Regulation 2 Interpretation

In these Regulations—

• “the 1984 Act” means the Telecommunications Act 1984^f1;

• “BT” means British Telecommunications plc;

• “the BT licence” means the licence granted by the Secretary of State under section 7 of the 1984 Act to British Telecommunications on 22nd June 1984 to run the telecommunication systems referred to in Annex A thereof, in relation to which BT became the licensee as the nominated successor company on the transfer date^f2;

• “the Commission” means the Commission of the European Communities;

• “essential requirements” has the meaning given by Article 2 of the ONP Framework Directive;

• “Hull” means Kingston upon Hull City Council and Kingston Communications (Hull) PLC;

• “the Hull licence” means the licences granted by the Secretary of State under section 7 of the 1984 Act to Hull on 30th November 1987 to run the telecommunication systems referred to in Annex A thereof;

• “the Leased Lines Directive” means Council Directive 92/44/EEC on the application of open network provision to leased lines^f3, as amended by European Parliament and Council Directive 97/51/EC for the purpose of adaptation to a competitive environment in telecommunications^f4;

• “the Leased Lines Directive Conditions” means the conditions set out in Schedule 1 to these Regulations;

• “Mercury” means Mercury Communications Limited;

• “the Mercury licence” means the licence granted by the Secretary of State under section 7 of the 1984 Act to Mercury on 5th November 1984 to run the telecommunication systems referred to in Annex A thereof;

• “network termination point” means the physical point at which a user is provided with access to a public telecommunications network;

• “the ONP Committee” means the committee referred to in Articles 9 and 10 of the ONP Framework Directive;

• “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^f5 as amended by European Parliament and Council Directive 97/51/EC for the purpose of adaptation to a competitive environment in telecommunications;

• “the Principal Regulations” means the Telecommunications (Leased Lines) Regulations 1993^f6;

• “private circuit” means a telecommunications facility which provides for transparent transmission capacity between network termination points where both or all such points are situated within the European Economic Area and which does not include on-demand switching (that is to say, switching functions which the user can control as part of the private circuit provision);

• “public telecommunications network” means a telecommunications network used, in whole or in part, for the provision of publicly available telecommunication services;

• “Relevant Licences” means licences granted under section 7 of the 1984 Act to which section 8 of that Act applies;

• “relevant private circuit market” means any private circuit market which the Director considers, based on the type or types of private circuit offered in a particular geographical area which may cover the whole or part of the territory of the United Kingdom, to be such a market for the purpose of making a determination under regulations 7 or 8 of these Regulations;

• “technical specifications”, “standards” and “terminal equipment” have the meaning given by Article 1 of Council Directive 91/263/EEC^f7;

• “telecommunications network” means transmission systems and, where applicable, switching equipment and other resources which permit the conveyance of signals between defined termination points by wire, radio, optical or other electromagnetic means; and

• “users” means, except in regulation 5 of these Regulations, individuals, including consumers, or organisations using or requesting publicly available telecommunication services.

References in these Regulations to an organisation having significant market power are references to a holder of a Relevant Licence which the Director has determined in accordance with regulation 8 of these Regulations to be an organisation having such power and references in these Regulations to an organisation not having significant market power are references to a holder of a Relevant Licence which the Director has determined in accordance with that regulation to be an organisation not having such power.

References in these Regulations to the Relevant Licences are references to such licences as modified from time to time in accordance with sections 12 and 15 of the 1984 Act and regulations made under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972.

Save as provided in paragraph (1) of this regulation, any word or expression used in these Regulations shall, unless the context otherwise requires, have the same meaning as it has in the 1984 Act.