Definitions

For the purposes of this Act: 1. "provider of telecommunications services" means anyone who provides telecommunications services; 2. "call" means a connection established via a publicly available interpersonal telecommunications service that allows two-way or multi-way voice communication; 3. "connection identifier" means a telephone number or other unique and singular string of characters that is permanently assigned to a specific subscriber and that uniquely and consistently identifies telecommunications over the connection concerned; 4. "application programming interface" means the software interface between applications made available by broadcasters or service providers and the connections in enhanced digital television reception equipment for digital television and radio services; 5. "directory enquiry services" means services reachable by telephone nationwide at all times, in particular in the 118 number range, that serve exclusively to pass on the telephone number, name, address, and additional particulars of end users; forwarding to a requested end user or service may form part of the directory enquiry service; 6. "subscriber data" means data of an end user that are necessary for establishing, defining the content of, amending, or terminating a contractual relationship concerning telecommunications services; 7. "operator" means an undertaking that provides, or is authorised to provide, a public telecommunications network or an associated facility; 8. "carrier selection" means an end user's access, through dialling a code on a call-by-call basis, to the services of all directly interconnected providers of publicly available number-based interpersonal telecommunications services; 9. "carrier pre-selection" means an end user's access to the services of all directly interconnected providers of publicly available number-based interpersonal telecommunications services through a fixed pre-selection, whereby the end user may make different default selections for local and long-distance connections and may override the fixed pre-selection for any given call by dialling a carrier code; 10. "digital television reception equipment" means a television set with an integrated digital decoder or a digital decoder connectable to a television set for the use of digitally transmitted television signals, which may be enhanced with additional signals including conditional access; 11. "wireless broadband networks and services" means broadband-capable wireless telecommunications networks and services; 12. "small-area wireless access point" means a small, low-power, short-range facility for wireless network access that uses licensed or licence-exempt radio spectrum, or a combination thereof, and that enables users wireless access to telecommunications networks independently of the network topology of fixed or mobile networks, is used as part of a telecommunications network, and may be equipped with one or more low-visual-impact antennas; 13. "end user" means a user who neither operates public telecommunications networks nor provides publicly available telecommunications services; 14. "frequency assignment" means the authorisation, granted by an authority or by statutory provisions, to use specific frequencies under specified conditions; 15. "use of frequencies" means any intended emission or radiation of electromagnetic waves between 8.3 kilohertz and 3,000 gigahertz for use by radio services and other applications of electromagnetic waves; 16. "frequency allocation" means the designation of a given frequency range for use by one or more radio services or by other applications of electromagnetic waves, subject, where required, to further conditions; 17. "harmful interference" means interference that endangers the functioning of a radionavigation service or of other safety-related services, or that otherwise seriously degrades, obstructs, or repeatedly interrupts a radio service operated in accordance with applicable international law, European Union law, or the provisions of this or another Act; 18. "shared use of spectrum" means access by two or more users to the same frequency ranges under a specific sharing arrangement authorised on the basis of a general authorisation, an individual assignment, or a combination thereof, including under regulatory approaches such as licensed shared access, which is intended to facilitate the shared use of a frequency range, is subject to a binding agreement of all parties involved, and is consistent with the sharing terms attached to their rights of use of frequencies, so as to guarantee to all users a predictable and reliable sharing arrangement; 19. "device" means radio equipment, telecommunications terminal equipment, or a combination of both; 20. "BEREC" means the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications; 21. "Radio Spectrum Policy Group" means the advisory group on radio spectrum policy matters under Commission Decision C/2019/4147 of 11 June 2019 setting up the Radio Spectrum Policy Group and repealing Decision 2002/622/EC (OJ C 196, 12.6.2019, p. 16); 22. "harmonised frequencies" means frequencies for which harmonised conditions with regard to availability and efficient use have been laid down through technical implementing measures in accordance with Article 4 of Decision No 676/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on a regulatory framework for radio spectrum policy in the European Community (Radio Spectrum Decision) (OJ L 108, 24.4.2002, p. 1); 23. "internet access service" means an internet access service within the meaning of Article 2(2), point 2, of Regulation (EU) 2015/2120 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 laying down measures concerning open internet access and retail charges for regulated intra-EU communications and amending Directive 2002/22/EC and Regulation (EU) No 531/2012 (OJ L 310, 26.11.2015, p. 1), as last amended by Regulation (EU) 2018/1971 (OJ L 321, 17.12.2018, p. 1); 24. "interpersonal telecommunications service" means a service normally provided for remuneration that enables direct interpersonal and interactive exchange of information via telecommunications networks between a finite number of persons, whereby the persons