TELECOMMUNICATIONS OFFICE OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC
Továrenská 1, 810 06 Bratislava 16

The Telecommunications Office of the Slovak Republic (hereinafter “Office”) as the pertinent body of the state administration pursuant to Article 6, Paragraph 1, Letter b), and Paragraph 3, Letter a) of Act No. 610/2003 Z.z. on electronic communications (hereinafter “Electronic Communications Act”)

issues

pursuant to provisions of Articles 12 and 13 of the Electronic Communications Act this

general license
No. 1/2004
to provide electronic communication networks
and electronic communication services
abolishable and ubstitute general license
No. 1/2005

This general license (hereinafter “license”) authorizes natural persons and juristic persons (hereinafter “an operator”) to provide on the territory of the Slovak Republic electronic communication networks (hereinafter “networks”), electronic communication services (hereinafter “services”) or networks and services provided that the conditions stipulated in this license will be met.

With regard to the general character of this license, individual provisions of this license relate to a specisic network or a specific service, if they relate to it with its substance.

Article 1
Basic Rights of an Operator

1. An operator that provides a public network is, according to Article 69, Paragraph 1 of the Electronic Communications Act, authorized in the public interest and to a necessary extent
1. to set up and operate public networks and build their lines on a property not in its ownership
2. enter someone else´s property in connection with setting up, operating, repairing, and maintenance of lines,
3. perform necessary field work and trimming of plants growing on the land, in particular removing and trimming trees and other underbrush threatening the safety and reliability of lines, if, following a prior notice, the owner or user of the land has not done this.
2. An operator providing a public network has, pursuant to Article 28 of the Electronic Communications Act the right and at the request of another operator providing a public network a duty to negotiate an interconnection of networks, if this is realizable, based on a contract to connect its network with the network of the applying operator.
3. No operator can be excluded from the possibility to be designated as a provider of the universal service.
4. This does not prejudice other rights of an operator ensuing from the Electronic Communications Act.

Article 2
Conditions of a General License

1. An operator providing a public network is obliged in relation to interconnection to abide by provisions of Article 28 of the Electronic Communications Act.
2. An operator is obliged to ensure accessibility of numbers from the national numbering scheme for its end users.
3. An operator providing a public network has duties toward foreign property according to provisions of Article 69 of the Electronic Communications Act.
4. If the Office establishes and administers a special account of the universal service, an operator is obliged to fulfill the duties pursuant to Article 54 of the Electronic Communications Act.
5. An operator to which the notification duty applies pursuant to Article 3 of this license is obliged to pay administrative contributions in the following way
   1. a fixed annual amount determined from the aggregate number of inhabitants according to data of the Statistics Office of the Slovak Republic, living in all areas where the operator provides networks, services, or networks and services, whereby in the first and last year of validity of the notification the fixed amount shall be set as 1/12 of the annual contribution multiplied by the number of started months of validity of the notification duty

      Total number of inhabitants living in all areas	Amount of contribution (in SKK thousands)
      more than 2 million inhabitants	200
      up to 2 million inhabitants	100
      up to 700 thousand inhabitants	50
      up to 100 thousand inhabitants	10
      up to 50 thousand inhabitants	5

   2. 1. the rate of 0.05 percent of the revenues generated from provided networks, services, or networks and services.
      2. the payment is to be paid to the account of the Office No. 19-6227-062/0720 at the National Bank of Slovakia , Tomášikova Street 28a, Bratislava; the variable symbol is the identification number of the reporting unit pursuant to Article 14, Paragraph 2, Letter b) of the Electronic Communications Act; if an identification number has not been assigned to the reporting unit, the Office will assign it a variable symbol,
      3. a payment for the pertinent period is payable by 30 June of the following year,
      4. to enable control of the amount of administrative contributions, an operator that keeps its accounts using the double-entry bookkeeping has the duty to submit to the Office its profit and loss statement^[1] that will contain revenues related to exclusively providing of networks, services, or networks and services; an operator keeping its accounts using single-entry accounting is obliged to submit a statement of income and expenditures together with an annex that will contain revenues related to exclusively providing of networks, services, or networks and services.
6. An operator is obliged in the area of protection of personal data and privacy to respect duties ensuing for an operator from provisions of Articles 55 to 57, Article 59 to 62, and Articles 64 and 65 of the Electronic Communications Act.
7. An operator is obliged to ensure the protection of rights of end users pursuant to provisions of Articles 39 to 45, Article 47 and Article 48 of the Electronic Communications Act.
8. At the request of the Office an operator is obliged to provide information stipulated in Article 38 of the Electronic Communications Act.
9. An operator is obliged to ensure equipment for wiretapping and recording of communication in networks for a state body or a law enforcement authority^[2] and its connection to the network at its own cost pursuant to Article 56 of the Electronic Communications Act; technical specification shall be approved by the Office.
10. An operator is obliged, pursuant to Article 42, Paragraph 6 of the Electronic Communications Act, to prepare its networks and services for a period of crisis situations and emergencies^[3] to ensure communication between bodies of crisis management, rescue services of the integrated rescue system and public broadcasting for the population based on requests of authorized bodies pursuant to pertinent legal regulations^[4].
11. An operator is obliged, when providing networks and operating equipment as sources of electromagnetic radiation to observe duties ensuing from special regulations.^[5]
12. A significant operator on the relevant market determined by the Office pursuant to Article 17 of the Electronic Communications Act is obliged to observe duties that the Office imposed on it under Articles 18 to 24 and Article 27 of the Electronic Communications Act.
13. An operator is obliged, in order to maintain integrity and inviolability of public networks in connection with conditions of prevention of electromagnetic interference between networks, services, or networks and services, to observe provisions pursuant to special regulations.^[6]
14. An operator is obliged to secure public networks against unauthorized access pursuant to provisions of Article 57, Paragraphs 1 and 6 of the Electronic Communications Act.
15. An operator is obliged to ensure that the public network and associated installations comply with technical standards and technical specifications for networks and services, the list of which is published by the European Commission, recommendations of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and technical standards and specifications issued by the European Telecommunications and Standardization Institute (ETSI), in particular from the viewpoint of
1. safety of network operation,
2. maintaining integrity and inviolability of the network,
3. functionality of services
4. connection of terminal equipment of networks,
5. interconnection of networks.
16. The minimum set of leased circuits pursuant to provisions of Article 24, Paragraph 2 of the Electronic Communications Act is in Annex No. 1.

