METHODOLOGICAL MANUAL FOR STATISTICS ON TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES
Version 1.0 October 2001
EUROPEAN COMMISSION STATISTICAL OFFICE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
EUROSTAT UNIT D1
This methodological manual was prepared under the responsibility of François de Geuser, Head of Eurostat Unit D1 - ‘Classifications. Methodological co-ordination. Infrastructure of business statistics’. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Commission.
Project Management
Douglas Koszerek, Head of Sector ‘Information Society Statistics’ Eurostat Unit D1 Martti Lumio, Eurostat Unit D1
Consultants
Methodological support and analysis Laurent Parisse, World Systems (Europe) Limited
Desk top publishing Sabrina Schmitt, World Systems (Europe) Limited
For further information on this publication, please contact Eurostat:
Martti Lumio Tel (352) 4301 - 32234 Fax (352) 4301 - 33899 Email: [email protected] FOREWORD
This methodological manual about Statistics on telecommunication services is part of the Eurostat Manual of Business Statistics (EMBS). The EMBS is a compilation of methodological texts created by Eurostat, which aims to ensure the consistency of structure and content of the methodological work of the European statistical system.
Work on Statistics on telecommunication services is carried out on the initiative of the European Commission, in particular of the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) and of Directorate- General INFSO (responsible for the Information Society).
This manual takes into account the latest conclusions drawn by the Working Group about Statistics on Communication and Information Services (COINS) which includes experts from national statistical offices and regulatory authorities. It sets out the achievements made on the collection of data on telecommunication services so far. It provides a common methodological framework for anyone working on the collection, compilation, transmission and analysis of statistics on telecommunication services.
The main chapters of this manual contain:
• An overview of the methodological work undertaken at Community level for statistics on telecommunication services • A description of the confidentiality issues, of the classifications of activities and services and of the sector specific variables related to telecommunications • Information about the developments of statistics on telecoms at ITU and OECD level
The relevant legal framework for the compilation of statistics on telecommunication services are annexed to the manual as well as a list of official and non-official sources on telecommunications in the EU/EFTA, in candidate countries and in some non-European OECD countries, and a glossary of terms and concepts.
Table of contents 1. INTRODUCTION...... 1
1.1 OBJECTIVE ...... 1 1.2 THE COINS WORKING GROUP ...... 1 1.3 SECTORAL CHAPTER OF THE EUROPEAN MANUAL OF BUSINESS STATISTICS (EMBS)...... 1 2. METHODOLOGICAL OVERVIEW ...... 2
2.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR...... 2 2.2 THE STATISTICAL UNIT ...... 3 2.2.1 Introduction...... 3 2.2.2 The enterprise...... 3 2.2.3 The kind of activity unit (KAU) ...... 3 2.3 EXISTING SOURCES OF STATISTICS ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS ...... 4 2.3.1 Eurostat data sources...... 4 2.3.2 Other Community data sources...... 10 2.3.3 Non-Community sources ...... 12 2.4 PILOT SURVEY ON TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES (1996-1999)...... 12 2.5 USERS’ NEEDS FOR STATISTICS ON TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES ...... 13 2.5.1 Synthesis report of the users’ needs analysis carried out in 1999...... 13 2.5.2 Recent needs identified...... 14 3. CONFIDENTIALITY AND LEGAL BASIS ISSUES IN THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS STATISTICS... 16
3.1 HOW TO TREAT CONFIDENTIALITY IN STATISTICS ON TELECOMS SERVICES? ...... 16 3.1.1 Recent progress...... 16 3.1.2 Eurostat methods for treating confidentiality...... 16 3.2 DO COMMUNITY STATISTICS ON TELECOMS SERVICES NEED A LEGAL BASIS? ...... 16 3.2.1 Existing legal acts relevant for statistics on telecommunications ...... 16 3.2.2 Recent developments ...... 17 4. NOMENCLATURES AND CLASSIFICATIONS...... 18
4.1 INTRODUCTION ...... 18 4.2 ACTIVITY CLASSIFICATION FOR TELECOMMUNICATIONS (NACE REV.1 CLASS 64.20) ...... 18 4.3 CLASSIFICATION FOR TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES (CPA 64.2) ...... 18 4.4 REVISIONS OF THE NOMENCLATURE AND CLASSIFICATION...... 22 4.5 CLASSIFICATION OF EMPLOYMENT IN TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES...... 22 4.6 LINKS WITH OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS ...... 22 5. COINS DATA COLLECTION...... 26
5.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE COINS DATA COLLECTION...... 26 5.1.1 Statistics on Communication and Information Services (COINS)...... 26 5.1.2 The COINS Telecoms list of variables ...... 26 5.1.3 Data collection process...... 27 5.2 SECTOR SPECIFIC VARIABLES FOR WHICH YEARLY ENTERPRISE STATISTICS ARE COLLECTED ...... 27 5.2.1 Data on operators ...... 27 5.2.2 Employment...... 28 5.2.3 Investment ...... 28 5.2.4 Breakdown of turnover...... 28 5.2.5 Telecommunications volume ...... 29 5.2.6 Infrastructure indicators ...... 30 6. MEASURING PRICES OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES...... 32
6.1 OBJECTIVE ...... 32 6.2 WORK ORGANISATION ...... 32 6.3 MAIN ISSUES ...... 33 6.4 THE INTERNAL EUROSTAT TASK FORCE ON TELECOMS PRICES ...... 34 7. DATABASES AND PUBLICATIONS...... 36
7.1 RELEVANT DATABASES IN NEW CRONOS ...... 36 7.1.1 COINS ...... 36 7.1.2 Other databases ...... 37 7.2 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF EUROSTAT PUBLICATIONS OF STATISTICS ON TELECOMMUNICATION SERVICES ...... 38 8. OTHER STATISTICAL SYSTEMS...... 39
8.1 INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION (ITU) ...... 39 8.2 ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD) ...... 40
Table of annexes
ANNEX 1: COUNCIL REGULATION (58/97/EEC) OF 20 DECEMBER 1996 CONCERNING STRUCTURAL BUSINESS STATISTICS...... 42 ANNEX 2: COINS QUESTIONNAIRE – INQUIRY 2001...... 52 ANNEX 3: LIST OF OFFICIAL AND NON-OFFICIAL SOURCES ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN THE EU/EFTA, IN CANDIDATE COUNTRIES AND IN SOME NON-EUROPEAN OECD COUNTRIES ...... 56 ANNEX 4: GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND CONCEPTS ...... 60
Methodological manual for statistics on Chapter telecommunication services 1
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Objective
This manual aims at providing the methodological guidelines for elaborating statistics on telecommunication services and being the reference methodological document to support the work in this field at Community level. It represents a framework for the collection of harmonised and comparable statistics on telecommunication services and compiles all information necessary to reach this objective. It deals with the delineation of statistics on telecommunication services and provides descriptions of the variables to be collected.
The target audience for this manual is producers and users of statistics, including statisticians in National Statistical Institutes, National Regulatory Authorities, Eurostat, and other international organisations, like the ITU and the OECD.
1.2 The COINS Working Group
The Community methodological work for statistics on telecommunication services is co-ordinated by the Eurostat Working Group about Statistics on Communication and Information Services (COINS) which includes experts from statistical offices and regulatory authorities of the EU-15 Member States. Representatives of DG INFSO, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Organisation for Economic Co-opretaion and devlopment (OECD), and recently of candidate countries participe in the COINS Working Meeting.
The COINS Working Group meets annually in Luxembourg. In accordance to the Council Decision of June 1989, its mandate was to examine the needs for statistical data and the potential for producing a methodological manual, and to lay down the main guidelines for a statistical information system on the sector. This mandate was subsequently extended to cover the compilation of a set of indicators on telecommunications and the dissemination of data collected.
An Interest Group has been established for the particiapants of the COINS Working Group on CIRCA (Communication and Information Resource Center Administrator) web site at http://forum.europa.eu.int/Public/irc/dsis/Home/main.
1.3 Sectoral chapter of the European Manual of Business Statistics (EMBS)
The present manual aims at serving as a sectoral chapter of the Eurostat Manual of Business Statistics.
The European Manual of Business Statistics (EMBS) is a framework for the production and dissemination of methodological texts concerning business statistics, within the European Statistical System (ESS). It incorporates existing methodological manuals in the field of business statistics, and intends to fill in any gaps, increase coherency, and provide users with a more complete reference tool.
The aim of the EMBS is to document statistical methodology within the ESS, in particular that concerning new or developing areas of business statistics. It is intended for specialists who already have some knowledge of official statistics.
The ‘Eurostat Manual of Business Statistics’ is found in the ‘Business Methods’ web page which is part of the CIRCA web site, at http://www.forum.europa.eu.int/Public/irc/dsis/bmethods/info/data/new/main_en.html.
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2. METHODOLOGICAL OVERVIEW
2.1 Description of the telecommunications sector
Telecommunication services can be defined as services permitting the transmission of voice, text, data, still or motion pictures using networks built around telephones, coaxial cables, optical fibres and terrestrial radio and satellite links. The services offered range from simple voice telephony to highly sophisticated multimedia communications. In basic telephony services, data are carried from one point to another without being processed. Telecommunications also include other services such as mobile communication, data transmission and value added services which combine additional services to data transfer. The public switched telephone network (PSTN) offers a suitable gateway for voice data and low to medium speed data transmission, as well as for access to information services and networks such as the Internet. But, more and more, the convergence of telecommunications, broadcasting and computing, the growing importance attached to the development of advanced information infrastructures and the use of data-compression technology lead to the creation of new services.
The Commission Directive of 28th June 1990 on competition in the market for telecommunication services determined the abolition of special or exclusive rights granted by Member States to telecommunication organisations for the supply of value-added services by 31st December 1990 and of data services by 31 December 1992. The Directive also called for the separation of operational functions and regulatory powers, both of which were at the time in the hands of telecommunication organisations. Regulatory powers were attributed at the national level to impartial institutions acting as guarantors of competition and efficiency by telecom firms, to the utmost benefit of consumers.
Following the opening to competition of all data and value-added services in 1993, came the opening-up of the mobile communication markets with the switch to the second generation of digital mobile technologies, and the development of personal communications. The Commission Directive of 28 February 1996 focussed on the process regarding the implementation of full competition in telecommunications markets and substantiated the importance of liberalising the provision of public telephone services while maintaining universal service. Full liberalisation of infrastructure for voice telephony was planned by 1st January 1998, with transitional measures applied on the one hand to Luxembourg (deadline postponed to 1st January 2000), and on the other hand to Spain, Greece, Ireland, and Portugal (deadline postponed to 1st January 2003). The aim to liberalise all voice telephony and maintain a universal service involved the maintenance and development of high quality telecommunication networks accessible to all types of users at a reasonable cost as well as the development of a solid and efficient pan-European market (Communication to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: “Universal service for telecommunications in the perspective of a fully liberalised environment” (COM 96(73))
The liberalisation of local telephony through the local loop unbundling represents a fundamental step toward the completion of liberalisation of the EU telecommunication sector. Local loop unbundling is compulsory in European Union countries since 1st January 2001, following the adoption by the respective Ministers of Industry in December 2000 of Regulation (EC) of the European Parliament and of the Council of unbundled access to the local loop. Moreover, local loop unbundling aims at accelerating the development of broadband connection to Internet through for instance DSL technologies.
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2.2 The statistical unit
2.2.1 Introduction
The Council Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 of 15 March 1993 on the statistical units for the observation and analysis of the production system in the Community identifies eight types of statistical units:
- Enterprise - Institutional unit - Enterprise group - Kind-of-activity unit (KAU) - Unit of homogeneous production (UHP) - Local unit - Local kind-of-activity unit (local KAU) - Local unit of homogeneous production (local UHP)
In addition, statistical units are defined on the basis of three criteria: - Legal, accounting or organisational criteria - Geographical criteria - Activity criteria
The relationship between the different types of statistical units is illustrated in the following table:
One or more locations A single location One or more activities Enterprise Local unit Institutional unit One single activity KAU Local KAU UHP Local UHP
Based on the current state of telecommunication sector and operators acting in this area, the basic statistical unit for a statistical system on telecommunication services should be the enterprise. However, in many countries we find enterprise group – often the incumbent – which owns a fixed telecommunications operator, a mobile telecommunications operator and a Internet services provider. Then, the use of the kind of activity unit as statistical unit may be relevant to correctly picture the telecommunication sector.
2.2.2 The enterprise
The enterprise is defined as: ‘The smallest combination of legal units that is an organisational unit producing goods or services, which benefits from a certain degree of autonomy in decision-making, especially for the allocation of its current resources. An enterprise carries out one or more activities at one or more locations. An enterprise may be a sole local unit.’
2.2.3 The kind of activity unit (KAU)
‘The kind of actvity unit groups all the parts of an enterprise contributing to the performance of an activity at class level (4-digits) of NACE Rev. 1 and corresponds to one or more operational subdivisions of the enterprise. The enterprise's information system must be capable of indicating or calculating for each KAU at least the production value, intermediate consumption, manpower costs, the operating surplus and employment and gross fixed capital formation.’
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2.3 Existing sources of statistics on telecommunications
This section aims at presenting the existing Community surveys/data collections that may provide statistics related to the telecommunications in order to supplement the COINS telecoms data collection (chapter 5). This inventory includes sources available at Eurostat level and in other Directorates General. In addition, relevant non-Community sources are presented.
2.3.1 Eurostat data sources a) Structural Business Statistics (Eurostat Unit D2)
The Council Regulation (EC, EURATOM) N° 58/97 of 20 December 1996 concerning structural business statistics (OJ no L14 of 17.01.97) has the objective to establish a common framework for the collection, compilation, transmission and evaluation of Community statistics on the structure, activity, competitiveness and performance of businesses of a wide range of services and non-services sectors (i.e. NACE sections C- K and M-O). It is structured on the one hand in a common module, i.e. Annex 1 being the horizontal perspective of the enterprise statistics, and, on the other hand in detailed modules covering specific sector statistics, i.e. the annexes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 reflecting the vertical perspective of sector specific statistical systems.
• The common module covers statistics to be compiled on a yearly basis for sections C to K and M to O of the NACE Rev.1. Annex 1 includes demographic, enterprise and regional statistics.