initiating or participating in the communication determine the recipient or recipients; this does not include services which enable interpersonal and interactive communication merely as a minor ancillary feature that is intrinsically linked to another service; 25. "identifier" means a unique string of characters assigned to a user, a connection, or terminal equipment at a given time, which enables the unique identification of the user, the connection, or the terminal equipment; 26. "short code data services" means short code services that serve the transmission of non-voice content by means of telecommunications and that are not digital services under section 1(4), point 1, of the Digital Services Act (national implementing act); 27. "short code services" means services having the characteristics of a premium-rate service but using a special number type with short numbers; 28. "short code voice services" means short code services in which the communication is voice-based; 29. "mass traffic services" means services, in particular in the (0)137 number range, characterised by a high volume of traffic in one or more short periods of time with short holding times to a destination with limited answering capacity; 30. "sustainably competitive market" means a market on which competition is secured to such an extent that it exists without sector-specific regulation; 31. "national subscriber numbers" means numbers, in particular in the (0)32 number range, used for services that enable access to public telecommunications networks and that are not tied to a specific location; 32. "network termination point" means the physical point at which an end user is provided with access to a public telecommunications network; in networks involving switching or routing, the network termination point is identified by means of a specific network address, which may be linked to the number or name of an end user; 33. "very high capacity network" means a telecommunications network that either consists wholly of optical fibre components at least up to the distribution point at the serving location, or that is capable of delivering, under usual peak-time conditions, similar network performance in terms of available downlink and uplink bandwidth, resilience, error-related parameters, and latency and its variation; network performance may be considered similar regardless of whether the end user experiences variability resulting from the differing inherent characteristics of the medium by which the telecommunications network ultimately connects with the network termination point; 34. "numbers" means strings of characters serving purposes of addressing in telecommunications networks; 35. "number type" means the totality of all numbers of a numbering space for a specific service or a specific technical addressing purpose; 36. "number range" means a subset of a numbering space made available for a number type; 37. "number-based interpersonal telecommunications service" means an interpersonal telecommunications service that either connects with publicly assigned numbering resources, namely numbers in national or international numbering plans, or enables communication with numbers in national or international numbering plans; 38. "numbering space" means the totality of all numbers used for a particular type of addressing; 39. "number sub-range" means a subset of a number range; 40. "number-independent interpersonal telecommunications service" means an interpersonal telecommunications service that neither connects with publicly assigned numbering resources, namely numbers in national or international numbering plans, nor enables communication with numbers in national or international numbering plans; 41. "user" means any natural or legal person using or requesting a publicly available telecommunications service for private or business purposes; 42. "public telecommunications network" means a telecommunications network used wholly or mainly for the provision of publicly available telecommunications services that enable the transfer of information between network termination points; 43. "public utility networks" means physical infrastructure, whether being built, in operation, or decommissioned, for the public provision of a) generation, transmission, or distribution services for aa) telecommunications, bb) gas, cc) electricity, including electricity for public street lighting, dd) district heating, or ee) water, excluding drinking water within the meaning of section 3, point 1, of the Drinking Water Ordinance as promulgated on 10 March 2016 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 459), as last amended by Article 99 of the Ordinance of 19 June 2020 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 1328); public utility networks also include physical infrastructure for wastewater treatment and disposal, and sewerage systems; b) transport services, in particular railway lines, roads, waterways, bridges, ports, and airfields; 44. "publicly available telecommunications services" means telecommunications services available to an indeterminate group of persons; 45. "passive network infrastructure" means components of a network that are intended to house other network components without themselves becoming active network components; these include, for example, ducts, pipes and conduits, cable ducts, manholes, handholes, distribution cabinets, buildings and building entries, antenna installations, and supporting structures such as towers, traffic light installations, and public street lighting poles, masts, and poles; cables, including unlit optical fibre cables, are not passive network infrastructure; 46. "personal numbers" means numbers, in particular in the (0)700 number range, that allow access to and from all telecommunications networks under a single number – irrespective of location, terminal equipment, transmission mode, and technology; 47. "premium-rate services" means services, in particular in the (0)900 number range, in which, in addition to the telecommunications service, a further service is provided that is billed to the caller jointly with the telecommunications service and that is not attributable to any other number type; 48. "roaming" means enabling the use, by end