PART III

SERVICES
TITLE I

UNIVERSAL SERVICE OBLIGATIONS

Affordable universal service
Article 84
1
Member States shall ensure that all consumers in their territories have access at an affordable price, in light of specific national conditions, to an available adequate broadband internet access service and to voice communications services at the quality specified in their territories, including the underlying connection, at a fixed location.
2
In addition, Member States may also ensure the affordability of the services referred to in paragraph 1 that are not provided at a fixed location where they consider this to be necessary to ensure consumers’ full social and economic participation in society.
3
Each Member State shall, in light of national conditions and the minimum bandwidth enjoyed by the majority of consumers within the territory of that Member State, and taking into account the BEREC report on best practices, define the adequate broadband internet access service for the purposes of paragraph 1 with a view to ensuring the bandwidth necessary for social and economic participation in society. The adequate broadband internet access service shall be capable of delivering the bandwidth necessary for supporting at least the minimum set of services set out in Annex V.
By 21 June 2020, BEREC shall, in order to contribute towards a consistent application of this Article, after consulting stakeholders and in close cooperation with the Commission, taking into account available Commission (Eurostat) data, draw up a report on Member States’ best practices to support the defining of adequate broadband internet access service pursuant to the first subparagraph. That report shall be updated regularly to reflect technological advances and changes in consumer usage patterns.
4
When a consumer so requests, the connection referred to in paragraph 1 and, where applicable, in paragraph 2 may be limited to support voice communications services.
5
Member States may extend the scope of application of this Article to end-users that are microenterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises and not-for-profit organisations.