Belgian Institute for Postal services and Telecommunications

The universal telecommunications service is providing a minimum set of specific services to all the end-users at an affordable price. The universal service was created to contribute to consumer protection.

The universal telecommunications service includes the following services:

• the provision throughout the territory, and to any person requesting it, of the basic voice telephony service and of the access to the basic fixed public network;

• free transmission of emergency calls;

• the provision of a subscriber help desk;

• the provision of a subscriber information service;

• the uninterrupted provision of the following elements of the basic voice telephony service in case of non-payment of bills : the possibility of being called by another subscriber, with the exclusion of reversed charge calls, and the possibility to make emergency calls;

• the installation, maintenance and operation of public pay phones;

• the publication of the universal directory (white pages) in those areas where no-one publishes such a directory;

• the provision of the basic voice telephony service at tariffs facilitating access to the service for persons defined in the Act (social tariffs).