{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/telecommunications-interconnection-regulations-1997/regulation-2",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/telecommunications-interconnection-regulations-1997/regulation-2.json",
  "legislation": "uksi/1997/2931",
  "legislation_title": "The Telecommunications (Interconnection) Regulations 1997",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/telecommunications-interconnection-regulations-1997",
  "path": "regulation/2",
  "kind": "regulation",
  "number": "2",
  "heading": "Interpretation",
  "text": "(1) In these Regulations—\n(a) “the Interconnection Directive” means Directive 97/33/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on Interconnection in Telecommunications with regard to ensuring Universal Service and Interoperability through Application of the Principles of Open Network Provision (ONP); and\n(b) “the ONP Framework Directive” means Council Directive 90/387/EEC on the establishment of the internal market for telecommunications services through the implementation of Open Network Provision;\nand words and expressions used in the Regulations shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the same meaning as in the Interconnection and the ONP Framework Directive.\n(2) In these Regulations—\n“the Act” means the Telecommunications Act 1984;\n“an Operator having Significant Market Power” means a Public Operator which the Director has determined to be an organisation having Significant Market Power in accordance with Regulation 4(1)(a) below;\n“the Commission” means the Commission of the European Communities;\n“ECU” means European Currency Unit, calculated at the central rate set by the EC Commission on the Licensee’s accounting reference date, as defined in section 224 of the Companies Act 1985;\n“European Public Operator” means a person authorised in another Member State to provide public telecommunications networks and publicly available telecommunications services and whose name has been notified to the Commission under Article 18 of the Directive as an organisation covered by Annex II of the Directive.\n“fixed public telephone network” means the public switched telecommunications network which supports the transfer between network termination points at fixed locations of speech and 3, 1 kHz bandwidth audio information, to support inter alia:\nvoice telephony;\nfacsimile Group III communications, in accordance with ITU-T Recommendations in the “T-series”,\nvoice band data transmission via modems at a rate of at least 2,400 bit/s, in accordance with ITU-T Recommendations in the “V-series”, and\nwhere access to the end-user’s network termination point is via a number or numbers in the national numbering plan;\n“fixed public telephone service” means the provision to end-users at fixed locations via a number or numbers in the national numbering plan of a service for the originating and receiving of national and international calls, including access to emergency services, the provision of operator assistance, directory services, provision of public pay phones, provision of service under special terms or provision of special facilities for customers with disabilities or with special social needs or both such provisions.\n“interconnection” means the physical and logical linking of telecommunications networks used by the same or a different organisation in order to allow the users of one organisation to communicate with users of the same or another organisation or to access services provided by another organisation. Services may be provided by the parties involved or other parties who have access to the network;\n“licence” means a licence granted under section 7 of the Act.\n“Public Operator” means a person to whom a licence has been granted authorising the running of publicly available telecommunication systems and the provision of publicly available telecommunication services.\n“relevant licence” means a licence granted to a Public Operator falling within the categories set out in Schedule 2.\n“special rights” means rights that are granted by a Member State to a limited number of undertakings through any legislative, regulatory or administrative instrument which, within a given geographical area, limits to two or more the number of such undertakings authorised to provide a service or undertake an activity, otherwise than according to objective, proportionate and non-discriminatory criteria, or designates, otherwise than according to such criteria, several competing undertakings as being authorised to provide a service or undertake an activity, or confers on any undertaking or undertakings, otherwise than according to such criteria, legal or regulatory advantages which substantially affect the ability of any other undertaking to provide the same service or to undertake the same activity in the same geographical area under substantially the same conditions.\n“Universal service” means a defined minimum set of services of specified quality which is available to all users independent of their geographical location and, in the light of specific national conditions, at an affordable price.\n“universal service obligations” means those obligations placed upon an operator of a fixed public telephone network by means of a relevant licence which concern the provision of such a network and a fixed public telephone service throughout a geographical area specified in the licence including, where required, averaged prices in that geographical area for the provision of that service;\n“users” means individuals, including consumers, or organisations using or requesting publicly available telecommunications services;",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f1",
      "text": "OJ No. L 192, 24.7.90, p.1."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f2",
      "text": "OJ No. L 199, 26.7.97, p.32."
    },
    {
      "type": "footnote",
      "label": "f3",
      "text": "1984 c. 12 as amended by the Telecommunications (Licensing) Regulations 1997 (S.I. 1997/2930). There are other amendments to 1984 c. 12 which are not relevant to these Regulations."
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [
    {
      "type": "word inserted",
      "affecting": "uksi/1999/3449",
      "affecting_title": "The Telecommunications (Interconnection) (Number Portability, etc.) Regulations 1999"
    },
    {
      "type": "words inserted",
      "affecting": "uksi/1999/3449",
      "affecting_title": "The Telecommunications (Interconnection) (Number Portability, etc.) Regulations 1999"
    },
    {
      "type": "words inserted",
      "affecting": "uksi/1999/3449",
      "affecting_title": "The Telecommunications (Interconnection) (Number Portability, etc.) Regulations 1999"
    },
    {
      "type": "words inserted",
      "affecting": "uksi/1999/3449",
      "affecting_title": "The Telecommunications (Interconnection) (Number Portability, etc.) Regulations 1999"
    }
  ],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1997/2931/regulation/2",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T11:41:06.462248+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}