In 2018, Telefónica was the operator in charge of providing the integral services of the universal telecommunications service, which this year consisted of the provision of connection to the network from a fixed location, telephone service and internet connectivity at 1Mb / s in unprofitable areas, as well as benefits for users with disabilities, such as invoices in Braille and the provision of the guide and booth service and the so-called social subscription, a special rate for vulnerable users.
Since 2012, the cost of universal telecommunications service has been reduced by 32%
The approved net cost is calculated by subtracting non-monetary benefits and subsidies linked to Universal Service services from the direct net cost. This operation has yielded increasingly poor results in recent years. Specifically, since 2012, the cost of universal telecommunications service has been reduced by 6.79 million, which is 32% less.
The 2018 data continue the trend of the fall in the net cost for unprofitable areas and services that that year stood at 9.95 million and the cost of the cabins remains relatively stable, which reached 4.68 million, a figure slightly less than the previous year.
In this sense, it must be taken into account that the 2019 data will be predictably lower, since, for example, the guide service (access to white pages on the internet and sending the traditional paper phone book to users who requested it) it disappears and is no longer part of universal service. In 2018 the net cost of this guide service reached 260,632 euros.
According to the General Telecommunications Law, universal service is financed by telecommunications operators with annual revenues of more than 100 million euros.
In this sense, the CNMC will determine in a new file the contributions that correspond to each of the operators with obligations, although it is still expected that Telefónica will continue to assume a good part of the cost, as is the case in the usual way.
– .
