Paris, 3 April 2007
Cable has operated under a special legal regime since its beginning. The law of 9 July 2004 on electronic communications and audiovisual communication services established the principle of bringing agreements signed between territorial units and cable operators into compliance with the legislative framework in force, setting1st July 2006 as the deadline. However, by that date, most agreements had not been modified, due to a lack of agreement between the players.
The law of 5 March 2007 on the modernisation of audiovisual broadcasting and the television of the future established the process which would lead to the agreements being brought into compliance. The law makes ARCEP responsible for drafting a public report on the conformity of cable agreements.
The legislator wanted this report to:
- determine the state of advancement of the compliance of the agreements
- distinguish between the main legal categories of the agreements
- make recommendations to guarantee their compliance
Work has already begun with Avicca (Association des Villes et Collectivités pour les Communications électroniques et l’Audiovisuel) and Noos-Numéricâble.
ARCEP wishes to involve all interested players in this process. They are invited to submit any information they feel ARCEP should know (agreements, addenda) as well as their technical, legal and economic analyses to:
ARCEP will hold a public consultation based on a pre-report during the month of June, for a period of two weeks. The final report will be published in early July.
Article 134 modified of law no. 2004-669 dated 9 July 2004 states:
Agreements signed with municipalities or groupings to establish and operate cable networks in application at the date of the entry in force of Article L. 33-1 of the Post and Electronic Communications Code, as well as the specifications appended to them must be brought into compliance with the provisions of this article within two years from the publication of the decree for the application of this article.
In order to ensure that the principle of equality and free competition on electronic communications markets is respected, the means of compliance guarantee that public civil engineering infrastructures are shared by electronic communications operators.
Within four months following the promulgation of law no. 2007-309 dated 5 March 2007 on the modernisation of audiovisual broadcasting and the television of the future, Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques et des postes (ARCEP) will establish a public report on the state of advancement of compliance. This report will identify the main categories of the legal situations previously established and will make recommendations which will ensure that these agreements are in compliance.
Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques et des postes may be seized by municipalities or their groupings and service distributors for difficulties in bringing the agreements mentioned in paragraph 1 into compliance. In the four months following this request, ARCEP may make public the conclusions of the mediation, subject to business secrecy.