter, shall, where technically practicable, enjoy priority over telecommunications other than those referred to in No. 39, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Convention and taking due account of relevant CCITT Recommendations.

• 1. 5.3 The provisions governing the priority enjoyed by all other telecommunications are contained in the relevant CCITT Recommendations.

Article 6. Charging and Accounting

• 1. 6.1 Collection charges

• 1. 6.1.1 Each administrationor recognized private operating agency(ies) shall, subject to applicable national law, establish the charges to be collected from its customers. The level of the charges is a national matter; however, in establishing these charges, administrationsor recognized private operating agency(ies) should try to avoid too great a dissymetry between the charges applicable in each direction of the same relation.

• 1. 6.1.2 The charge levied by an administrationor recognized private operating agency(ies) on customers for a particular communication should in principle be the same in a given relation, regardless of the route chosen by that administrationor recognized private operating agency(ies).

• 1. 6.1.3 Where, in accordance with the national law of a country, a fiscal tax is levied on collection charges for international telecommunication services, this tax shall normally be collected only in respect of international services billed to customers in that country, unless other arrangements are made to meet special circumstances.

• 1. 6.2 Accounting rates

• 1. 6.2.1 For each applicable service in a given relation, administrations*or recognized private operating agency(ies) shall by mutual agreement establish and revise accounting rates to be applied between them, in accordance with the provisions of Appendix 1 and taking into account relevant CCITT Recommendations and relevant cost trends.

• 1. 6.3 Monetary unit

• 1. 6.3.1 In the absence of special arrangements concluded between administrations*or recognized private operating agency(ies), the monetary unit to be used in the composition of accounting rates for international telecommunication services and in the establishment of international accounts shall be:

• -. either the monetary unit of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), currently the Special Drawing Right (SDR), as defined by that organization;

• -. or the gold franc, equivalent to 1/3.061 SDR.

• 1. 6.3.2 In accordance with relevant provisions of the International Telecommunication Convention, this provision shall not affect the possibility open to administrations*or recognized private operating agency(ies) of establishing bilateral arrangements for mutually acceptable coefficients between the monetary unit of the IMF and the gold franc.

• 1. 6.4 Establishment of accounts and settlement of balances of account

• 1. 6.4.1 Unless otherwise agreed, administrations*or recognized private operating agency(ies) shall follow the relevant provisions as set out in Appendices 1 and 2.

• 1. 6.5 Service and privilege telecommunications

• 1. 6.5.1 Administrations*or recognized private operating agency(ies) shall follow the relavant provisions as set out in Appendix 3.

Article 7. Suspension of Services

• 1. 7.1 If a Member exercises its right in accordance with the Convention to suspend international telecommunication services partially of totally, that Member shall immendiately notify the Secretary-General of the suspension and of the subsequent return to normal conditions by the most appropriate means of communication.

• 1. 7.2 The Secretary-General shall immediately bring such information to the attention of all other Members, using the most appropriate means of communication.

Article 8. Dissemination of Information

• 1. Using the most suitable and economical means, the Secretary-General shall disseminate information, provided by administrations*or recognized private operating agency(ies), of an administrative, operational, tariff or statistical nature concerning international telecommunication routes and services. Such information shall be disseminated in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Convention and of this Article, on the basis of decisions taken by the Administrative Council or by competent administrative conferences, and taking account of conclusions or decisions of Plenary Assemblies of the International Consultative Committees.

Article 9. Special Arrangements

• 1. 9.1 a) Pursuant to Article 31 of the International Telecommunication Convention (Nairobi, 1982), special arrangements may be entered into on telecommunication matters which do not concern Memberts in general. Subject to national laws, Members may allow administrationsor recognized private operating agency(ies) or other organizations or persons to enter into such special mutual arrangements with Members, administrationsor recognized private operating agency(ies) or other organizations or persons that are so allowed in another country for the establishment, operation, and use of special telecommunication networks, systems and services, in order to meet specialized international telecommunication needs within and/or between the territories of the Members concerned, and including, as necessary, those financial, technical, or operating conditions to be observed.

• 1. b) Any such special arrangements should avoid technical harm to the operation of the telecommunication facilities of third countries.

• 1. 9.2 Members should, where appropriate, encourage the parties to any special arrangements that are made pursuant to No. 58 to take into account relevant provisions of CCITT Recommendations.

Article 10. Final Provisions

• 1. 10.1 These Regulations, of which Appendices 1, 2 and 3 form integral parts, shall enter into force on 1 July 1990 at 0001 hours UTC.

• 1. 10.2 On the date specified in No. 61, the Telegraph Regulations (Geneva, 1973) and the Telephone Regulations (Geneva, 1973) shall be replaced by these International Telecommunication Regulations (Melbourne, 1988) pursuant to the International Telecommunication Convention.

• 1. 10.3 If a Member makes reservations with regard to the application of one or more of the provisions of these Regulations, other Members and their administrationsor recognized private operating agency(ies) shall be free to disregard the said provision or provisions in their relations with the Member which has made such reservations and its administrationsor recognized private operating agency(ies).