1、STD.CEPT ERC REPORT 35-ENGL 3996 2326434 0035457 O22 m ERC REPORT 35 .li t -i7; - 8, i, -.-,- European Radiocommunications Committee (ERC) within the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEW -.- 7 ACCOUNTING AUTHORITIES Sofia, February 1996 STD-CEPT ERC REPORT 35-ENG
2、L 1996 2326414 0015458 T69 Copyright 1996 the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEP“) STD=CEPT ERC REPORT 35-ENGL 1996 232b414 0015459 9T5 m ERC REPORT 35 Page 1 INTRODUCTION ERC decided to investigate the regulatory structure concerning maritime accounting author
3、ities within the context of the ongoing changes the telecamrmmiCaton sector. Also the future role of the maritime radio accounting authorities which currently operate according to the provisions of Article 66 of the Radio Regulations and the nearly identical provisiais of Appendix 2 to the Internati
4、onal Telecommunications Regulations shdd be lmked at. It was recognised that action within CEPT in resped of accounting authorities is necessary in view of severai recent developments, notably: (i) In the USA, the 02 has proposed a set of des to handle new appiications for accoUnting authority statu
5、s and to monitor existing accoUnting authorities, one objective of which is to ensure that the administration is not exposed to any liability for bad debts or defaults in respect of acmmts for maritime radio traffic; (2) The entry into force on 1 July 1995 of the revised Recommendation -T D90 which
6、piaces a duty on the responsible administration to carry out some basic monitoring of the affairs of accoutlting authorities; (3) Foiiowiug the sepration of operatiunal and regulatory functions, sevd administrations have received appiicationS from companies wishing to become accounting authorities,
7、often where the administration itself used to be the sole accounting authai no procsdures yet exist to handie such situations. In cases where appiicatim are refused Without referen to some fornial mies, there is a danger that a iegai challenge, in national or EU courts, will be successful on the gro
8、unds that the administration has Wed to carry out its actuai or impiied responsibilities under applicable iaws or the ITU Convention. An qpen fonun to hear the views of all parties invohwi was held. At this hearing, a wide range of opinions was coliected from service providers, telecommunications op
9、erators, accoUnting authorities, custom and representative organisations. The views mived at the hearing were used in draf2ing this report. Representatives fbm national regulators, senke providers2 and munting authorities participated in this wcak. The report starts with a summary of the recamnienda
10、ticms and proposals to ERC for further wxk (chapter 1); chapters 2 and 3 give a description of the present situation pertaining to acmmting authorities; chapter 4 gives an omview of the changing telecommunication and regulatory environment; chapters 5 and 6 contain proposals for a future poiicy fix
11、the inematiunal accounting system. Additional Provisions Relating to Maritime Telecommunications (see Annex I). For this report the term Service Provider“ means: an organisation which provides communication bridges between mobile stations and (landbased) public switched telecommunication networks. E
12、RC REPORT 35 Page 2 1. 1.1. 1.2. 1.3. 1 A. 1.5. 1.6. 1.7. 1.8. Summary of the proposals for further work and procedures regar- accounting authorities in amsideration of the studies carried out to date, long and short tem solutions for the treatment of accwnting authorities are forwarded for consider
13、ation by the ERC. For the long term the need has been identified to effect changes to the Jntdonal Teleunnmdcations Regulations (ITRs) including the consideraticm of the withdrawai of adminishations from the authuisation and/or reguiation of accERlllting authorities and the replacenent of this by an
14、 internationaily recognised system for registering and monitoring accounting authorities as part of an ensemble of codes of business practice to gm the reiatimships between the service provider, the network opaatca, the billing intamedmy and the end-user. Cormnon factors to be included in a code of
15、practice could, amcmgst others, be: (i) timescales (iwing on those of Recormnendation -T D90 by ali parties); (2) quality of seavice provisions; (3) rapid response to hud and bad debt. Control procedures and enforament matters would have to be an integrai part of the application of axks of practice
16、in order to gain the confidence of assigning an effective means of identification to ship stations; and (3) making horn the route fa settlement of charges owed by the station to service providmhdmhistratiais. 2.2. Part of the mechankm for this is for administrations to publish the minimum informatio
17、n necessary for Seniice providers to establish their accoullts. Ihis is done through the lTU List of Ship Stations, which has always contained the following: (i) (2) identity of the administration licensing e., controiiing) the mobile station; means of identication (eg. caii-sign) of the mobile stat