• The detailed modules cover statistics to be compiled on a yearly basis for particular regroupings of activities. - Annex 2 is a sectoral annex and applies to industry - Annex 3 is a sectoral annex and applies to distributive trades - Annex 4 is a sectoral annex and applies to construction - Annex 5 is a sectoral annex and applies to insurance (approved as Council Regulation No. 410/98 of 16 February 1998 amending Council Regulation 58/97) - Annexes 6 and 7 are sectoral annexes covering credit institutions and pension funds, in procedure for adoption
Therefore, for the moment, statistics on telecommunication services are only covered by the Annex 1 of this legal framework. The results are to be transmitted within 18 months of the end of the calendar year of the reference period. The following Annex 1 variables have to be compiled:
SBS Code Yearly demographic statistics 11 11 0 Number of enterprises A count of the number of enterprises registered to the population concerned in the business register corrected for errors, in particular frame errors. Dormant units are excluded. This statistic should include all units active during at least a part of the reference period. 11 21 0 Number of local units A count of the number of local units registered to the population concerned in the business register corrected for errors, in particular frame errors. Local units must be included even if they have no paid employees. This statistic should include all units active during at least a part of the reference period. SBS Code Yearly statistics on enterprise characteristics 12 11 0 Turnover Turnover comprises the total invoiced by the observation unit during the reference period, and this corresponds to market sales of goods or services supplied by third parties. Turnover includes all duties and taxes on the goods or services invoiced by the unit with the exception of the VAT invoiced by the unit vis-à-vis its customer and other similar deductible taxes directly linked to turnover. It also includes all other charges (transport, packaging, etc.) passed on the customer, even if these charges are listed separately in the invoice. Reduction in prices, rebates and discounts as well as the value returned packing must be deducted. Income classified as other operating income, financial income and extraordinary income in company accounts is excluded from turnover. Operating subsidies received from public authorities or the
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institutions of the European Union are also excluded. 12 12 0 Production value The production value measures the amount actually produced by the unit, based on sales, including changes in stocks and the resale of goods and services. The production value is defined as turnover, plus or minus the changes in stocks of finished products, work in progress and goods and services purchased for resale, minus the purchases of goods and services for resale, plus capitalised production, plus other operating income (excluding subsidies). Income and expenditure classified as financial or extraordinary in company accounts is excluded from production value. Included in purchases of goods and services for resale are the purchases of services purchased in order to be rendered to third parties in the same condition. 12 14 0 Value added at basic prices Value added at basic prices is calculated from the production value plus subsidies on products less the purchases of goods and services (other than those purchased for resale in the same condition) plus or minus the change in stocks of raw materials and consumables less other taxes on products which are linked to turnover but not deductible. It represents the value added by the various factor inputs in the operating activities of the unit concerned. Income and expenditure classified as financial or extraordinary in company accounts is excluded from value-added. Value-added at basic prices is calculated ‘gross’ because value adjustments (such as depreciation) are not substracted. 12 15 0 Value added at factor cost Value added at factor cost is the gross income from operating activities after adusting for operating subsidies and indirect taxes. It can be calculated from turnover, plus capitalised production, plus other operating income, plus or minus changes in stocks, minus the purchases of goods and services, minus other taxes on products which are linked to turnover but not deductible, minus duties and taxes linked to production. Alternatively it can be calculated from gross operating surplus by adding personnel costs. Income and expenditure classified as financial or extraordinary in company accounts is excluded from value-added. Value-added at factor cost is calculated ‘gross’ because value adjustments (such as depreciation) are not substracted. 13 11 0 Total purchases of goods and services Purchases of goods and services include in the value of all goods and services purchased during the accounting period for resale or consumption in the production process, excluding capital goods the consumption of which is registered as consumption of fixed capital. The goods and services concerned may be either resold with or without further transformation, completely used up in the production process, or finally, be stocked. 13 12 0 Purchases of goods and services purchased for resale in the same condition as received Purchases for resale are purchases of goods for resale to third parties without further processing. It also includes purchases of services by ‘invoicing‘ service companies, i.e. those whose turnover is composed not only of agency fees charged on service transaction (as in the case of estate agents) but also the actual amount involved in the service transaction, e.g. transport purchases by travel agents. The value of goods and services which are sold to third parties on commission basis are excluded since these goods are neither bought or not sold by the agent receiving the commission. 13 31 0 Personnel costs Personnel costs are defined as the total remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by an employer to an employee (regular and temporary employees as well as home workers) in return for work done by the latter during the reference period. Personnel costs also include taxes and employees' social security contributions retained by the unit as well as the employer's compulsory and voluntary social contributions. Personnel costs are made up of Wages and salaries and Employers' social security costs. All remuneration paid during the reference period is included, regardless of whether it is paid on the basis of working time, output or piecework, and whether it is paid regularly or not. Included are all gratuities, workplace and performance bonuses, ex gratia payments, thirteenth month pay (and similar fixed bonuses), payments made to employees in consideration of dismissal, lodging, transport, cost of living and family allowances, commissions, attendance fees, overtime, night work etc. as well as taxes, social security contributions and other amounts owed by the employees and retained at source by the
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employers. Also included are the social security costs for the employer. These include employer's social security contributions to schemes for retirement pensions, sickness, maternity, disability, unemployment, occupational accidents and diseases, family allowances as well as other schemes. These costs are included regardless of whether they are statutory, collectively agreed, contractual or voluntary in nature. Payments for agency workers are not included in personnel costs. 15 11 0 Gross investment in tangible goods Investment during the reference period in all tangible goods. Included are new and existing tangible capital goods, whether bought from third parties or produced for own use (i.e. Capitalised production of tangible capital goods), having a useful life of more than one year including non-produced tangible goods such as land. The threshold for the useful life of a good that can be capitalised may be increased according to company accounting practices where these practices require a greater expected useful life than the 1 year threshold indicated above. All investments are valued prior to (i.e. gross of) value adjustments, and before the deduction of income from disposals. Purchased goods are valued at purchase price i.e. transport and installation charges, fees, taxes and other costs of ownership transfer are included. Own produced tangible goods are valued at production cost. Goods acquired through restructurations (such as mergers, take-overs, break-ups, split-off) are excluded. Purchases of small tools which are not capitalised are included under current expenditure. Also included are all additions, alterations, improvements and renovations which prolong the service life or increase the productive capacity of capital goods. Current maintenance costs are excluded as is the value and current expenditure on capital goods used under rental and lease contracts. Investment in intangible and financial assets are excluded. Concerning the recording of investments where the invoicing, delivery, payment and first use of the good may take place in different reference periods, the following method is proposed as an objective:
Investments are recorded when the ownership is transferred to the unit that intends to use them. Capitalised production is recorded when produced. Concerning the recording of investments made in identifiable stages, each part-investment should be recorded in the reference period in which they are made.
In practice this may not be possible and company accounting conventions may mean that the following approximations to this method need to be used: i) Investments are recorded in the reference period in which they are delivered. ii) Investments are recorded in the reference period in which they enter into the production process. iii) Investments are recorded in the reference period in which they are invoiced. iv) Investments are recorded in the reference period in which they are paid for. 16 11 0 Number of persons employed The number of persons employed is defined as the total number of persons who work in the observation unit (inclusive of working proprietors, partners working regularly in the unit and unpaid family workers), as well as persons who work outside the unit who belong to it and are paid by it (e.g. sales representatives, delivery personnel, repair and maintenance teams). It includes persons absent for a short period (e.g. sick leave, paid leave or special leave), and also those on strike, but not those absent for an indefinite period. It also includes part- time workers who are regarded as such under the laws of the country concerned and who are on the pay-roll, as well as seasonal workers, apprentices and homeworkers on the pay- roll. The number of persons employed excludes manpower supplied to the unit by other enterprises, persons carrying out repair and maintenance work in the enquiry unit on behalf of other enterprises, as well as those on compulsory military service. Unpaid family workers refer to persons who live with the proprietor of the unit and work regularly for the unit, but do not have a contract of service and do not receive a fixed sum for the work they perform. This is limited to those persons who are not included on the payroll of another unit as their principal occupation. 16 13 0 Number of employees The number of employees is defined as those persons who work for an employer and who have a contract of employment and receive compensation in the form of wages, salaries,
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fees, gratuities, piecework pay or remuneration in kind. The relationship of employer to employee exists when there is an agreement, which may be formal or informal, between an enterprise and a person, normally entered into voluntarily by both parties, whereby the person works for the enterprise in return for remuneration in cash or in kind. A worker is considered to be a wage or salary earner of a particular unit if he or she receives a wage or salary from the unit regardless of where the work is done (in or outside the production unit). A worker from a temporary employment agency is considered to be an employee of the temporary employment agency and not of the unit (customer) in which they work. In particular the following are considered as employees:
i) Paid working proprietors ii) Students who have a formal commitment whereby they contribute to the unit's process of production in return for remuneration and/or education services iii) Employees engaged under a contract specifically designed to encourage the recruitment of unemployed persons iv) Homeworkers if there is an explicit agreement that the homeworker is remunerated on the basis of the work done and they are included on the pay-roll.
The number of employees includes part-time workers, seasonal workers, persons on strike or on short-term leave, but excludes those persons on long-term leave. The number of employees does not include voluntary workers. The number of employees is calculated in the same manner as the Number of persons employed, namely as the number of jobs and is measured as an annual average. SBS Code Information is requested on the availability of the necessary data for the compilation of results for the following characteristics 12 18 0 Financial surplus Financial surplus is the balance between financial income such as dividends, interests and similar income and financial expenditure such as interests paid and similar charges. 14 11 0 Turnover from intra-Community deliveries of goods and services Consisting all transactions (sales, barter, gifts or grants) from residents of one Member State of the EU to other residents of all other Member States of the EU. 14 12 0 Turnover from extra-Community exports of goods and services Consisting all transactions (sales, barter, gifts or grants) from residents of one Member State of the EU to residents outside the fiscal territory of the Union. 14 21 0 Intra-Community acquisition of goods and services Consisting all transactions (purchases, barter, gifts or grants) by residents of one Member State of the EU from other residents of all other Member States of the EU. 14 22 0 Extra-Community imports of goods and services Consisting all transactions (purchases, barter, gifts or grants) by residents of one Member State of the EU from residents outside the fiscal territory of the Union. Source: Commission Regulation (EC) No 2700/98 of 17 December 1998 concerning the definitions of characteristics for structural business statistics b) Strustural indicators (Eurostat Unit D2)
A list of 35 indicators was elaborated to provide an instrument monitoring and benchmarking the strategy of the European Union, initiated at the Lisbon European Council, in four essential domains: Employment, Innovation, Economic Reform and Social Cohesion. The list also includes general economic background indicators. These indicators were agreed between the Commission and the Council at the 7 November 2000 Ecofin Council and were approved at the Nice European Council in December 2000. These indicators will be used in the annual Synthesis of the European Commission to be produced at the beginning of each year.
Data for these indicators are mostly available at Eurostat level. However, according to indicators, data also come from the OECD (fiscal data, R&D expenditure, price statistics), UNESCO (public expenditure on education), European Information Technology Observatory (ICT expenditure), DG INFSO (Internet access, telecommunication prices), European and US Patent Offices, United Nations (external trade), European Venture Capital Association, DG MARKT (public procurement), DG COMP (State aid) and FIBV (International association of stock exchanges).
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The economic reform domain contains some indicators on the network industries, where telecommunication is an essential part. DG INFSO has studied prices of telecommunication services and it has made first results available to Eurostat, which are:
- Price level and evolution in the telecommunications, Local call (EU = 100) - Price level and evolution in the telecommunications, National call (EU = 100) - Price level and evolution in the telecommunications, Call to USA (EU = 100)
These price level indices can be used – with certain reservations - for the evaluation of relative changes of price levels in the Member States over time. They are based on private final consumption prices of the incumbent operators in each country, i.e. price in euro of 10 minute call at 11 pm on a weekday (including VAT) for local call (3km), national call (200 km) and international call (to USA) relative to EU-15 = 100.
Data have been published on Eurostat’s website and they can also be accessed through New Cronos and CIRCA.
Ö Inter-service initiative for developing Network Industries Indicators
In 2001, an inter-service initiative (ESTAT, INFSO, MARKT, COMP, TRANS and ECFIN) was launched to study the feasibility to supplement the current list of structural indicators for monitoring the liberalisation process in network industries (electricity, gas, telecommunication services). An agreement was reached on a list of four indicators:
The concentration ratio in a network industry market: sum of the market shares of the 3 largest enterprises in a network industry market (based on the turnover of these enterprises, on the number of subscribers).
The market share of the incumbent in a network industry: turnover of the incumbent(s) as share of the total turnover of the economic activity. The incumbent(s) is/are defined as the enterprises(s) active on the market just before the liberalisation. When no firm(s) can be clearly identified as the incumbent the market share of the largest firm will be used instead.
Percentage of consumers with a choice of two or more suppliers or operators: percentage of consumers with a choice of two or more suppliers. When data on consumers are not available the share of the total consumption with a choice of two or more suppliers will be used instead.
The number of operators in a network industry market: number of companies offering services available to a certain class of users in a network industry, i.e. the number of service providers in each market segment.
An inquiry has been carried out in order to assess data available at DGs level, followed by a request for statistical and methodological information on the indicators sent to Member States.
Whenever possible, for telecommunications sector, a breakdown by mobile and fixed line services, and for line services into local calls, national calls, international calls and leased lines is more appropriate.
First results based only on official data should be included in the 2002 synthesis report of the European Commission. c) Surveys on ICT usage in enterprises and households (Eurostat Unit D1)
In 2001, in order to collect first official data on e-commerce in Europe, Eurostat Unit D1 together with other Commission services (DG ENTR, DG INFSO, DG MARKT) and National Statistical Institutes have carried out a pilot survey on ICT usage in enterprises. The exercise focused on the measurement of e-commerce as regards sales and purchases via the Internet or via other computer-mediated networks. In addition, basic structural ICT-variables e.g. Internet access, presence on the web, type of connection to Internet (mobile phone, broadband connections,…), were covered together with variables relating to barriers and benefits of the Internet and e-commerce. Results will be available in New Cronos (Theme 4 – infosoc). Moreover, a new round of surveys is planned for 2002.
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Eurostat also plans to collect statistics on the ICT usage in households. Following the model of the pilot survey on e-commerce, Eurostat together with other DGs (INFSO, SANCO, EMPL, ENTR and ECFIN) and the NSI will carry out household surveys on ICT usage in 2002. The draft questionnaire focuses on some indicators related to telecommunications: households with mobile phone, households with Internet enabled mobile phone. d) Statistics on Small and Medium Enterprises (Eurostat Unit D2)
Statistics on SME (enterprises with less than 250 employees) can be available at national level for enterprises active in telecommunications (Nace 64.2) and broken down in 4 size-groups (SBS framework). It concerns the following structural indicators: Number of units, Number of persons employed, Number of employees, Turnover, Gross value added at factor cost, Personnel costs, Gross wages and salaries, Total investments, Total expenditure on R&D, Exports, Imports, Share of the production sold in the Internal market.
