Regulation 58 on the quality and universal service of communications networks and services

The regulation applies to measurement and management of the functionality, performance capacity, reliability and quality of communications networks and services. The regulation contains general obligations that apply to all general communications networks and services as well as special requirements for telephone services, internet access services and television services. In addition, the regulation specifies the meters used for quality assessment of operator services.

The regulation also gives a detailed account of the technical implementation of a functional internet connection pertaining to the universal service obligation as well as of the technical features of universal service subscriptions provided to persons with hearing and speech impairments.

The marketing of communications services and buying decisions have long been based on the price of the service. However, increasingly more often, consumers base their choice of a communications service on reliability and quality. The objective of the regulation is to ensure that consumer expectations can be met in normal conditions. In other words, the aim is to ensure that the quality experienced by users from end-to-end during the provision of the service, irrespective of the technology used to implement the service or how many players are involved to implement the service.