Process

Communications Act(KomG) (in German)

Ordinance on Electronic Communications Networks and Services (VKND) (in German)

The entire market analysis process - in summarised form and with the inevitable simplifications - is as follows:

Market Definition

At the beginning of each market analysis procedure, the product and service markets to be analysed are defined in terms of their product and geographic dimension. The starting point for this is the EFTA Surveillance Authority's recommendation on relevant product and service markets in the electronic communications sector. Based on this, the Office of Communications first defines in detail which products/services are part of the relevant market and which are not.

Based on the market defined in this way and the data collected on it, the next step is to analyse the core question of the market analysis: Is there effective competition in the market being analysed or do one or more providers have significant market power. 

Significant Market Power

If the imposition of special obligations is justified on a relevant market, the Office for Communications shall determine which companies alone or jointly have significant market power on this relevant market. The Office for Communications shall impose appropriate special obligations on these undertakings in accordance with Art. 25 Para. 2 KomG, or amend them or retain them if they already exist, if it is of the opinion that the result for end users would not constitute effective competition without these obligations. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, the Office for Communications shall select a solution to the problems identified in the market analysis that minimises the impact on the companies concerned.

Special Obligations

The Office for Communications may impose special obligations on companies, in particular

• Transparency obligations
• Non-discrimination obligations
• Obligations to keep separate accounts
• Obligations to grant access to construction facilities
• Obligations relating to access to and use of certain network components and associated facilities and their utilisation
• Price control and cost accounting obligations, including cost-oriented prices and certain obligations relating to cost accounting methods.
• Obligations in relation to end-user services and end-user charges

Before the Office for Communications imposes specific obligations, interested parties are given an appropriate opportunity to comment. In addition to this national consultation procedure, the draft measure shall be submitted to the EFTA Surveillance Authority for assessment.

The Office for Communications shall impose special obligations by means of an order.