Besides, regional SME statistics (enterprises with less than 100 employees – 4 size-groups) can be available for the number of units as well as the number of persons employed. e) Short-term statistics (Eurostat Unit D3)
The Council Regulation N° 1165/98 of 19 May 1998 concerning short-term statistics (OJ no L162 of 05.06.98) aims at establishing a common framework for the production of short-term Community statistics on the business cycle. The statistics comprise information (variables) necessary to provide a uniform basis for the analysis of the short-term evolution of supply and demand, production factors and prices.
Concerning statistics on communications, the regulation stipulates that only data on turnover and number of persons employed should be provided (Annex D: Other services). The frequency is quarterly. Turnover data is required on the three-digit level of NACE Rev.1 (64.2 Telecommunications) and data on total employment on two-digit level (64 Post and telecommunications). The information is, however, only required from countries where the share of the country of the EC total exceeds five per cent. Also some derogations have been made. These two variables are very interesting on a quarterly basis, providing they are made available on three-digit level (telecommunications separated from postal and courier services), which is not the case for the number of persons employed. The country coverage should also be sufficient. f) Social surveys (Eurostat Directorate E)
Ö Labour Force Survey (Eurostat Unit E-1)
A valuable source of information on social statistics is provided by the Labour Force Survey. Annual or continuous surveys are conducted over the EU in response to Council Regulation (EC) No 577/98 of 9 March 1998 on the organisation of labour force sample survey in the Community. This is a household survey which collects a wide range of information on employment and employment related issues, such as training, over the whole economy. This quarterly survey covers EU and EFTA as well as candidate countries.
It has a core of questions asked regularly but also additional modules including 11 variables on a precise theme, added each year, concerning, among other items, occupational diseases and working conditions of disabled persons (2001: Working patterns; 2002: Work of handicapped people; 2003: Life long learning; 2004: Transition from school to work).
It can provide information with industrial dimension since respondents are asked to give the two digit NACE Rev.1 classification of their employing local unit.
The benefits of the LFS as a source are the richness of the employment-related data that are available and the use of an internationally accepted definition of employment which permits valid comparisons across industries, over countries and over time. The disadvantage of it in the current context is the limitation to two digit detail of the NACE Rev.1.
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Ö Household Budget Surveys (Eurostat Unit E-2)
The HBS is carried out every 5 years in all EU countries (next survey in 2004). g) National Accounts Statistics (Eurostat Units B1 and B3)
The system of national accounts “is a comprehensive, consistent and flexible set of macro-economic estimates intended to meet the needs of government and private sector analysts, policy makers and decision makers” (Foreword to 1993 SNA).
While they may, to an extent which will vary from Member State to Member State, be in part based on data collected for the SBS Regulation, they will generally have been compiled by procedures that balance and compare the various elements and measures of the economy. For many broad comparisons the national accounts are the most suitable source of data.
National accounts statistics are broken down by branch of activity, but only statistics for NACE Section I “Transport, storgare and communications” are available.
Morevover, Eurostat Unit B3 (Consumer prices - Purchasing Power Parities) carries out a survey on services prices including telecoms services. Together with the internal Eurostat Task Force on telecoms prices, Eurostat Unit B3 aims at listing the relevant telecom services in order to build up a representative and up-to- date basket. Results will be available by mid-2002. h) Balance of Payments Statistics (Eurostat Unit B5)
The balance of payments is a record of a country's international transactions with the rest of the world. This is equivalent to the transactions between residents of a country and non-residents. The balance of payments is divided into the current account and investment and other capital transactions.
These transactions, which are recorded by a double-entry system of book-keeping, involve goods, services, transfers, loans granted or received, market securities, foreign exchange etc.
International trade in services is shown in the current account balance of payments statistics and forms part of what is known as "invisibles". The current account balance constitutes the sole source of comparable data on international cross-border statistics on services. Nevertheless, only statistics on flows (credit/debit/net) are available for ‘Telecommunication services’. i) Foreign Affiliates Trade Statistics (Eurostat Unit B5)
Foreign Affiliates Trade Statistics (FATS) provide data on the foreign control (or ownership) of enterprises in EU Member States. Regarding NACE 64.2, FATS should indicate for each combination of reporting (host) countries whether a given country has a presence in terms of FATS ownership. FATS should also provide data on economic indicators for a number of EU countries.
2.3.2 Other Community data sources a) DG INFSO
Ö Eurobarometer surveys
Since 1973 Eurobarometer surveys have been carried out several times a year by DG Education and Culture (EAC) to survey opinion of European citizens as regards European issues. Special modules can be inserted on the request of DGs. It exists two types of Eurobarometer surveys:
- The traditional Standard Eurobarometer: ± 1 000 representative face-to-face interviews per member country carried out 2-5 times a year with reports published twice yearly. In-depth studies are carried out for various services of DG EAC (on their behalf and account) and likewise for any DG of the Commission
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needing them, as well as for other EU institutions (if and when they so wish, as Parliament regularly does).
- The Flash Eurobarometers: conducted by phone throughout the EU if and when needed by a service of the Commission or other institutions/agencies of the EU. Possibilities are numerous: variable interview techniques, variable sample size, "special target groups" (e.g. teachers, managers, opinion leaders, etc.) or "public at large" studies. Here again, it is the responsibility of the respective services to release their results.
Directorate General Information Society started providing quantitative data with regard to the attitudes of Europeans towards Information Society in 1995 with a first pilot Flash Eurobarometer. In 1997 the survey methodology was revised and the decision was taken to use the same standards used for the main Commission Eurobarometer.
The Measuring Information Society survey is a source of comparative data on the usage in Europe of Information and Communication Technologies e.g. mobile phone, satellite dishes and the Internet. http://europa.eu.int/information_society/basics/measuring/index_en.htm
Ö eEurope benchmarking indicators
In December 1999, Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, launched the « eEurope - An Information Society for all » initiative. The aim of this initiative is for Europe to fill in the gap with the US in terms of the use of ICT, especially Internet, and in the emergence of ‘New Economy’. Indeed, the Information Society and New Economy represent a considerable potential for new jobs, productivity and economic growth, and competitiveness in the European Union.
In March 2000, the Lisbon Special European Council asked the Commission and Council to draw up a comprehensive eEurope Action Plan, and in May 2000, the Commission launched a draft Action Plan for eEurope 2002 which was endorsed by the European Council in Feira in June 2000. In November 2000, the Commission adopted the ‘Communication on progress of the eEurope inititative’ in view of the European Council of Nice in December 2000. Still in November, the Internal Market Council formally adopted the eEurope benchmarking indicators including 23 priority indicators split into 11 themes. In March 2001, the Commission adopted the ‘Communication on eEurope 2002: priorities and impact’ to the Spring European Council which took place on 23-24 March 2001 in Stockholm.
In May 2001, the Commission launched the eEurope benchmarking web site (http://europa.eu.int/information_society/eeurope/benchmarking/list/2001/index_en.htm) where are compiled results for the 23 benchmarking indicators for the years 2000 and 2001. Data are mainly collected through Eurobarometer surveys, but information also come from the OECD and ESDIS (“Employment and Social Dimension of the Information Society” high level group). Indicators related to telecommunications are included in the following sections: Internet Users and Usage, Internet Access and Costs. b) DG SANCO
Eurostat and DG SANCO co-operate for the production of consumer statistics related to telecommunications. c) Statistical Indicators for the New Economy (SINE)
The EU supports research, technology development and demonstration through the mechanism of Framework Programs (FP). The 5th FP covers 1999-2002 and its second theme is the Information Society Technology. It contains a cross-program action line titled “Statistical tools, methods and indicators for the Information Society”, managed in co-operation with Eurostat A4 (Research and Development; http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/eurostat/research). In order to support and substantiate the action line, Eurostat has proposed the elaboration of the program called EPROS (European Plan for Research in Official Statistics). EPROS considers 2 main domains: “Statistical tools and methods” and “Statistical Indicators for the New Economy (SINE). SINE aims to develop statistical indicators for following the evolution of the New Economy in Europe. It encompasses the conceptualization and the definition of indicators, as well as the data collection itself.
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2.3.3 Non-Community sources
European Information Technology Observatory (EITO)
The European Information Society Observatory (EITO) is a European initiative which aims to provide an extensive overview of the European market for ICT and to render services to this industry, to users and public authorities. The 2001 EITO members consist of the European Information and Communications Technology Industry Association (EICTA), the German information and communications industry association (BITKOM), and three European ICT trade fairs: CeBIT in Hanover, SIMO in Madrid and SMAU in Milan.
Since 1993 EITO has been publishing a yearbook on the ICT industry in Europe which provides comprehensive sets of data on IT, telecommunications, Internet and related markets. Each edition contains a statistical outlook of IT and telecommunications markets in Europe. Data cover EU-15 countries, some Central and and Eastern Europe countries as well as some non-European OECD countries (USA, Japan…). Statistics – produced in partnerphip with a consultancy – come from the study of the market and results are expressed in end-user spending. Figures are on ICT market value, ICT trade, market structures and penetration of ICT including data on Analogue and Digital mobile telephone subscribers; Internet users; Number of mobile telephone; Number of main lines, digital main lines and ISDN lines; Per capita telecommunications expenditure; Telecommunications equipment; Telecommunications market.
Additionally, each edition provides special reports on particular aspects of the market. The 2000 edition focused on ‘The impact of E-commerce on five vertical sectors’ and ‘The future of telecommunications’, while in the 2001 publication, special studies deal among others with the market perspectives of the mobile e- commerce and the evolution of the European e-economy. www.eito.com
2.4 Pilot survey on telecommunication services (1996-1999)
Between 1996 and 1999, Eurostat has carried out a pilot survey on telecommunication services. At the beginning, ten Member States participated in the pilot action: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Finland, which acted as co-ordinating country.
The objectives of the pilot survey were to acquire the necessary knowledge for the preparation of regular statistics on telecommunication services that met EU requirements for statistical information in the new situation concerning these services and to improve the limited knwoledge in this field.
The information sought in the pilot were intended to serve the following objectives: • to provide information specified in the Council Regulation No 58/97 of 20 December 1996 concerning structural business statistics • to test Eurostat draft proposal of CPA • to develop the methodological basis for identifying the relevant units in the telecommunication services providers in the light of convergence between telecommunication services, computer services and broadcasting services industries • to extend the knowledge of sub-sectors in telecommunication services, such as fixed network services, mobile telecommunication services, interconnection services, communication management services, value-added network services, information services, broadcast services, other telecommunication/network services • to clarify confidential issues related to different levels of information needs, such as the regional level for cohesion issues, the national level for competition and the internal market issues and the Community level for GATS issues.
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The pilot study on telecommunication services was divided into two phases.
Ö Phase I (1996-1997)
It covered the preparatory methodological work and drafting of a questionnaire. It described the available sources and included country analysis based on existing data. All of the ten above-mentioned countries participated in this phase.
Ö Phase II (1998-1999)
It included the results of the pilot surveys/studies carried out by the remaining countries (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom).
The final survey questionnaire adopted in May 1997 included the following sections:
1) General characteristics of the enterprise 2) Accounting variables 3) Breakdown of turnover (by product and by type of client) and volume data 4) Exports and Imports of telecommunication services 5) Employment 6) Gross investments in tangible goods 7) Expenditure on intangibles
The 7 participating countries delivered their final reports between September 1999 and January 2000 which included information on the relevance and the data availability in the Member States but also provided information on national operators.
2.5 Users’ needs for statistics on telecommunication services
2.5.1 Synthesis report of the users’ needs analysis carried out in 1999
In 1999 Eurostat undertook an analysis of users’ needs for statistics on telecommunication services. This exercise carried out in parallel with the pilot survey on telecommunication services aimed at preparing the revision of the COINS list of variables. The existing list of variables was considered out of date because it did not reflect the situation of the newly liberalised sector, and did not meet the users’ needs anymore.
Directorates General, having policies and interests related to telecommunications and therefore being potential users of statistics on telecommunication services had to be consulted to assess the most relevant variables for their purposes.
Eurostat sent to DG INFSO a questionnaire presenting the variables to be included in the revised COINS list of variables. This proposed list of variables intended to offer a concrete basis for discussion. DGs were asked to give for each variable:
- An evaluation of the importance of the variable - The desirable periodicity - Information on the need for regional data - Comments (political priority…)
The needs of DG INFSO were the following:
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- Freshness of the data: timeliness should be as short as possible to dispose data up-to-date - Data for monitoring the liberalisation process - Data on the nature of telecommunications market: market structure with applicable classification of services - Use of appropriate measures of activity - Data on households and firms use of telecommunications and related services - Data on the measurement of foreign trade in telecommunication services (WTO frameworks) - Use of technological neutral approach in the questionnaire - Detailed classification of employment in the telecommunications - Data on access to networks broken down by bandwidth (and information on potential bottlenecks) - Regional information
DG SANCO was also interviewed. The DG SANCO’s needs for statistics on telecommunications related to consumer and health were the following:
- Assessment of universal service - Affordability and accessibility - Quality - Prices and tariffs - Customer’s choice for providers of telecommunication services
The needs expressed by the various users were merged with other relevant materials in order to produce a proposal for a list of variables presented to the COINS Working Group members in January 2000.
2.5.2 Recent needs identified
One of the missions of DG INFSO is to monitor the progress of liberalisation of the European telecommunications market. DG INFSO thus needs economic indicators on this sector giving information on the number of licensed operators by type of services provided, infrastructure and investments, state of competition, concentration of the market, broadband connection, unbundling of local loop, interconnection charges, tariffs, quality of service.
The COINS telecoms data collection permits to get data from telecoms operators (enterprises classified in NACE class 64.20 “Telecommunications”). However, having detailed information on the demand side of telecommunications services requires the use of other ways to collect data such as existing households or business surveys. Then, needs for additional data on telecommunications services can be split into 3 types – linked to 3 different ways of collecting data:
• Data on the use of telecommunications services in households • Data on the use of telecommunications services in SME • Additional data on telecom operators (enterprises classified in NACE class 64.20) a) Data on households’ use of telecommunication services
Remark: The need is to improve the existing knowledge on the private use of telecommunication services. Such data can be collected through households surveys, but issues concern the relevant target to collect these data: households may be relevant targets for information on use of fixed telephony, while survey on individuals is more appropriate to cover use of mobile telephony.