18、im sufficient to identify the mobile station unambiguously; (3) categories of communications for which the mobile statim is licensed; (4) the rcute determined by the administration for the settiiug of accoullts of its mobile stations iimsed for public mespdence. 2.3. Under Appendix 2 to the ITRs, ch
19、arges for radiocommunications from ship to shore are in principle (subject to titl law and practice) collected from the ship station licensee by the administration that issued the iim, or by a mgnised private operating agency, or by any other entity or entities designated for this purpose by the adm
20、inisatim Ihe administration or the re (2) the payment of charges to service providers and nehwrk operators fw telmation services used by those ship radio station licensees or shipownms for whom they have accoullt responsibility, and enSuring that these payments are made in accordance with the applic
21、able lTU Regulations and Recommendaticais. le prmt arraugernents for designating accoUnting authorities (2) easier, more reliable access to intemational telephone and data networks; and (3) the use of advauced billing systems; (4) increasing coverage of sea ading routes by generic mobile services an
22、d personai communications services in particuiar. 4.2. nie changes of regulatory structures taking pace within administrations and within CEET administraticms in particuiar. are also a factor to be considered in determining what the future role of administrations in the acunmting prccess shdd be. Th
23、e current situation is that the ITRs (Appendix 2, provision No. 2.4) piace the responsibility for designating accoimting authorities with the regulatory administration which has responsibility for licensing ship radio StatiOllS. 4.3. However, the distinction betweeai accounting authority and adminis
24、tration is rather articial when all teleccmmimicationS responsibilities rest with one hiegrated telecommunications administration, licensing administration and service provida. This was the situation in many CEPT countries before regdatory and operationai responsibilities were split but in a few CEF
25、T axmies the administration or the national telecommunications network operator still remains the cmiy designated accWnting authority. In such a changing en-t it might keanne inaeasindy dificuit to jus* a monopoly situation where there is just the one accounting authority within a country, i.e., the
26、 national telecommunications operator. 4.4. Por ships engaged in world-wide or irreguiar patterns of trade, the owners maintain that the present network of coast stations and coast earth stations is indispensable as is the use of an accoUnting authority to handle ail the charges dig from ali the ser
27、vice pmviderdcoast station operators whose Savices may be used. The shipowners and service providers bth report hefits from using accoUnting authcaities as intermediaries since this reduces the number and variety of billS. 4.5. However, the avaiiabiiity of reliable terrestrial mobile telephone syste
28、ms over much of Europe, including the adjacent sea areas, is air- having a dramatic effect. Good ceilular teiephone coverage from land based sites is avaiiabie over most of the nurthem European coastal waters and often exceeds that of VHP coast stations. Ihe result is that my ferries, fishing vessel
29、s and coastal traders have hardiy any need to use coast radio stations for public correspondaice. This has been confinned by information fram shipowners, who confirm that vessels on regular voyages in European waters can and do use the land hed mobile telephone network for much of their commercial t
30、raffic rather than coast station services. Howver, these anangemeats bring a certain amount of complexity since the shipowner may have to deal with several service providers. 4.6. As a recuit of the additional spectnun ailocated to the mobilesatellite service, and to the satellite component of FPLMT
31、SAJMT in particular, a considerable number of satellite personal cmnmunication systems are planned for the next decade. Many of these wili provide world-wide coverage and there will be the potmtial for access to mobile telephone systems provided by satellite over all ocean areas. Because non-geostat
32、ionary satellite constellations will mainly be employed, there will be no physical restriction on coverage in polar regions. However, thm may be limitations on coverage as a result of coordination difficulties or administrative restrictions. Future Public Landmobile Telecommunication SystemsKJnivers
33、ai Mobile Telecommunication Systems Page 6 4.7. 4.8. 4.9. 4.10. 4.11. 4.12. 4.13. 4.14. 4.15. These new developments do not necessarily mean that the need for billing intenredhies such as accounting authorities will disappear. The work of the ITU-T Sector has shown that theE are many complex billing