users of a requesting mobile network operator, of mobile networks of other operators outside the coverage area of that requesting mobile network operator; 49. "telephone number" means a number from the numbering space for the public telecommunications network or from a numbering space for short code services; 50. "telephone number range" means a subset of the numbering space made available for a number type, for the numbering space of the public telecommunications network or a numbering space for short code services; 51. "service numbers" means services, in particular in the (0)180 number range, reachable nationwide at a uniform charge; 52. "security of networks and services" means the ability of telecommunications networks and services to withstand, at a given level of confidence, any action that compromises the availability, authenticity, integrity, or confidentiality of those networks and services, of stored, transmitted, or processed data, or of the related services offered by, or accessible via, those telecommunications networks or services; 53. "security incident" means an event that compromises the availability, authenticity, integrity, or confidentiality of stored, transmitted, or processed data, or of the services offered by, or accessible via, network and information systems; 54. "other physical infrastructure" means physical infrastructure, whether being built, in operation, or decommissioned, including land and buildings situated on it belonging to public bodies, or other physical infrastructure under their control, that is technically suitable for the installation of small-area wireless access points or is necessary to connect such access points, and in respect of which the right of installation, decommissioning, or operation is derived from, or conferred by, the public body; such infrastructure includes, in particular, street furniture, public street lighting, traffic signs, traffic lights, advertising panels and hoardings, bus and tram stops, and underground stations; 55. "voice communications service" means a telecommunications service made available to the public that enables outgoing and incoming domestic, or domestic and international, calls directly or indirectly via one or more numbers in a national or international numbering plan; 56. "location data" means data processed in a telecommunications network or by a telecommunications service that indicate the geographic position of the terminal equipment of a user of a publicly available telecommunications service; 57. "sub-loop" means a sub-component of the subscriber line connecting the network termination point at the end user's location with a concentration point or a designated intermediate access point of the public fixed network; 58. "subscriber line" means the physical circuit, used by signals, connecting the network termination point to a distribution frame or equivalent facility in fixed public telecommunications networks; 59. "telecommunications" means the technical process of emitting, transmitting, and receiving signals by means of telecommunications installations; 60. "telecommunications installations" means technical facilities, systems, or servers that can send, transmit, switch, receive, control, or monitor signals or data identifiable as messages, in electromagnetic or optical form, in the provision of a telecommunications service; 61. "telecommunications services" means services normally provided for remuneration via telecommunications networks, comprising the following services – with the exception of services offering, or exercising editorial control over, content transmitted using telecommunications networks and services: a) internet access services, b) interpersonal telecommunications services, and c) services consisting wholly or mainly in the conveyance of signals, such as transmission services used for machine-to-machine communication and for broadcasting; 62. "telecommunications terminal equipment" means equipment directly or indirectly connected to the interface of a public telecommunications network for the purpose of sending, processing, or receiving messages or data; in both direct and indirect connections, the connection may be made by electrically conductive wire, by optical fibre, or electromagnetically; in an indirect connection, a device is interposed between the telecommunications terminal equipment and the interface of the public telecommunications network; 63. "telecommunications-based services" means services that do not give rise to a performance flow separable in space and time, but where the content performance is rendered while the telecommunications connection is still ongoing; 64. "telecommunications lines" means telecommunications cable installations, laid above or below ground, including their associated switching and branching facilities, poles and supports, cable ducts and conduit pipes, and further technical facilities necessary for the provision of publicly available telecommunications services; 65. "telecommunications network" means the totality of transmission systems, whether or not based on a permanent infrastructure or centralised administrative capacity, and, where applicable, switching or routing equipment and other resources, including network elements which are not active, which permit the conveyance of signals by wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic means, including satellite networks, fixed (circuit- and packet-switched, including the internet) and mobile networks, electricity cable systems, to the extent that they are used for the purpose of transmitting signals, networks used for radio and television broadcasting, and cable television networks, irrespective of the type of information conveyed; 66. "overbuilding" means the subsequent duplication of telecommunications infrastructure through parallel construction, insofar as this is intended to serve the same coverage area; 67. "transmission path" means telecommunications installations in the form of cable or radio links, together with their transmission equipment, in the form of point-to-point or point-to-multipoint connections with a specific information throughput capacity (bandwidth or bit rate), including their terminating equipment; 68. "major