The fall in prices of telecommunication services has definitely been a decisive element in increasing the usage of phones, both fixed or mobile, so it would be interesting to discover the monthly expenditure per household in EU countries.
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To verify further the extent to which prices have an impact on phone calls, finding out how many minutes households spend, on average, talking at peak and off-peak rates could be of great use. These figures could be compared to those of households living in countries charging flat rate tariffs.
Qualitative aspects should also be taken into account to evaluate consumer satisfaction. Nine quality of service indicators are listed in Annex II of the Voice Telephony Directive 98/10/EC. Data on these indicators might be obtained from operators. However, households surveys might include a question to measure the satisfaction from the service provided by telecom operators. b) Data on SMEs’ use of telecommunication services
Remark: these data might be collected through existing surveys on SMEs.
As for households, users are interesting in assessing the impact of price variations on the use of telecommunications services by SMEs as well as measuring their satisfaction level related to the quality and variety of services offered. In addition, the penetration of mobile telephony for business purpose should be surveyed for instance in asking the number of employees with a company mobile phone. c) Widening the 2000 version of the COINS telecoms list of variables
Ö Data on mobile telecommunication services, in particular mobile Internet
Within the coming years, the focus on telephony is expected to mostly concern mobile telecoms and how this market is developing to implement successfully better and faster technology, enabling the use of the Internet in any place, at any time. As speed and convenience have always been very important features which customers associate with communicating over the phone, it appears that a greater use of mobile telephones instead of fixed ones should in no way impede users to benefit from these features. The questions that may be raised and might disturb users are the feasibility and reliability of depending on mobiles, when actively purchasing products and services through them is neither common nor a fully accepted practice yet.
Moreover, with customer loyalty being such that people will prefer visiting shops physically, having to buy through the Internet, and especially over a mobile phone, has and can pose security problems for payment transactions to occur smoothly. A related and important issue to consider is to know how long it will take for consumers to perceive mobile phones as necessities rather than luxuries and becoming essential not only for voice services. Then, a number of statistical indicators might be included in COINS telecoms list of variables, but would require a revision of the classification of telecom services.
Ö Data on employment
Employment involved in the provision of telecommunication services needs to be better evaluated. It requires the adoption of a detailed classification which would permit to have information on the number of persons employed broken down by occupations. The variable ‘Number of persons employed’ already collected might be split into the type of services provided: fixed telephony, mobile telephony, Internet services.
Ö Data on demand and infrastructure
This chapter has to include indicators revealing new usage of telecommunication services such as the number of SMS exchanged. How many free number services, including technical advice, are available to customers, and whether they are 24 hours, could also represent a relevant information.
The variety and number of contracts with specific promotions per country for enterprises, in particular SMEs, to save money could be an important indicator, which would also illustrate whether the specific telecoms market is competitive or not. This would highlight how easy it is for enterprises to obtain tariffs which are designed to suit them for their particular business needs. Special deals might also be offered if a firm leases or subscribes to more than a certain number of lines. Other services included in the offers, such as video- conferencing facilities, Internet, intranet and extranet installations, as well as whether free itemised billing is at disposal, could be listed, providing both a qualitative and quantitative measure of what telecom firms are willing to do for businesses.
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3. CONFIDENTIALITY AND LEGAL BASIS ISSUES IN THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS STATISTICS
3.1 How to treat confidentiality in statistics on telecoms services?
3.1.1 Recent progress
Since the liberalisation of the telecommunication sector in Europe resulting in the end of national monopoly and in a sharp competition between operators, confidentiality is a major issue for compiling statistics at the European level.
The COINS Working Group meeting is the opportunity to discuss confidentiality issues in the telecommunications statistics. In 2001, Eurostat proposed Member States to provide confidential data to be treated according to confidentiality rules at Eurostat, in order to be able to calculate EU totals. In addition, Member States were asked to explore the possibilities to ask for the consent of the major operators, in particular the incumbent operators, to publish certain variables, which are not too sensitive or published elsewhere, even if unit level information is disclosed.
3.1.2 Eurostat methods for treating confidentiality
In June 1990 the Council adopted Regulation 1588/90 on the transmission of confidential data to Eurostat. The text authorizes National Authorities to transmit confidential data to Eurostat while obliging Eurostat to take all necessary measures for their protection. In January 1994, these measures were defined and formally adopted by the Member States through the Committee on Statistical Confidentiality.
For the moment, there are no confidential data in the COINS database. In any cases, Eurostat dispose methods to deal with confidential data and the means to prevent disclosure of those data.
These methods make it possible to summarise data on varying levels of confidentiality for a country in order to reach the important aim of providing EU-aggregate information, even when national information is confidential.
The standard method of avoiding disclosure of information on one statistical unit is adding up data on several units to make it impossible to identify any one unit indirectly. This would ensure availability of statistics on telecommunications on the EU and eurozone levels or some other summary levels judged relevant.
3.2 Do Community statistics on telecoms services need a legal basis?
3.2.1 Existing legal acts relevant for statistics on telecommunications
A number of legal texts belonging to the general Community statistical legislation apply to statistics on telecommunications:
- The Statistical Law (OJ No L 52, 22.2.1997, p.1) - The Commission Decision on the role of Eurostat as regards the production of Community statistics (OJ No L 112, 29.4.1997, p.56) - The Council Decision establishing a Committee on the Statistical Programmes of the European Communities and rules of procedure of the SPC (OJ No L 181, 28.6.1989, p.47) - The Council Regulation (EC, EURATOM) N° 58/97 of 20 December 1996 concerning structural business statistics (OJ no L14 of 17.01.97) - The Council Regulation N° 1165/98 of 19 May 1998 concerning short-term statistics (OJ no L162 of 05.06.98)
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Other legal acts standardising statistical tools are the Council Regulation on the statistical units for the observation and analysis of the production system in the Community and the Council Regulation on Community co-ordination in drawing up business registers for statistical purposes.
The PRODCOM Council Regulation on the establishment of a Community survey of industrial production and the INTRASTAT Council Regulation on the statistics relating to the trading of goods between Member States set frameworks for provision of information on production and trade of goods. From the telecommunications point of view, certain investment goods and equipment for telecommunications are interesting. Even the Council Regulations on Research & Development and on the structure and distribution of earnings and on the level and structure of labour costs have their connections to telecommunications.
3.2.2 Recent developments
In January 2000, the SBS Regulation got wide support in the COINS Working Group meeting as a preferred framework of legal act and it was suggested to think about the possibility to create a sector specific annex to the SBS Regulation, on which the more detailed telecommunication statistics could be based. Eurostat Unit D2 which works on Structural Business Statistics did not welcome this suggestion because it was not considered appropriate to collect large amounts of functional data based on a regulation concerning structural and accounting data.
Consideration was also given to the fact that there seem to be no guarantee that the list of telecommunication statistics – widely revised in 2000 - would be stable over a long period of time, due to the fast changes observed in this sector. Under these circumstances, it would be a waste of resources to stipulate a methodology and a set of variables, which soon would be out of date and tedious to update. During the testing period, a gentlemen’s agreement is a better basis to operate, even with all its weaknesses.
Nevertheless, the lack of a strong legal basis impedes the development of statistics on telecommunications in several ways:
- Resources on the national level are allocated to sectors where a legal obligation to produce specified statistics exists, leaving the voluntary domains without resources in extreme cases.
- Data can be collected based on various national legal acts or on voluntary basis resulting in varying methodology, response rate etc. Harmonisation of methodology and definitions probably are not as effective as if regulated.
The difficulty of data collection on telecommunications is a problem that Eurostat shares with DG INFSO, the OECD and the ITU. This manual is a first initiative to improve harmonisation of statistics on telecommunication services in the EU. Once a more stable conceptual framework has been achieved, reflection of legal act should be resumed. The support and co-operation of DG INFSO and Member States is crucial.
In February 2001, the Working Group concluded that the work would continue on a gentlemen’s agreement basis and the situation reviewed in a years time.
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4. NOMENCLATURES AND CLASSIFICATIONS
4.1 Introduction
Two relevant classification systems with different aims exist at European level: ● Classification of economic activities (NACE Rev.1)
The classification of economic activities NACE Rev.1 allocates the statistical units (see Chapter 2) in the classes where the units have their principal activity. Explanatory notes are added to each NACE class. Telecommunications operators are therefore recorded where they carry out the main part of their business.
● Classification of products according to activities (CPA)
The CPA is the basic statistical tool for establishing European statistics by products.
Both classifications have an equivalent on worldwide level: the activity classification ISIC Rev.3 and the product classification CPC of the United Nations.
4.2 Activity classification for Telecommunications (NACE Rev.1 Class 64.20)
The Council Regulation N° 3037/90 of 9 October 1990 on the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community (amended by Council Regulation N° 761/93 of 24 March 1993) defines the NACE Rev.1 nomenclature (“Nomenclature générale des activités économiques dans les Communautés Européennes” – General Industrial Classification of Economic Activities within the European Communities).
NACE is the basic legal background for the statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community. It is used for reporting by a number of statistical domains, including National Accounts, Labour Statistics, and of course Business Statistics. It provides a set of meaningful activity headings by which to aggregate data (on employment, value added etc.) collected from enterprise groups, enterprises, or parts of enterprises.
Division 64 (Section I) of this nomenclature refers to ‘Post and telecommunications' and includes the following 2 groups:
● 64.1 Post and courier activities ● 64.2 Telecommunications
The manual covers the NACE Rev.1 class 64.20 ‘Telecommunications’.
The explanatory notes inform that this class INCLUDES ‘transmission of sound, images, data or other information via cables, broadcasting, relay or satellite: - Telephone, telegraph and telex communication - Maintenance of the network - Transmission (transport) of radio and television programmes’ But EXCLUDES ‘telephone-answering activities (class 74.83), and production of radio and television programmes even if in connection with broadcast (class 92.20)’.
4.3 Classification for Telecommunication services (CPA 64.2)
The Council Regulation 3696/93 of 29 October 1993 on the statistical Classification of Products by Activity (CPA) in the European Communities has defined a classification of products linked to the NACE Rev.1 nomenclature up to the 4-digit level. Several CPA products or services are linked to a NACE activity. A CPA heading is linked to the NACE activity which exclusively or mainly produces it.
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In 1996, a slightly corrected version of the CPA 1993 was produced. The Council Regulation 3696/93/EEC of 29 October 1993 was amended by the Commission Regulation (EC) N° 1232/98 of 17 June 1998 which introduces the 1996 version of the CPA including the following details on telecommunication services:
Group Class Description Explanatory notes 64.2 Telecommunications services 64.20 Telecommunications services 64.20.1 Data and message transmitting services 64.20.11 Public local telephone This subcaterogy includes: services • Switching and transmission services necessary to establish and maintain communications between local calling areas. This service is primarily designed (used) to establish voice communications, but may serve other applications such as text communication (facsimile or teletex) and may be provided on a toll or flat-rate basis. This service provides the customer with access to the supplier’s and connecting carrier’s entire telephone network or, in some instances, to a limited number of exchange areas (WATS services).
This subcategory excludes: • Private line services, classified in 64.20.14 and 64.20.15. • Terminal equipment rental services, classified in 71.34.10. 64.20.12 Public long distance This subcategory includes : telephone services • Conventional analogue telephone services for transmission of messages by voice from the local area to the international network • Telex, telegraph, teletex and telefax services • Taxi phone services 64.20.13 Mobile telephone This subcategory includes: services • Radio telephone services which, by means of transportable equipment, give two-way access to the public telephone network or other mobile telephones. Some versions of this service, with proper terminal equipment, may be used to transmit facsimiles as well as voice communications.
This subcategory excludes: • Air-to-ground and maritime mobile communications services, classified in 64.20.27.
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64.20.14 Shared business This subcategory includes: network services • Network services necessary to establish telephone communications between selected (point-to-point or multi-point) locations (terminals) via a public (shared) network. This type of service is primarily used to establish long-distance voice communications but some versions can also accommodate facsimile and data transmission. 64.20.15 Dedicated business This subcategory includes: network services • Network services necessary to establish telephone communications between selected (point-to-point or multi-point) locations (terminals) via private line(s). This type of service is primarily used to establish voice communications between distant PBX’s (tie line), between a distant location and a PBX (off premises’ extension), between a PBX and a distant exchange area (foreign exchange) or between designated telephone sets, but may also accommodate data transmission. 64.20.16 Data network services This subcategory includes: • Network services necessary to transmit data between equipment using the same or different protocols. This service can be provided via a public or dedicated data network (i.e. via a network dedicated to the customer’s use). 64.20.17 Electronic message This subcategory includes: and information • Network and related services (hardware services and software) necessary to send and receive electronic messages (telegraph and telex/TWX services) and/or access information in databases (so-called value-added network services)
This subcategory excludes: • Database services, i.e. provision of on- line information retrieval services, classified in 72.40.10. 64.20.2 Other telecommunications services 64.20.21 Television broadcast This subcategory includes: transmission services • Network services necessary for the transmission of television signals, independently of the type of technology (network) employed
This subcategory excludes: • Television cable services, classified in 64.20.30. • Television programme production services, even in connection with broadcasting, classified in 92.20.12.
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64.20.22 Radio broadcast This subcategory excludes: transmission services • Mobile radio telephone services, classified in 64.20.13. • Radio cable services, classified in 64.20.30. • Production services of radio programmes, even in connection with broadcasting, classified in 92.20.11. 64.20.23 Interconnection This subcategory includes: services • Network services by one carrier to another when a communication originating in a carrier’s territory must travel through another carrier’s network to reach its destination. 64.20.24 Integrated This subcategory includes: telecommunications • Private point-to-point or multipoint services network services which enable users to simultaneously or alternately transmit voice, data and/or image. This type of service offers high bandwidth capacity and flexible, customer-controlled network reconfiguration to accommodate changing traffic patterns. 64.20.25 Paging services This subcategory includes: • The summoning of a person to the telephone through the use of an electronic pager. This includes tone, voice and digital display paging services. 64.20.26 Teleconferencing This subcategory includes: services • Network and related services necessary to hold a one-way or two-way fully interactive video conference. 64.20.27 Other This subcategory includes: telecommunications • Mobile maritime and air-to-ground services communications services. • Telecommunications services, not elsewhere classified. 64.20.3 Radio and television cable services 64.20.30 Radio and television This subcategory includes: cable services • Radio and television programming package via cable • Basic TV services • "Pay-TV" services
This subcategory excludes: • Radio or television production services, classified in 92.20.1.