Article 3
Notification Duty

1. An operator that wants to provide networks, services, or networks and services is obliged to notify the Office of this intention before it begins providing them. Notification duty also relates to changes or cancellation of providing a network, a service, or a network and a service.
2. Notification duty is not required
   1. when the number of users of the pertinent operator does not exceed 200 and the annual turnover from provided networks, services, or networks and services does not exceed SKK 2 million,
   2. when the operator provides a network exclusively for its own use,
   3. when the operator provides a service exclusively for its own use.
3. An operator fulfills its notification duty by delivering a subsequent and complete written notification pursuant to Annex No. 2 to the Office.
4. Based on a delivered subsequent and complete written notification the Office shall register the notifying party as an operator providing networks, services, or networks and services.
5. The Office shall return an incomplete notification to the notifying party for completion.
6. An operator has the right to request a confirmation that it has fulfilled its notification duty. The Office shall confirm the fulfillment of the duty within one week.
7. The Office shall publish registration of a notification within one week on its web site http://www.teleoff.gov.sk/

Article 4
Cancellation Provisions

The following general licenses issued by the Office are herewith cancelled

1. general license VPT-1/2001 to establish and operate public telecommunication networks designated for unidirectional transmission of radio and television signal in circuits and for providing a public telecommunications service of retransmission or radio and television program services in cable distribution systems.
2. general license VPT-2/2001 to provide telecommunications service of mediation of access to the Internet and data service of voice transmission over the Internet (VoIP) without the use of limiting sources (Article 28 of the Act),
3. general license VPT-3/2001 to operate GSM gateways,
4. general license VPT-1/2003 to provide public telecommunication services of data transmission,
5. general license VPT-2/2003 to provide telecommunication services of leasing telecommunication networks,
6. general license VPT-3/2003 to establish and operate private telecommunication networks, to establish and operate private telecommunication services exclusively for own needs of a closed group of users.

Article 5
Effective Date

This general license becomes effective on the day of its promulgation in the bulletin of the Office.

In Bratislava on 26 March 2004

Ing. Milan Luknár
president

[1] Act No. 431/2002 Z.z. on accounting in the wording of Act No. 562/2003 Z.z.

[2] Article 2, Paragraph 2 of Act No. 166/2003 Z.z. on protection of privacy against unauthorized use of information-technical equipment and on changes of related laws (law on protection against wiretapping).

Article 12, Paragraph 2 of Act No. 141/1961 Zb. on criminal procedure before a court (Criminal Order),

[3] Article 1, Paragraph 4 of the Constitutional Act No. 227/2002 Z.z. on security of the state in wartime, in state of war, in state of emergency, martial law, and state of emergency.

Article 3, Paragraph 2 of the National Council of the Slovak Republic No. 42/1994 Z.z. on civil defense of the population in the wording of Act No. 117/1998 Z.z.

Article 2, Letter a) of Act No. 387/2002 Z.z. on management of the state in crisis situations apart from wartime and state of war,

Article 2, Letter a) of Act No. 414/2002 Z.z. on economic mobilization and on changes to the National Council of the Slovak Republic Act No. 274/1993 Z.z. defining responsibilities of authorities in matters of consumer protection in the wording of subsequent regulations,

[4] Decree of the Ministry of Transport, Posts, and Telecommunications of the Slovak Republic No. 164/2003 Z.z. establishing particulars in organization of telecommunication services in the period of a crisis situation.

[5] Decree of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic No. 123/1993 Z.z. on health protection against harmful effects of electromagnetic field.

[6] Decree of the Government of the Slovak Republic No. 443/2001 Z.z. establishing particulars and procedures of assessment of compliance for radio equipment and terminal telecommunication equipment

Decree of the Government of the Slovak Republic No. 394/1999 Z.z. establishing particulars of technical requirements of products from the viewpoint of electromagnetic compatibility.