renovations" means below- or above-ground construction works at an end user's location involving structural changes to the entirety, or a significant part, of the in-building passive telecommunications network infrastructure; 69. "undertaking" means the undertaking itself, or an undertaking affiliated with it within the meaning of section 36(2) of the Competition Act, or an undertaking combined with it within the meaning of section 37(1) of the Competition Act, irrespective of whether the affiliated or combined undertaking had already been established at the time obligations under this Act were imposed; 70. "traffic data" means data whose collection, processing, or use is necessary for the provision of a telecommunications service; 71. "personal data breach" means a breach of data security leading to the loss, unlawful erasure, alteration, storage, disclosure, or other unlawful use of personal data, and unlawful access to such data; 72. "fully unbundled access to the subscriber line" means the provision of access to the subscriber line or to the sub-loop in a manner that permits the use of the full capacity of the telecommunications network infrastructure; 73. "waiting loop" means any device or business practice used by a user of a telecommunications service by means of which calls are received or held without the caller's matter being dealt with; this includes the period from the establishment of the call by the caller's connection until the point at which handling of the caller's matter begins, regardless of whether this occurs by way of an automated dialogue, a pre-selection menu, or personal handling; an automated dialogue or a pre-selection menu begins as soon as information required for handling the matter is automatically requested; personal handling of the matter begins as soon as a natural person answers and deals with the call; this also includes the querying of information required for handling the matter; a waiting loop is likewise deemed to include the period of time that, in the case of a transfer, elapses between the conclusion of the preceding handling of the matter and further handling, without the call being technically interrupted; automated recorded announcements are not a waiting loop where the service is recognisable to the caller, before the connection is established, as consisting exclusively of a recorded announcement; 74. "access" means the making available of facilities or services to another undertaking, under defined conditions, for the purpose of providing telecommunications services, including where used for the provision of information society services or broadcast content services; this includes, among other things: a) access to network components, including non-active network components, and associated facilities, which may also include the fixed or non-fixed connection of equipment; this includes, in particular, access to the subscriber line and to facilities and services necessary to provide services over the subscriber line, including access to activation and enabling of user provider switching, and to the information and data necessary for this, and to fault repair; b) access to physical infrastructure such as buildings, ducts, and masts; c) access to relevant software systems, including operational support systems; d) access to information technology systems or databases for pre-ordering, provisioning, ordering, requests for maintenance and repair, and billing; e) access to number translation or to systems offering an equivalent function; f) access to fixed and mobile networks; g) access to conditional access systems for digital television services; and h) access to virtual network services; 75. "conditional access systems" means technical procedures or devices that make the authorised use of protected broadcast programmes dependent on subscription or on individual permission; 76. "access point to passive in-building network components" means a physical point, inside or outside the building, accessible to owners and operators of public telecommunications networks, that enables connection to the in-building passive network infrastructure for very high capacity networks; 77. "associated services" means those services associated with a telecommunications network or a telecommunications service which enable, support, or are capable of enabling or supporting the provision of services via that network or service, either by provision, self-supply, or automated means; these include, among other things, number translation systems or systems offering an equivalent function, conditional access systems, and electronic programme guides, as well as other services such as services related to identity, location, and presence of the user; 78. "associated facilities" means those associated services, physical infrastructure, or other facilities or components associated with a telecommunications network or a telecommunications service which enable, support, or are capable of enabling or supporting the provision of services via that network or service; these include, among other things, buildings, building entries, in-building wiring, antennas, towers, and other supporting structures, ducts, pipes, masts, manholes, and distribution cabinets; 79. "interconnection" means a specific type of access implemented between operators of public telecommunications networks by means of the physical and logical connection of public telecommunications networks used by the same or a different undertaking, in order to allow the users of one undertaking to communicate with users of the same or another undertaking, or to access services provided by another undertaking, insofar as such services are provided by the parties involved or by other parties who have access to the network; 80. "network and information system" means a) a telecommunications network within the meaning of point 65, b) a device or a group of interconnected or related devices which, individually or collectively, carry out the automatic processing of digital data on the basis of a programme, or c) digital data that are stored, processed, retrieved, or transmitted by the elements referred to under (a) and (b) for the purposes of their operation, use, protection, and maintenance.