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4.4 Revisions of the nomenclature and classification
Existing classifications of telecommunication services have to be updated because classified services are not coherent anymore with the evolution of the telecom sector. The revised classifications should on the one hand include all the relevant telecommunication services appeared following the liberalisation of the sector, which has led to successive waves of innovation, in particular regarding mobile telephony and data transmission, but also on the other hand anticipate the likely future services, in particular in mobile telecoms, which result in the progressive convergence between telecommunications, computing and broadcasting.
Eurostat has therefore engaged a reflection to elaborate classifications relevant for the description of modern telecommunications, focusing on product classification. The 2002 revision of the CPA is now completed, hence proposals should be incorporated in the next update of the NACE/CPA scheduled for 2007.
Started in 2000, the project of revision of the classifications has resulted in a proposal for a revision of the CPA for telecommunication services. However, the work has to be undertaken to finalise this proposal, in particular, using the recent developments of the Voorburg Goup to revise the CPC, and the draft NAPCS. Since the beginning of 2001, Eurostat has been drafting a classification of mobile telecommunication services to be used for producing volume and value indicators.
4.5 Classification of employment in telecommunication services
Commission services, in particular DG INFSO has expressed the needs to dispose detailed data on employment in telecommunication sector, both in terms of volume and type of occupation. In order to produce harmonised statistics on this theme, Eurostat recommends data providers to use the two standard classifications for describing employment:
- ISCED, the classification according to skill level produced by UNESCO - ISCO-88, the occupational classification produced by the ILO (International Labour Organisation)
The use of these classifications for measuring the employment in the telecommunications sector has been introduced to the COINS Working Group members in February 2001 (Doc. COINS-WG/01/01/4/EN).
4.6 Links with other classifications
Three major classification systems, used at international level, can be distinguished.
United Nations NAFTA (USA, Canada and European Union Mexico) Activity classification ISIC Rev.3 NAICS NACE Rev.1 Product classification CPC NAPCS CPA
The co-ordination of international classifications is guaranteed by the United Nations, which has set out a basic activity classification, the ISIC (International Standard Industrial Classification) which has been revised in 1990 (ISIC Rev.3). The corresponding product classification is the CPC (Central Product Classification).
In 1990, Europe adopted a common activity classification, the NACE Rev.1, based on the ISIC Rev.3, while in 1997, the NAFTA nations (USA, Canada and Mexico) adopted a new common activity classification to replace the American and Canadian SIC (Standard Industrial Classification), known as NAICS (North American Industry Classification System).
Following the adoption of the NAICS, Canada, Mexico and United States launched a project for developing a common product classification: the North American Product Classification System (NAPCS). The first phase of the project of the NAICS was completed in December 2000 including the classification of products originating from selected service industries, among them the core ICT service industries (telecommunications and computer services).
The next revisions of the ISIC, the NACE and the NAICS will take place in 2002 and 2007. Concerning sectors such as telecommunications, these revisions are extremely necessary. The current classifications are not well articulated to describe the current telecommunications markets. The telecommunications sector is evolving at a rapid pace, and services that did not exist when the classifications were elaborated are now growing in importance.
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The following table presents the activity classification for telecommunications according to the NAICS 1997 and the proposal for 2002 NAICS revision.
NAICS (1997) Proposal for 2002 NAICS revision 51 Information 51 Information 513 Broadcasting and telecommunications 515 Broadcasting (except Internet) 5131 Radio and television broadcasting 5151 Radio and television broadcasting 51311 Radio broadcasting 51511 Radio broadcasting 513111 Radio networks 513112 Radio stations 51312 Television broadcasting 51512 Television broadcasting 5132 Cable networks and program distribution 5152 Cable and other subscription programming 51321 Cable networks 51322 Cable and other program distribution 5133 Telecommunications 517 Telecommunications 51331 Wired telecommunications carriers 5171 Wired telecommunications carriers 51332 Wirless telecommunications carriers 5172 Wirless telecommunications carriers (except satellite) (except satellite) 513321 Paging 513322 Cellular and other wireless telecommunications 51333 Telecommunications resellers 5173 Telecommunications resellers 51334 Satellite telecommunications 5174 Satellite telecommunications 5175 Cable and other program distribution 51339 Other telecommunications 5179 Other telecommunications 514 Information services and data 518 ISP, Web search portals and data processing services processing services 5141 Information services 51419 Other information services 514191 On-line information services 5181 ISP and web search portals
234920 Telecommunications line (e.g. telephone, telegraph) construction 235310 Telecommunications wiring installation contractors 541618 Telecommunications management consulting services
The table below presents the product classification for telecommunication services according to the proposed CPC structure for telecom services (2000) and the NAPCS (2000).
Proposed CPC structure for telecom NAPCS (2000) services (2000) Products of telecommunication companies 841 Telecommunications and program Telecommunications and program distribution distribution services services 8411 Carrier services Carrier services
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8412 Fixed telephony services Fixed telephony services 84121 Fixed telephony services – Access and Fixed local telephony use Basic fixed local telephony • Residential • Business • Public Basic fixed long distance telephony Outbound • Residential • Business • Public Basic fixed long distance telephony - Inbound Basic fixed all distance telephony 84122 Fixed telephony services – Calling Calling features - features Fixed telephony • Residential • Business 8413 Mobile telecommunications services Mobile telecommunications services 84131 Mobile telecommunications services – Mobile local telephony Access and use Mobile local telephony - Access and use Mobile long distance telephony Mobile all distance telephony Messaging (paging) services Mobile dispatch services (RCC) 84132 Mobile telecommunications services – Calling features - Mobile telephony Calling features 8414 Private network services Private network services 8415 Data transmission services Data transmission services 8416 All other telecommunications services Other telecommunications services 8417 Program distribution services Multichannel programming distribution services Basic programming package Discretionary programming package (Canada) / Premium programming package (US) Pay-per-view 842 On-line access services On-line access services 8421 Internet backbone services Internet backbone services 8422 Internet access services Internet access services Internet access • Narrrowband • Broadband
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8423 Internet telecommunication services Internet telecommunication services Telecommunications related services Telecommunications network installation services Telecommunications equipment sales Telecommunications equipment rental Telecommunications equipment maintenance Network design and development services, other than security Telecommunications related services n.e.c.
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5. COINS DATA COLLECTION
5.1 Description of the COINS data collection
5.1.1 Statistics on Communication and Information Services (COINS)
Following the creation of the COINS Working Group, Eurostat undertook the development of COINS statistical information system in order to obtain:
• A set of reliable and comparable variables accompanied by definitions and guidelines for the collection of data
• A high-quality and well-structured database
• A system of dissemination geared to users’ needs
The COINS system of statistics on communications is based on a gentlemen’s agreement with the Member States committing themselves to provide the agreed set of data for Eurostat on a voluntary basis.
The COINS system of statistics on communications COINS is split into two data collections: - Post and courier services (NACE Rev.1 64.1) - Telecommunication services (NACE Rev. 1 64.2)
5.1.2 The COINS Telecoms list of variables
In 2000, Eurostat suggested to the COINS Working Group to revise the list of variables to be collected as the existing questionnaire did not reflect the real state of the telecoms sector recently liberalised.
Therefore Eurostat prepared a revised list of variables taking into account recent developments in the sector, the results of the pilot survey of telecommunication services, requirements of the Commission’s services, and statistics collected by other organisations (ITU, OECD).The new version of the variable list was presented to the COINS Working Group at its meeting in January 2000 and afterwards amended according to the comments received at the meeting. The amended list was then sent for written comments to the Working Group members and candidate countries. The WG members were invited to mark the data according to priority level and data availability at national level. The new COINS telecomms questionnaire was based on the results of the written procedure and it was used in the inquiry 2000.
The variables to be collected were selected according to the priority ranking and information on the data availability. Sometimes, however, variable not well available was taken chosen, because it was considered important and availability was expected to improve in the future. In order to maintain continuity, some old variables were selected to continue interesting time series.
The proposed questionnaire included a number of variables on broadcasting. But in light of the written comments received and the variables collected for AUVIS, the decision was taken to include collected broadcasting variables in the domain of AUVIS alone, even though transmission of signal is telecommunication according to the standard activity classifications.
The relevance of the new questionnaire was evaluated using the results of the 2000 telecoms inquiry. The COINS questionnaire used for inquiry 2001 takes these results into account, and includes a number of new variables.
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5.1.3 Data collection process
The Eurostat COINS telecoms data collection is an annual exercise and is carried out on voluntary basis. However, the transmission delay for returning the results should not be longer than 10 months from the end of the reference year, in order to monitor the evolution of the sector and to dispose data as fresh as possible. The questionnaire is sent to the relevant national data providers (national administrations and statistical institutes). The respondents are asked to fill in the questionnaire for the reference year, but also to verify and revise if necessary the previous year(s) pre-filled with data. As soon as received, Eurostat check the data according to quality and consistency. Then, data are transferred into the COINS domain (Collection telecoms) into New Cronos to be disseminated.
Since some of the variables are available much earlier than others, it was suggested for the first time in 2001 to conduct the COINS telecoms inquiry in two phases, one for the early variables and one for the late ones. The early indicators were collected in summer 2001 and the late indicators in autumn 2001.
Regarding the countries covered by the COINS telecoms inquiry, the questionnaire is sent to the 15 Member States and the EFTA countries, excluding Liechtenstein. In 1999 Eurostat however collected a concise set of variables from candidate countries. Some Mediterranean countries were included in the exercise. The Central- and East-European countries covered were Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia. Cyprus, Malta and Turkey were also covered. Of the countries of former Yugoslavia, only Slovenia was covered at the time. As the response to 1999 inquiry was very positive, it was envisaged to extend the regular COINS inquiry to the candidate countries as such. Therefore, the 2000 inquiry also covered the 13 candidate countries.
From 2001 inquiry, Eurostat wished to extend the inquiry to new countries, starting with Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia, Croatia and Macedonia). Moreover, if co-operation were established with the remaining parts of former Yugoslavia, Eurostat would like to cover those, too. The aim of this study was to compare the telecommunication sectors in these countries with the EU countries.
5.2 Sector specific variables for which yearly enterprise statistics are collected
5.2.1 Data on operators Code Name Definition Comments Number of fixed network operators Number of fixed networks operators End of year offering telecommunications in the local offering telecommunications in the networks local loop, facilities based or resale Number of fixed network operators Number of fixed networks operators End of year offering national long distance offering national long distance telecommunications telecommunications, facilities based or resale Number of operators offering Number of operators providing End of year international telecommunications international telecommunication services Number of cellular mobile operators Number of mobile telecommunications End of year operators, digital or analogue, facilities based or resale (except satellite) Number of cable and satellite service Number of cable and satellite service End of year providers providers providing interactive telecommunications, excliuding pure programme distribution Number of Internet service providers Number of providers of Internet End of year services; access and backbone services
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5.2.2 Employment Code Name Definition Comments 16 14 0 Employment converted into full time Average-of-the-year full-time staff equivalents units, average of the year employed by telecommunication service providers, facilities based or resale, for the provision of public telecommunication services. Part-time staff should be expressed in terms of full-time equivalents.
5.2.3 Investment Code Name Definition Comments 15 11 0 Total gross investment in tangible Total investment for acquiring property goods (land and buildings) and plant (e.g. switching equipment, transmission equipment, office machinery, and motor vehicles) Investment in fixed Investment in fixed telecommunication telecommunications equipments and infrastructures other than cable TV services Investment in mobile Investment in cellular mobile telecommunications: GSM, GPRS telecommunication equipment and infrastructure (analogue, GSM, GPRS) Investment in mobile Investment in UMTS (3rd generation telecommunications: UMTS mobile communications) excluding licences Investment in other telecommunication Investment in Internet, satellite and networks cable telecommuncation equipment and infrastructure other than for broadcasting
5.2.4 Breakdown of turnover Code Name Definition Comments Total receipts from telecommunication Total revenue earned. This should services exclude revenues from non- telecommunication services. Revenue (turnover) consists of telecommunications service earnings during the financial year under review. Revenue should not include monies received in respect of revenue earned during previous financial years, neither does it include monies received by way of loans from governments, or other external investors, nor monies received from repayable subscribers' contributions or deposits. Turnover from leased lines Revenues from the provision of leased lines (circuits)
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Turnover from fixed network services Revenues from the provision of national telecommunication services in the fixed network Turnover from cellular mobile Revenues from the provision of cellular telecommunication services mobile telecommunication services Turnover from interconnection services Revenues from the provision of interconnection services i.e. services provided by one telecommunications organisation to another for the purpose of the conveyance of messages and information between the two systems and including any auxiliary services necessary for the provision and maintenance of such services Turnover from Internet service Revenues from the provision of provision Internet services Receipts of telecommunication Income received from foreign services – International incoming traffic telephone operators for completing (total) calls originating in a foreign country Receipts of telecommunication Income received from EU telephone services – International incoming traffic operators for completing calls (Intra-EU) originating in a EU country Payments of telecommunication Charges received from subscribers for services – International outgoing (total) placing outgoing calls after deduction of the share of this income to be paid to other organisation for outgoing telecommunication traffic (operators of the incoming and possibly transit countries) Payments of telecommunication Charges received from subscribers for services – International outgoing traffic placing outgoing calls in the EU after (Intra-EU) deduction of the share of this income to be paid to other organisation for outgoing telecommunication traffic (operators of the incoming and possibly transit countries)
5.2.5 Telecommunications volume Code Name Definition Comments National calls Sum of local and national long distance calls in minutes Local calls Local calls in fixed networks in minutes National long distance calls National long distance calls in fixed networks in minutes. The fixed national (trunk) traffic consists of effective (completed) national traffic exchanged with a station outside the local charging area of the calling station. Calls from fixed to mobile networks Calls from fixed to mobile networks in minutes Cellular mobile calls, total Sum of various types of calls specified
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below. For text messages, use average duration of connection, if actual connection time is not available. Calls within mobile networks Calls in cellular mobile networks in minutes, specified to calls within one operator’s networks, to another operators’ networks, short text messages and calls to fixed networks Calls from mobile to mobile networks Short text messages Number of short text messages Calls from mobile to fixed networks Internet, minutes of connection Minutes of connection to Internet Any known gaps in coverage should be footnoted International calls, incoming calls Minutes of calls in fixed and cellular (total, all of the world) networks originating outside the country (from the entire world) with a destination inside the country International calls, incoming calls Minutes of calls in fixed and cellular (Intra-EU, in minutes) networks originating outside the country (from EU) with a destination inside the country International calls, outgoing calls (total, Minutes of calls in fixed and cellular all of the world) networks originating in the country to destinations outside the country (to the entire world) International calls, outgoing calls Minutes of calls in fixed and cellular (Intra-EU, in minutes) networks originating in the country to destinations outside the country (to the EU)
5.2.6 Infrastructure indicators Code Name Definition Comments Number of leased lines Leased lines (also known as private circuits) provide fixed unswitched communications link between two points Number of main telephone lines Number of telephone lines connecting It may not the subscriber's terminal equipment to be the the public switched network and which same as an has a dedicated port in the telephone access line exchange equipment. This term is or a synonymous with the term 'main subscriber station' or 'Direct Exchange Line' (DEL) which are commonly used in telecommunication documents Households share of the main Main lines for residential use as a telephone lines percentage of total main telephone lines. Number of main lines serving
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households (i.e. lines which are not used for business, government or other professional purposes or as public telephone stations). Subscriptions to cellular mobile Subscriptions to public cellular mobile services telecommunication systems cellular technology, including number of active pre-paid cards ISDN subscriptions Number of subscriptions to the Not number Integrated Services Digital Network not of channels specifying whether basic or primary rate interface service DSL subscriptions Digital Subscriber Line subscriptions, Asymmetric (ADSL) or comparable Number of Internet subscriptions Number of subscriptions (including free subscriptions) to Internet. It can be broken down by type of customers: private business, households, and public sector.
