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Universal service obligations refer to those obligations placed upon an undertaking by a Member State which concern the provision of universal service as set out in Articles 84 to 87.
National regulatory authorities are to consider all means to ensure appropriate incentives for undertakings (designated or not) to provide universal service obligations cost efficiently. In undertaking a calculation exercise, the net cost of universal service obligations is to be calculated as the difference between the net cost for any undertaking operating with the universal service obligations and operating without the universal service obligations. Due attention is to be given to correctly assessing the costs that any undertaking would have chosen to avoid had there been no universal service obligations. The net cost calculation shall assess the benefits, including intangible benefits, to the universal service provider.
The calculation is to be based upon the costs attributable to:
elements of the identified services which can only be provided at a loss or provided under cost conditions falling outside normal commercial standards.
This category may include service elements such as access to emergency telephone services, provision of certain public pay telephones, provision of certain services or equipment for end-users with disabilities, and so on;
specific end-users or groups of end-users who, taking into account the cost of providing the specified network and service, the revenue generated and any geographical averaging of prices imposed by the Member State, can only be served at a loss or under cost conditions falling outside normal commercial standards.
This category includes those end-users or groups of end-users which would not be served by a commercial provider which did not have an obligation to provide universal service.
The calculation of the net cost of specific aspects of universal service obligations is to be made separately and in order to avoid the double counting of any direct or indirect benefits and costs. The overall net cost of universal service obligations to any undertaking is to be calculated as the sum of the net costs arising from the specific components of universal service obligations, taking account of any intangible benefits. The responsibility for verifying the net cost lies with the national regulatory authority.