Unbundling
Once the Telecom Act 2003 went into effect on August 20, 2003, the previous legislation was changed in such a way that the obligation to grant access to unbundled network elements was no longer derived directly from the law (or Regulation (EC) 2887/2000 on unbundled access to the local loop of 18 December 2000, OJ L336/4 of 30 December 2000). According to the 2003 Act, the prerequisite for access to unbundled network elements is that the regulatory authority determines in the course of a market analysis procedure under Art. 37 TKG 2003 that a company has significant market power on the relevant market as defined in the TKMVO and, among other, imposes an obligation to grant access to unbundled metallic parts of its communications network.
Once the corresponding market analysis procedures were completed, the Telekom-Control-Commission issued official decisions (M 13/03-52 of October 27, 2004) and M 12/06-45 of December 18, 2006) identifying Telekom Austria AG as a company with significant market power on the wholesale market for unbundled access and, at the same time, imposing specific obligations.
The most recent market analysis decision - now regarding the wholesale market for physical network infrastructures - M 3/09-103 dated Sept. 6, 2010 again found the legal successor of Telekom Austria AG, A1 Telekom Austria AG, having signifikant market power on this market.
In order to remedy the competition problems identified, A1 Telekom Austria AG was simultaneously ordered to grant access (including shared use) to unbundled loops and sub-loops as well as ancillary services (e.g. collocation). A1 Telekom Austria AG is also subject to obligations not to discriminate, to base its charges on "retail minus" - with a ceiling amounting to the cost of efficient service provision according to "FL-RAIC" - , to use separated accounts and to publish a reference offer.
As a consequence of the changes in competition landscape by the incumbent's NGA rollout, the decision additionally provides for further obligations of A1 Telekom Austria AG regarding the use of the transmission system VDSL-2, the publication of reference offers on access to ducts and dark fibre, new services in the context of "virtual unbundling" and additional transparency by indicating concrete access network specifica on access seeker's request against cost-reimbursement.
Apart from the newly integrated annexes on ducts and dark fibre, the content of the Reference Unbundling Offer ("RUO") largely corresponds to a series of dispute settlement decisions dated April 20, 2009 (see http://www.rtr.at/de/tk/ULL2009). The RUO was published on http://cdn1.a1.net/final/de/media/pdf/RUO2011.pdf.
In addition to a main section with general contractual provisions, the offer contains annexes with provisions on the use of transmission systems on unbundled local loops and sub-loops (Annex 2), ordering, provisioning and cancellation procedures for unbundled local loops and sub-loops (Annex 4), sub-loop unbundling (Annex 5), collocation (Annex 6 including an EtherLink Service for connecting collocation locations), fault repair and maintenance (Annex 7), rates and charges (Annex 8), network compatibility of transmission systems and NGA rollout (Annex 9), provisions regarding access to ducts (Anned 10) and dark fibre (Annex 11) as well as provisions on the availability of shared use (Annex 12).
A similar structure is used for the Reference Offer on virtual unbundling (published on http://cdn3.a1.net/final/de/media/pdf/Virtuelle_Entbuendelung.pdf). A main section with general contractual provisions is followed by several annexes. Annex 1 („Technical Manual“) gives an overview on network and service architecture, handover points, service class parameters, bandwidth profiles and DSLAM configuration. Processes with regard to ordering, provisioning and cancellation as well as availability requests, timeshifts, migration processes, contact points and forms are subject to Annex 2 ("Operation manual"). While Annex 3 covers charges and Annex 4 maintenance and fault repair, Annex 5 describes rules for the use of modems. A list of potential locations for applying virtual unbundling can be found in Annex 6 while Annex 7 gives instructions how to use the web interface. Finally, some abbreviations and definitions can be found in Annex 8.
Until March 2011, both reference offers have been subject to a public consultation with market participants in the course of an examination by the Telecom-Control-Kommission which could be concluded after major amendments to both standard offers in July 2011.