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6. MEASURING PRICES OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS SERVICES
6.1 Objective
The 2000 version of the COINS telecoms questionnaire does not cover telecoms prices. However, the European Commission (DG INFSO, DG COMP and DG SANCO) expresses the need to monitor the impact of liberalisation of telecommunication services in the European Union in terms of prices variations of various baskets of telecommunication services and Internet access services.
In order to meet the users’ needs, Eurostat initiated the project of developing a methodology for measuring the price level of telecommunication services and Internet access at the EU-15 level. The objective is to dispose of harmonised telecoms prices indicators agreed by Member States.
6.2 Work organisation
A number of initiatives for measuring telecoms prices exist at Community level (relevant Eurostat Units, DG INFSO, DG COMP) and in other interested parties (OECD, Teligen Ltd.). It is therefore necessary to find synergies between these various projects and to co-ordinate it in order to produce the most effective framework to collect harmonised data.
An Informal Eurostat Task Force on Telecoms Prices was created in 2000 with the mandate of mapping potential areas of co-operation. Below is an overview of relevant initiatives undertaken by parties involved in the exercise of measuring telecoms prices.
Within Eurostat Initiative related to telecoms prices Results Unit B1: National Elaboration of a telecoms deflator Method published accounts Task Force “Price and Volume Measures Report on TF activity produced in for Post and Telecommunication services” September 2000 commissioned by National Accounts Working Party Unit B3: Consumer PPP surveys to Household Consumption Next survey planned for 2nd half of prices => Survey on Services prices including 2001 Telecoms services List of relevant telecom services used to build up the basket in September 2001 Results available by mid-2002 HICP => Comparison with the national index item for telecoms Unit D1: Special sector => Attempt to obtain Classifications, indices for average European consumer methodological co- and for average European SME ordination and Classifications => Revision of the Draft classifications discussed by infrastructure of classification of telecommunication Working Group members (CIRCA) business statistics services Directorate E: Household surveys include items on Social and regional telecoms prices statistics, GIS Household budget survey provides weights for consumer price index Other DGs Initiative related to telecoms prices Results DG INFSO Baskets of telecoms services => Annual Data from incumbent operators on low, inquiry carried out by Teligen Ltd. average and high usage baskets for residential and business use (including SMEs) eEurope benchmarking indicators web OECD figures on Internet access site provides Internet access prices prices peak and off-peak http://europa.eu.int/information_society/ee urope/benchmarking/list/2001/index_en.ht m
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Survey on Internet access prices carried out twice a year DG COMP Contracted work on studies related to Studies on interconnection tariffs, telecoms leased lines, roaming Non-Community Initiative related to telecoms prices Results organisations OECD Biennial Communications Outlook OECD uses Teligen Ltd. data and including plenty of price information baskets OECD Internet Access Price Comparison 2000 Internet access price comparison www.oecd.org//dsti/sti/it/cm/stats/isp- per month using 20h, 30h, 40h and price99.htm ‘always-on’ baskets. All OECD countries covered. Annual inquiry Commercial Products Results suppliers Teligen Ltd. Provision to EC with monitoring reports, Expert of telecoms price development reports, basket price information comparisons T-World CD-ROM: collection of price lists Small operators not covered in electronic form Low data availability 1999 and 2000 data No history data T-Basket diskette: baskets methodology “Basket definitions for EU Tariff Study 1998-2000”, September 2000 Paper written for DG INFSO
6.3 Main issues
Measuring telecoms prices requires identifying relevant index products. The statistical basket, required for building up appropriate and representative price indices, has to reflect the total production of the selected items and include the most important price-determining factors. However, the elaboration of a stable list of products is impeded by the fast technological changes observed in the telecommunication sector. On the one hand, the weigthing scheme has to reflect the actual market situation. The selection of enterprises and products depends on their significance in the market segment and the prices collected from the enterprises must adequately reflect real transactions (consideration of discounts).
Price monitoring in telecommunications faces therefore special difficulties:
- Telecomunications enterprises often bundle services together to meet customer profiles, and adopt complex pricing tariffs for these services (e.g. mobile phone packages). Moreover these tariffs change rapidly.
- The telecommunications sector is driven by rapid technological innovation and deregulation. This creates the problem for price index calculation of having to keep pace with rapid structural changes and emerging new products.
- Lack of elementary data for deriving the weighting pattern necessary for combining individual price indices.
- Defining the output of Internet Service Providers. It is difficult to keep pace with the charging range of services ISPs offer, and their pricing and charging models are developing rapidly. Many providers do not charge directly for the service they provide, obtaining their funding via advertising, web-hosting or other sources.
Another major issue is to take into account the evolution of the quality of services offered due to frequent waves of innovation. Changes in telecommunication services have been recorded over the past few years. These changes in quality are reflected by physical and non-physical characteristics. Adjustments for quality may reflect the line speed available for data transmission, the availability of advice and the friendliness of the service provided, the clarity of the call, time taken to connect the call, availability of lines and their reliability, the speed with which faults are resolved or requests for new services are dealt with.
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Regularly updated information is therefore required to ensure that the price index weights remain up-to-date and representative and they still reflect changes in quality.
Then, baskets should include items like access to network, connection and other one off service fees and fees on traffic by minutes (telephony: local, long distance, international; ISP). The quality of connection should also be considered (capacity of connection line, digital or analogue etc.). The baskets for households and business are certainly different. For international comparison meaningful baskets should be developed for consumers and business taking into account variations in patterns of communication in various countries.
6.4 The internal Eurostat Task Force on telecoms prices
An internal Eurostat Task Force on telecoms prices was created in 2000 and meets on a regular basis to find synergies between initiatives for measuring the prices of telecommunication services.
As a result of the works of this Task Force, the Purchasing Power Parities data collection of Eurostat Unit B3 and the general telecommunication price level indicator for Eurostat Unit D1 are suggested to be the field to start the inter-services co-operation, supported by the OECD and ITU.
The first step would be to define the index products for the PPP study. For the index products the price data should be collected for the reference points of time for the countries. The reference time could for instance be the beginning of the year or mid-year. The result would be saved into a database, which would allow calculation of price indices using various baskets for various purposes.
The basic basket, which would serve the PPP survey, would represent use of telecommunication services by the average EU consumer. This indicator of telecommunication consumer price levels would also be an interesting indicator for use in the telecommunication statistics. A specific business basket should also be defined to indicate telecommunication price levels for an average SME. With the price data available and possibilities to test various baskets, small use- and intensive use baskets could be experimented. Also country-specific baskets could be tested later on. For basket construction, household and business survey results should be used.
Using existing data would be the preferred option. Data available at DG INFSO level would be tested for use in statistical work and publications; synergies in future work on data collection and baskets construction would be discussed. Establishing a separate collection of price data from the Member States should only be considered if use of the existing data does not work out. National Statistical Institutes and National Regulatory Authorities should, however, be involved in the process by having their evaluation of applicability of the method and the validity of the data used. Timing for the exercise should in the first phase be set according to the PPP-survey timetable.
The table below presents methods available for measuring telecoms prices. These methods are classified according to their relevance ranging from 1 (most preferable) to 5 (not appropriate).
Method Description Advantages Disadvantages 1. Output Measure change in actual Best method since it Need often specific, prices contract prices directly measures product expensive and difficult to prices. The ideal price organise surveys indicator is the real service price, net of all discounts, net of taxes, excluding intra-firm transactions, on a factory-gate basis at a given date 2. Based on an assessment of Quality and productivity Complex and quality Hedonics certain measurable changes are taken into adjustment factor is highly characteristics that make up account dependent on the choosen any particular product. These characteristics and characteristics are weighted regression model used to together to product an derive weights
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estimate of quality change in any particular product 3. Volume Attempt to directly measure Easy to collect (if possible Appropriate for standard indicators the output, or expenditure on, to define) types of services (well any particular product defined), since quality changes can be difficult to capture. Product coverage is rarely available at an acceptable and representative level of detail 4. Model Use price quotes for typical – In-built consistency since Issue of product pricing existing or hypothetical – the same output is priced representativity in areas of products over time and so on theory rapid product change. Need service quality is for regular updates unchanged 5. Input Use price movements in the Inputs are easy to collect Cannot measure productivity methods inputs to a production process or quality (product related) as a proxy for output price changes indices
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7. DATABASES AND PUBLICATIONS
7.1 Relevant databases in New Cronos
New Cronos is the Eurostat’s reference macroeconomic and social database which contains over 160 million social and economic statistical data covering the Member States and, in many cases, Japan, the United States, the central European countries and the main economic partners of the European Union. Data may be monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annual depending on the statistical domain covered, and are available from 1960 to the present day depending on the variable or country selected. New Cronos is divided in 9 themes, each subdivided in several domains. Each domain is structured in collections covering a specific sector and giving economic and social indicators.
- Theme 1: General Statistics - Theme 2: Economy and Finance - Theme 3: Population and Social Conditions - Theme 4: Industry, Trade and Services - Theme 5: Agriculture and Fisheries - Theme 6: External Trade - Theme 7: Transport - Theme 8: Environment and Energy - Theme 9: Science and Technology http://europa.eu.int/newcronos/
7.1.1 COINS
The COINS telecom database available in New Cronos is the information system used to store the data from the annual COINS telecom inquiry. The table below gives the location and the structure of the COINS database.
Theme Domain Collection Table Description Theme 4: Industry, coins telecom Trade and Services tel_eco Employment and economic data from 1995 on tel_ser Volume and infrastructure data from 1995 on tel_oper Operator data from 1995 on tel_long Long time series covering telecommunication services (NACE Rev. 1 64.20) 1980-2000 indweb Indicators for website
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7.1.2 Other databases
The table below indicates the New Cronos databases – other than COINS - which may include statistics on NACE 64.2 “Telecommunications” and on COICOP (Classification of individual consumption by purpose) 08.3.0 “Telephone and telefax services”.
Theme Domain Collection Group Table Description Theme2: Economy price hicp - haind Harmonized indices of and Finance consumer prices - Annual Data Theme3: hbs wave94 h_exp tab21 Overall structure of Population and consumption expenditure / Social Conditions COICOP-HBS (per 10 000) Theme4: Industry, sbs enterpr - enter Detailed data on all Trade and Services enterprises (Nace Rev.1 C to F : from 1995 onwards, NACE Rev. 1 G to K : from 1990 onwards) sbs fats overview presence Table indicating for each combination of reporting (host) countries and NACE Rev.1 headings whether a country has presence in terms of FATS ownership sbs fats country tab_uk FATS data for the United Kingdom sbs region - reg Regional data sbs sizclass - services Annual enterprise statistics broken down by size classes Services - NACE Rev.1 sections H to K and M to O (annex 1 of the SBS regulation) sme sme_rev1 sme_nat all tables SME tabular national data in NACE Rev. 1 for structural indicators sme sme_rev1 sme_reg smeregfi SME Regional data for Finland ebt ebt_ts - oth_serv European Business Trends - Monthly and Quarterly Short Term Statistics – Other services (NACE Rev.1 H-K) infosoc misc internet Number of Internet hosts, Internet users and use of Internet, Number of Internet Access Providers (only for CECC)
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7.2 Bibliography of Eurostat publications of statistics on telecommunication services
In the past few years, Eurostat released, sometimes together with the OECD and ITU, several publications on telecommunications services. These publications based on data coming from the annual COINS telecoms inquiry are listed below.
‘Business statistics in the telecommunications sector’, Statistics in Focus, Eurostat Theme 4 – 19/2000
‘Business statistics in the information and communication sector’, Statistics in Focus, Eurostat Theme 4 – 31/1999
‘Telecommunication services in Europe’, Statistics in Focus, Eurostat Theme 4 – 9/1999
‘Information and Communication Services, Annual statistics 1980-1995’, Eurostat, 1997. A CD-ROM containing the complete COINS database is enclosed to this publication.
‘Telecommunication services in Europe’, Statistics in Focus, Eurostat Theme ‘Distributive trade, services and transport’ – 1/1996
‘Some statistics on Telecommunication Services, OECD Workshop on the Economics of the Information Society, Istanbul, 14 & 15 December 1995’, Supplement 2, Eurostat Theme ‘Distributive trade, services and transport’, 1995
‘Communication Services, Annual statistics 1980, 1985, 1990-93’, Eurostat, 1996
‘Communication indicators for major economies, 1995’, joint Eurostat/OECD/ITU publication, 1995
‘Communication Services, Annual statistics 1980, 1985, 1989-92’, Eurostat, 1994
‘Communication Services, Annual statistics 1980-1991’, Eurostat, 1993
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8. OTHER STATISTICAL SYSTEMS
Eurostat’s work on statistics in the telecommunication services area certainly needs a clear allocation vis-à- vis the other institutional actors active in this field. This chapter aims at presenting the statistical activities related to telecommunication services developed by Eurostat and • The International Telecommunications Union • The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Co-operation between Eurostat, the ITU and the OECD is necessary on the one hand to avoid duplication of work as several common variables are collected by the three organisations, and on the other hand to harmonise methodology.
8.1 International Telecommunication Union (ITU) www.itu.int
The ITU, headquartered in Geneva (Switzerland), is an UN organisation created in 1865 and with 189 members within which governments and the private sector coordinate global telecommunication networks and services and act for telecom standardisation.