34、 and security problems to be resolved with the new mobile Communication systems being planned and implemented. Indeed, problems of fraud and late payments are found in ali types of billing amngaents, including credit cards, and are not expected to be eliminated easily. There may well be a Ccnitinwng
35、 role for specialist billing intermediaries. he Telecommunication Standardisation Bureau (TSB) of the ITU-T Sector has already received requests to register maritime accounting authcnities to handie aeronautical traffic and is awaiting substautive proposals on this matter. mere was agreement on the
36、usefulness of accoUnting authorities, especially to the serviCe providers and system operators so that they are provided with a system on which they can rely on to be paid for their services. here are, however, different views on the question of whether the accoUnting authorities ought to be authori
37、sed and monitored by a tid administration, and if such authorisation was issued, to what extent the adminis I.e., those not authorised by their national administration, and, at the same time, will have relationships governed by ITU (D90) for those who are. In effect where an administration will not
38、authorke an Accounting Authority D90 will cease to apply, which could result in direct billing. It is clear that in order to respond to changes in the dem telecomrminicatiOns mvirmt, an accounting authority must be a business entity willing and able to provide a continuous world-wide service to user
39、s. An accounting authority must have the resources and exprtise necessary to handle the amplexities of billing international mobile traffic. As such, accouIlting authorties mt undde to operate in accwdance with mtematimally accepted standards which define their responsibilities and duties. “he promp
40、t and mate exchange and dissemination of information is essential to the proper functioning of the international marithne radio billing system, and to maintaining effective quality control. Luternationai Maritime Radio Committee 5. 5.1. 5.2. 5.3. 5.4. STD=CEPT ERC REPORT 35-ENGL 1996 23264LY DOL5465
41、 LT ERC REPORT 35 Page7 Harmonisation of regulatory promhws within CEPT With the separation of operational and reguiatory functions a reguiatory regime applicable to accoUnting authorities has to be consided. The problem in the new regulatory enviraunent is that the regulation of accountiug authorit
42、ies has ccx-mnmcial, trade and competition aspects which do not mesh at all well with the priorities of radio reguiatory bodies reorganised to concentrate on technical matters. The option of retaining the status quo, i.e., take no action at all, is not feasible. The forthcoming Silication of the Rad
43、io Regulations will suppms article 66, “Charging and accoUnting for maritime radiocommunications“. referring instead to the provisions of the ITR and the ITU “T sector Recommendation D.90. As the enforcement of the ITRS is primanly the responsibility of the telecomminiication administrations rather
44、than the radio regulatory administrations a number of the iater have indicated their intention to withdraw from any administrative role regarding the authorisation of accounting authorities. Hence the need to examine the regulatory requjrements of the accounting process from the perspective of admin
45、istrations. For CEP meanbers two scenarios need to be investigated: (1) To progress further dong the lines of a more focused type of regulation of accounting authorities initiated in the revised Recommendation iTWT D90, in which case a harmonised soluticm within CEPT mechanisms is indicated. Althoug
46、h action oniy within CEP would be needed, agreement may be far from simple to achieve; (2) To take a new apprcach by moving the responsibility hr reguiation away from radio regulatosr bodies. in this case world-wide action to change the Reguiations and Recommendations of the ITU-T and substitute the
47、se with other htematicmally accepted standards would be needed. Given the experience with revising DO, this would be firaught with diidty and CEPT wwld have to take a fum lead. Ihe two scenarias are discussed in more. deiaii below. In the short term they are not mutually exclusive since the liberali
48、saticm approach may well take seved years to achieve and some guidance is urgently needed to address the irmnediate mncems of administrations. The present situation is that severai administrations have received requests from companies wanting to become accoUnting authorities but have no machinay to
49、handle the applicatim. It may be necessary to introduce a short term CEPT wide procedure to address that situation in such a way that it would be Compatible with the desired long term solution. ?here is litile direct guidance on the standards of business practice that ought to be provided by an accoUnting authority, or on the role of an administration in mitorhg standards. Because of the iarge sums of money involved in managing clients accounts, the industry considered that it is no longer acceptable to have a situation where new acoounti