The ITU is the leading publisher of telecommunication technology, regulatory and standard information as well as a major producer of statistics mainly obtained from telecommunications ministries, regulators and operators.
Regular co-operation exists between Eurostat and the ITU in methodological work to develop harmonised statistics and exchange of data. ITU has at several times called for an intensive collaboration between Eurostat, ITU and the OECD, for instance with the elaboration of a common questionnaire that would reduce burdens on respondents and that would lead to joint publications.
ITU Telecommunication Indicators site www.itu.int/ti
The ITU Telecommunication Indicators site is used to disseminate the methodological and statistical material produced by the ITU. This site includes publications, official papers, online free statistics (Annual data on Internet hosts, Internet users, mobile phone subscriptions…), and useful links. Publications and databases are available in printed form and on CD-ROM, but also online (paying).
Moreover, the ITU ‘Telecommunication Indicator Handbook’ identifies and defines the indicators collected by the ITU for analysing the telecommunication sector. Its goal is to assist the standardisation of statistics to improve analysis and comparisons within and across countries and telecommunication operators.
⇒ Databases
The World Telecommunication Indicators Database provides time series data for the years 1960, 1965, 1970 and annually from 1975-1997 for around 100 communications statistics covering telephone network size and dimension, mobile services, quality of services, traffic, staff, tariffs, revenue and investment. Data for over 200 economies are available.
The Direction of Traffic Database presents bilateral flows of international telecommunications traffic between major economies (1983-1997).
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⇒ Reports
The ITU's Telecommunication Indicator Reports present analyses of trends and developments in the global telecommunications sector.
The Yearbook of Statistics is an exhaustive source of data about the evolution of the public telecommunications sector.
The World Telecommunication Indicators provides the main indicators of telephone network growth, mobile communications, pricing, revenues and investment for 200 plus economies worldwide. The Regional reports (Asia-Pacific, Africa, America) are overviews of the telecommunication markets at continental level.
ITU also produces downloadable Internet country case studies.
8.2 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) www.oecd.org
The OECD Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry (DSTI) deals with issues relating to science and technology, information and communications technologies and industry (www.oecd.org/dsti/sti/). The work on telecommunications and Internet policy is undertaken by the Working Party on Telecommunication and Information Services Policy (TISP), which promotes exchange of experience among Member countries and reviews developments in the field of information infrastructure. The focus is on regulatory reform, the convergence of telecommunication, Internet, cable television and broadcasting networks over fixed and wireless networks. Ongoing activities range from work on telecommunication market liberalisation, assessment of telecommunication market performance, and regulatory issues such as interconnection, universal service, the development of broadband infrastructure to support electronic commerce, and pricing. To support this work, statistics on telecommunication services are developed by the DSTI.
OECD Communication Outlook
The OECD releases every two years its “Communication Outlook” that provides comparable data on the performance of the telecommunications sector within each of the OECD countries.
The data are collected using a questionnaire developed by the OECD and revised every two years in order to keep up with the changing environment of the sector. Data providers are the Public Telecommunication Operators. However, for certain analyses it can be necessary to get additional data from private sources for instance Teligen Ltd. regarding tariffs comparisons.
The questionnaire is often not sufficient to collect all the relevant information (in particular non statistical data), so the OECD undertakes researches in Web sites of telecoms operators (information on services offered, organisation, strategies) and of governements (regulatory aspects).
OECD Telecommunications Database
The OECD Telecommunications Database is produced in association with the biennial publication Communication Outlook. The database provides time-series data (1980-1999) covering all 29 OECD Member countries and contains both telecommunication and economic indicators. The list of indicators included in the database is available on line.
Reports available online
A number of papers and studies on telecommunication services are available on line. A major topic analysed by OECD concerns the telecom prices and Internet access cost. Comparisons of pricing for telecommunication and Internet services are undertaken on a regular basis. The OECD Internet Access Price Comparison (www.oecd.org//dsti/sti/it/cm/stats/isp-price99.htm) provides Internet access price comparison per month using 20h, 30h, 40 h and ‘always-on’ baskets. Results come from an annual inquiry covering all OECD countries.
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Through a special agreement with the OECD, Teligen Ltd. offers a commercial telecommunication tariff comparison product. Entitled T-Basket, the product enables users to have comparisons of telecommunication tariffs updated on a quarterly basis. Results are available in a spreadsheet format and cover the following services: National public switched telecommunication networks (business and residential PSTN); International PSTN; Mobile Telephony; X25 and National Leased Lines.
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ANNEX 1: COUNCIL REGULATION (58/97/EEC) of 20 DECEMBER 1996 CONCERNING STRUCTURAL BUSINESS STATISTICS
(Acts whose publication is obligatory)
COUNCIL REGULATION (EC, EURATOM) No 58/97 of 20 December 1996 concerning structural business statistics therein and their publication in respect of certain THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, types of company;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European (4) Whereas the Community has, in the mean time, Community, and in particular Article 213 thereof, made substantial progress towards integration; whereas new economic, competition, social, Having regard to the draft Regulation submitted by the environmental and enterprise policies and Commission (1), guidelines call for initiatives and decisions based on valid statistics; whereas the information Having regard to the opinion of the European provided for under existing Community Parliamant (2), legislation or available in Member States is insufficient, inadequate or insufficiently Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and comparable to serve as a reliable basis for the Social Committee (3), work of the Commission;
(1) Whereas in its resolution of 14 November 1989 (5) Whereas by its Decision 93/379/EEC (1) the on internal trade in the context of the internal Council adopted a multiannual programme of market (4) the Council requested the Commission Community measures to intensify the priority in particular to improve trade statistics by making areas and to ensure the continuity and them compatible with Community definitions and consolidation of policy for enterprise, in increasing, as far as necessary, the supply of such particular small and medium-sized enterprises, in statistics to the Statistical Office of the European the Community; whereas statistics are needed to Communities; assess the impact of the measures undertaken to achieve the objectives laid down in the Decision, (2) Whereas in Decision 92/326/EEC (5) the Council in particular to have statistics which are adopted a two-year programme (1992 to 1993) comparable for businesses of all sectors, statistics for the development of European statistics on on the national and international subcontracting services; whereas this programme includes the relations between businesses and improved compilation of harmonized statistics at national statistics on small and medium-sized enterprises; and regional levels, particularly for the whereas these needs must not lead to the distributive trades; imposition of unreasonably onerous reporting requirements on small and medium-sized enterprises; (3) Whereas in its Directive 78/660/EEC (6) the
Council adopted measures to improve the (6) Whereas in its Decision 93/464/EEC (2) the coordination of national provisions concerning Council adopted a framework programme for the presentation and content of annual accounts priority actions in the field of statistical and annual reports, the valuation methods used information for 1993 to 1997;
(7) Whereas there is a need for statistics on business (1) OJ No C 146, 13.6.1995, p. 6 conduct, in particular concerning research, (2) OJ No C 96, 1. 4. 1996, p. 236. development and innovation, environmental (3) OJ No C 236, 11. 9. 1995, p. 61. protection, investment, eco-industries, tourism (4) OJ No C 297, 25. 11. 1989, p. 2. and high-technology industries; whereas the (5) OJ No L 179, 1. 7. 1992, p. 131. (6) OJ No L 222, 14. 8. 1978, p. 11. Directive as last amended by Directive 94/8/EC (OJ No L 82, 25. 3. (1) OJ No L 161, 2. 7. 1993, p. 68. 1994, p. 33). (2) OJ No L 219, 28. 8. 1993, p. 1.
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development of the Community and the operation of the internal market increase the need for (16) Whereas the definition of kind-of-activity units comparable data on the structure of earnings of (KAU) corresponds to one or more operational employees, the cost of labour and on training; subdivisions of the enterprise; whereas, for a KAU to be observable, the enterprise's (8) Whereas there is a need for complete and reliable information system must be capable of indicating statistical sources in order to enable a correct or calculating for each KAU at least the value of application of Council Directive 89/130/EEC, production, intermediate consumption, manpower Euratom of 13 February 1989 on the costs, the operating surplus and employment and harmonization of the compilation of the gross gross fixed capital formation; whereas KAUs national product at market prices (3); falling within a particular heading in the (9) Whereas the compilation of national and regional statistical classification of economic activities in accounts according to the European system of the European Community (NACE REV. 1) can integrated economic accounts (ESA) requires the produce products outside the homogeneous development of comparable, complete and group, on account of secondary activities reliable statistical sources; connected with them which cannot be separately identified from available accounting documents; (10) Whereas there is a need for regional indicators whereas it can be concluded that the enterprise and accounts; and the KAU are indentical when it proves impossible for an enterprise to indicate or (11) Whereas, in order to carry out the tasks entrusted calculate information on all of the variables listed to it under the Treaties, especially with regard to in this recital for one or more operational the internal market, the Commission must have subdivisions; exhaustive, up-to-date, reliable and comparable information on the structure, activity, (17) Whereas the statistical data compiled within a competitiveness and performance of enterprises Community system must be of a satisfactory in the Community; quality and this quality, as well as the burden it entails, must be comparable from one Member (12) Whereas standardization is required to meet State to another; whereas it is therefore necessary Community needs for information concerning to establish jointly the criteria enabling these economic convergence; requirements to be met;
(13) Whereas businesses and their professional (18) Whereas it is necessary to simplify the associations need such information in order to administrative procedures for enterprises, understand their markets and to compare their particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, activity and performance with those of their including the promotion of new technologies for competitors, at regional, national and data collection and compilation of statistics; international level; whereas it may still be necessary to collect directly from enterprises the data necessary to (14) Whereas the creation of common statistical compile structural business statistics, using standards that permit the production of methods and techniques which will ensure that they are exhaustive, reliable and up to date, harmonized data is an action which can only be undertaken efficiently at Community level; without giving rise for the parties concerned, in particular for small and medium-sized whereas such standards will be implemented in each Member State under the authority of the enterprises, to a burden which is disproportionate bodies and institutions in charge of compiling in relation to the results which users of the statistics can reasonably expect; official statistics;
(19) Whereas the signing of the General Agreement (15) Whereas the best method of ascertaining the on Trade in Services (GATS) has led to a structure, activity, competitiveness and substantial need for information on the size of the performance of enterprises in the Community signatories' markets and their shares of those consists in compiling statistics in accordance with markets for the purpose of managing and common methodological principles and common developing that Agreement; definitions of characteristics; whereas it is only
from coordinated compilation that harmonized (20) Whereas it is necessary to have a legal statistics can be drawn up with reliability, speed, framework common to all business activities and flexibility and the level of detail required to meet domains of business statistics covering also the the needs of the Commission and of enterprises; activities and domains for which statistics are not yet developed; (3) OJ No L 49, 21. 2. 1989, p. 26.
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Article 3 (21) Whereas Directive No 64/475/EEC (1) and 1. This Regulation shall cover all market activities Directive No 72/221/EEC (2), which aimed to in Sections C to K and M to O of the statistical provide a body of coherent statistics, have not classification of economic activities in the European been able to take account of economic and Community (NACE REV. 1). technical changes that have occurred since their
adoption and should therefore be repealed; 2. Statistical units of the types listed in Section I of
the Annex to Council Regulation (EEC) No 696/93 on (22) Whereas, in order to enable the rules for the the statistical units for the observation and analysis of collection and statistical processing of data and the production system in the European Community (4) for processing and transmission of the results to and which are classified under one of the activities be clarified further, it is necessary to confer on referred to in paragraph 1 shall be included in the scope the Commission, assisted by the Statistical of this Regulation. The use of particular units for the Programme Committee set up by Decision compilation of statistics shall be specified in the 89/382/EEC, Euratom (3), the power to adopt Annexes to this Regulation. measures for the application of this Regulation,
Article 4 HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 1. The statistics to be compiled for the areas referred to in Article 2 shall be grouped as modules. Article 1 The modules shall be defined in the Annexes to this Regulation. The objective of this Regulation shall be to establish a common framework for the collection, compilation, 2. The following information shall be laid down in transmission and evaluation of Community statistics on each module: the structure, activity, competitiveness and performance of businesses in the Community. (i) the activities for which the statistics are to be compiled, drawn from the coverage indicated in Article 2 Article 3 (1); The compilation of statistics shall have as its purpose, (ii) the types of statistical unit to be used for the in particular, to analyse: compilation of the statistics, drawn from the list
of statistical units referred to in Article 3 (2); (i) the structure and evolution of the activities of businesses; (iii) lists of characteristics for which statistics are to be compiled for the domains listed in Article 2 (ii) the factors of production used and other elements and the reference periods for those allowing business activity, performance and characteristics; competitiveness to be measured; (iv) a list of statistics to be compiled on business (iii) the regional, national, Community and demography; international development of businesses and markets; (v) the frequency for the compilation of the statistics, which shall be yearly or multi-yearly. If the (iv) business conduct; compilation is multi-yearly, it shall be done at (v) small and medium-sized enterprises; least once every 10 years; (vi) specific characteristics of enterprises related to (vi) the timetable showing the first reference years for particular groupings of activities. the statistics to be compiled; (vii) the standards relating to representativeness and quality evaluation;
(1) Council Directive 64/475/EEC of 30 July 1964 (viii) the period of time from the end of the reference concerning co-ordinated annual surveys of period within which the statistics are to be investment in industry (OJ No L 131, 13. 8. 1964, transmitted; p. 2193). Directive as last amended by the 1985 Act (ix) the maximum length of the transitional period of Accession. which may be conceded. (2) Council Directive 72/211/EEC of 6 June 1972 concerning co-ordinated annual surveys of industrial activity (OJ No L 133, 10. 6. 1972, p. 57). Directive as last amended by the 1985 Act of Accession (1) OJ No L 76, 30. 3. 1993, p. 1. Regulation as (3) OJ No L 181, 28.6.1989, p.47 amended by the 1994 Act of Accession.
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Article 5 3. Member States shall transmit to the Commission, at its request, all the information The modules in this Regulation shall be: necessary for the evaluation referred to in paragraph 2.
- a common module for annual structural statistics Article 8 defined in Annex 1, - a detailed module for structural statistics in industry 1. From the collected and estimated data Member defined in Annex 2, States shall produce comparable results, following the - a detailed module for structural statistics in trade breakdown stipulated for each module in Article 5. defined in Annex 3, - a detailed module for structural statistics in 2. In order that Community aggregates may be construction defined in Annex 4. compiled, Member States will produce component national results according to the levels of NACE REV. Article 6 1, laid down in the modules in the Annexes, or 1. Member States shall acquire the necessary data determined in accordance with the procedure laid down for the observation of the characteristics in the lists in Article 13. referred to in the modules in Article 5. Article 9 2. Member States may acquire the necessary data 1. Member States shall transmit the results using a combination of different sources specified provided for in Article 8 of this Regulation, including below, applying the principle of administrative confidential data, to the Statistical Office of the simplification: European Communities in accordance with the existing - compulsory surveys: the legal units, to which the Community provisions on transmission of data subject statistical units called on by the Member States to statistical confidentiality. These Community belong or of which they are composed, shall be provisions shall apply to the treatment of the results, in obliged to give accurate and complete information so far as they include confidential data. within the prescribed deadlines, - other sources which are at least equivalent as 2. The results shall be transmitted in an regards accuracy and quality, appropriate technical format and within a period of - statistical estimation procedures where some of the time from the end of the reference period which shall characteristics have not been observed for all of the be laid down for each module referred to in Article 5 units. and shall be no longer than 18 months. In addition, a small number of estimated preliminary results shall be 3. In order to reduce response burdens, the national transmitted within a period of time from the end of the authorities and the Community authority shall, under reference period which shall be laid down for each the limits and the conditions fixed by each Member module referred to in Article 5 and shall be no longer State and by the Commission in their respective than 10 months. spheres of competence, have access to administrative data sources covering the fields of activity of their own Article 10 public administrations to the extent that these data are Member States shall transmit to the Commission, at its necessary to meet the accuracy requirements referred to request, any relevant information with regard to the in Article 7. implementation of the Regulation in the Member States. 4. Member States and the Commission, within their respective fields of competence, shall promote the Article 11 conditions for increased use of electronic data transmission and automatic data-processing. 1. During the transitional periods, derogations from the provisions of the Annexes may be accepted in Article 7 so far as the national statistical systems require major 1. Member States shall take the necessary adaptations. measures to ensure that the data transmitted reflect the structure of the population of the statistical units laid 2. A supplementary transitional period may be down in the Annexes. accorded to a Member State for the compilation of statistics where it is impossible to meet the provisions 2. Quality evaluation shall be carried out of this Regulation because of derogations granted comparing the benefits of the availability of the data pursuant to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2186/93 of with the costs of collection and the burden on business, especially on small enterprises.
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22 July 1993 on Community coordination in drawing 2. The representative of the Commission shall up business registers for statistical purposes (1). submit to the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the 3. The obligations under this Regulation shall be draft within a time limit which the Chairman may lay fully applied by Member States by the end of the down according to the urgency of the matter. The transitional period. opinion shall be delivered by the majority laid down in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty in the case of decisions Article 12 which the Council is required to adopt on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of the representatives The Commission shall determine, under the procedure of the Member States within the Committee shall be laid down in Article 13, the procedures for weighted in the manner set out in that Article. The implementing this Regulation including the measures Chairman shall not vote. for adjustment to economic and technical developments concerning the collection and statistical 3. (a) The Commission shall adopt the measures processing of data, the processing and the transmission envisaged if they are in accordance with of the results, taking into consideration the principle the opinion of the Committee. that the benefits of the measure must outweigh its cost (b) If the measures envisaged are not in and provided that major additional resources are not accordance with the opinion of the involved either for the Member States or for enterprises Committee, or if no opinion is delivered, as compared with the original provisions of this the Commission shall, Regulation, in particular:
(i) the updating of the lists of characteristics, statistics on business demography and preliminary results in so far as such updating, after a quantitative assessment, does not imply an increase in the number of units surveyed nor a burden on the units which is disproportionate to the anticipated results (Articles 4 and 9); (ii) the frequency of the compilation of the statistics (Article 4); (iii) the definitions of the characteristics and their relevance for certain activities (Article 4); (iv) the definition of the reference period (Article 4); (v) the first reference year for the compilation of the preliminary results (Article 9); (vi) criteria for the evaluation of quality (Article 7); (vii) the breakdown of results, in particular the classifications to be used and the combinations of the size classes (Article 8); (viii) the appropriate technical format for the transmission of results (Article 9); (ix) the updating of the periods of time for the transmission of data (Article 9); (x) the transitional period and derogations from the provisions of this Regulation granted during that period (Article 11).
Article 13
1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Statistical Programme Committee established by Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom.
(1) OJ No L 196, 5. 8. 1993, p. 1.
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without delay, submit to the Council a 2. In the reports referred to in paragraph 1, the proposal relating to the measures to be Commission shall propose any amendments it taken. The Council shall act by a qualified considers necessary. majority. Article 15 If, on the expiry of a period of three months from the date of referral to the Council, the Council has not Directives 64/475/EEC and 72/221/EEC shall cease to acted, the proposed measures shall be adopted by the apply after the transmission of all the data for the 1994 Commission. reference year.
Article 14 Article 16
1. The Commission shall, within three years of the This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day date of entry into force of this Regulation and again following its publication in the Official Journal of the every three years thereafter, submit a report to the European Communities. European Parliament and the Council on the statistics compiled pursuant to this Regulation and in particular on their quality and the burden on business.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 20 December 1996.
For the Council
The President
S. BARRETT ______
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ANNEX 1
A COMMON MODULE FOR ANNUAL STRUCTURAL STATISTICS
Section 1 Aims The aim of this Annex is to establish a common framework for the collection, compilation, transmission and evaluation of Community statistics on the structure, activity, competitiveness and performance of business in the Member States.
Section 2 Scope The statistics to be compiled relate to the domains referred to in Article 2 (i), (ii) and (iii) of this Regulation, in particular to the analysis of value-added and of its main components.
Section 3 Coverage 1. The statistics are to be compiled for the activities listed in Section 9. 2. Pilot studies are to be conducted for the activities listed in Section 10.
Section 4 Characteristics 1. The lists of characteristics set out below indicate, where relevant, the type of statistical unit for which the statistics are to be compiled. 2. The Commission will, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 13 of this Regulation, lay down the corresponding titles of the characteristics for which the statistics are to be compiled on activities in Section J of NACE REV. 1 which correspond most closely to those listed in paragraphs 3 to 5. 3. Yearly demographic statistics:
Code Title Comment 11 11 0 Number of enterprises 11 21 0 Number of local units
4. Enterprise characteristics for which yearly statistics are to be complied:
Code Title Comment 12 11 0 Turnover 12 12 0 Production value 12 14 0 Value-added at basic prices 12 15 0 Value-added at factor cost 13 31 0 Personnel costs 13 11 0 Total purchases of goods and services Transmission optional 13 12 0 Purchases of goods and services purchased for resale in the same condition as received 15 11 0 Gross investment in tangible goods 16 11 0 Number of persons employed 16 13 0 Number of employees
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5. Characteristics for which yearly regional statistics are to be compiled:
Code Title Comment 13 32 0 Wages and salaries Optional 15 11 0 Gross investment in tangible goods 16 11 0 Number of persons employed
6. Pilot studies are to be conducted for the characteristics listed in Section 10.
Section 5 First reference year The first reference year for which statistics are to be compiled is the calendar year 1995.
Section 6 Report on the quality of statistics For each of the characteristics listed in Section 4, point 4, Member States will indicate the degree of precision by reference to a confidence level of 95 %, which the Commission will include in the report provided for in Article 14 of this Regulation, taking account of the application in each Member State of that Article.
Section 7 Production of results 1. The results are to be broken down to the level of the groupings of activities listed in Section 9. 2. Some results are also to be broken down into size classes for each group of Sections C to G of NACE REV. 1 and to the level of the groupings listed in Section 9 for the other sections. 3. The results of the regional statistics are to be broken down to NACE REV. 1 2-digit level (divisions) and level II of the nomenclature of territorial units (NUTS).
Section 8 Transmission of results 1. The results are to be transmitted within 18 months of the end of the calendar year of the reference period. 2. Preliminary national results or estimates are transmitted within 10 months of the end of the calendar year of the reference period for the enterprise statistics compiled for the characteristics listed below: 12 11 0 (turnover) 16 11 0 (number of persons employed). These preliminary results are to be broken down to NACE REV. 1 3-digit level (group), except for Sections H, I, J and K of NACE REV. 1, for which they are to be broken down according to the groupings laid down in Section 9.
Section 9 Groupings of activities The following groupings of activities refer to the NACE REV. 1 classification.
SECTIONS C, D, E AND F Mining and quarrying; manufacturing; electricity, gas and water supply; construction. To enable Community statistics to be compiled, Member States will transmit component national results broken down to the classes of NACE REV. 1.
SECTION G Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and household goods. To enable Community statistics to be compiled, Member States will transmit component national results broken down to the classes of NACE REV. 1.
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SECTION H Hotels and restaurants 55.1 + 55.2 ‘Hotels‘ and ‘Campsites and other provision of short-stay accommodation‘ 55.3 + 55.4 + 55.5 ‘Restaurants‘ and ‘Bars‘ and ‘Canteens and catering‘
SECTION I Transport, storage and communication 60.1 Transport via railways
60.21 + 60.22 + 60.23 ‘Other land transport‘ without ‘freight transport by road‘ 60.24 Freight transport by road 60.3 Transport via pipelines 61.1 Sea and coastal water transport 61.2 Inland water transport 62 Air transport 63.1 + 63.2 + 63.4 ‘Supporting and auxiliary transport activities‘ without ‘activities of travel agencies and tour operators; tourist assistance activities nec‘ 63.3 ‘Activities of travel agencies and tour operators; tourist assistance activities nec‘ 64.11 National post activities 64.12 Courier activities other than national post activities 64.2 Telecommunications
SECTION J Financial intermediation 65.11 Central banking 65.12 Other monetary intermediation 66.01 Life insurance 66.03 Non-life insurance
SECTION K Real estate, renting and business activities 70 Real estate activities 71.1 + 71.2 ‘Renting of automobiles‘ and ‘renting of other transport equiment‘ 71.3 Renting of other machinery and equipment 71.4 Renting of personal and houshold goods nec 72 Computer-related activities 73 Research and development 74.11 + 74.12 + 74.14 + ‘Legal activities‘ and ‘accounting bookkeeping and auditing activities, tax consultancy‘ 74.15 and ‘business and management consultancy activities‘ and ‘management activities of holding companies‘ 74.13 Market research and public opinion polling 74.2 + 74.3 ‘Architectural and engineering activities and related technical consultancy‘ and ‘Technical testing and analysis‘ 74.4 Advertising 74.5 Labour recruitment and provision of personnel 74.6 Investigation and security activities 74.7 Industrial cleaning 74.8 Other business activities nec
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Section 10
Reports and pilot studies
1. Member States will provide the Commission with a report relating to the definition, structure and availability of information on statistical units which are classified under Group 652, Class 6602, Division 67 and Sections M to O of NACE REV. 1. The Commission will, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 13 of this Regulation, institute a series of pilot studies for these activities to be completed by Member States for the 1998 reference year at the latest. These pilot studies will be carried out in order to assess the feasibility of collecting the data necessary for the compilation of results for these activities, taking into account the benefits of the avaibility of the data in relation to the cost of collection and the burden on business.
2. For the activities listed in Section 9, Member States will provide the Commission with a report relating to the availability of the necessary data for the compilation of results for the following characteristics:
Code Title Comment 12 18 0 Financial surplus Legal persons only 14 11 0 Turnover from intra-Community deliveries of goods and services 14 12 0 Turnover from extra-Community exports of goods and services 14 21 0 Intra-Community acquisitions of goods and services 14 22 0 Extra-Community imports of goods and services 15 11 0 Gross investment in tangible goods For regional data only
The Commission will, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 13 of this Regulation, institute a series of pilot studies for these characteristics to be completed by Member States for the 1998 reference year at the latest. These pilot studies will be carried out in order to assess the feasibility of collecting the data necessary for the compilation of results for these characteristics, taking into account the benefits of the availability of the data in relation to the cost of collection and the burden on business.
3. For sections G to K of NACE REV. 1, Member States will provide the Commission with a report relating to the availability of the necessary data for the breakdown of results according to the existence or otherwise of a majority control by non-resident enterprises as defined in the GATS. The Commission will, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 13 of this Regulation, institute a series of pilot studies for this breakdown to be completed for the 1998 reference year at the latest. These pilot studies will be carried out in order to assess the feasibility of collecting the data necessary for the compilation of results for this breakdown, taking into account the benefits of the data in relation to the costs of collection and the burden on business.
4. The Commission will inform the Council of the possibilities of compiling statistics for the activites, characteristics and breakdowns listed in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 and will include a recommendation on the addition of some or all of these activities, characteristics and breakdowns to the lists in Sections 4, 7 and 9.
Section 11
Transition period
For the purposes of the common module defined in this Annex, the transitional period will not extend more than four years beyond the first reference years for the compilation of the statistics indicated in Section 5.
______
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ANNEX 2: COINS QUESTIONNAIRE – INQUIRY 2001
STATISTICAL OFFICE OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES Directorate D: Business statistics Unit: D-1
Contact person: Martti Lumio
Jean Monnet Building/BECH E2/821
L-2920 Luxembourg
Tel: (352) 4301-32 234
Fax: (352) 4301-33 899
Email: [email protected]
Table of Contents Def Definition of indicators F_n Example of footnote format and use of symbols 1 Data on operators 2 Employment 3 Investment 4 Breakdown of turnover 5 Telecommunications volume 6 Infrastructure indicators A1 Methodological notes
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS Table 1: Operators data in Telecommunications
Country:
Indicator Unit 1997 1998 1999 2000 Number of fixed netw ork operators offering telecommunications in the local Number netw orks :::: Number of fixed netw ork operators offering national long distance Number telecommunications :::: Number of operators offering Number international telecommunications ::::
Number of cellular mobile operators Number :::: Number of cable and satellite service Number providers ::::
Number of Internet service providers Number ::::
YOUR FOOTNOTES Î
TELECOMMUNICATIONS Table 2: Employment in Telecommunications
Country:
Indicator Unit 1997 1998 1999 2000
Employment converted into full time number equivalents units, average of the year :::: Number of persons employed in fixed number telecommunications :::: Number of persons employed in mobile number telecommunications :::: Number of persons employed in number Internet service provision ::::
YOUR FOOTNOTES Î
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS Table 3: Investment in Telecommunications
Country:
Indicator Unit 1997 1998 1999 2000 Total gross investment in Mio Nat. Currency tangible goods :::: Investment in fixed Mio Nat. Currency telecommunications :::: Investment in mobile Mio Nat. Currency telecommunications; GSM, GPRS :::: Investment in mobile Mio Nat. Currency telecommunications; UMTS :::: Investment in other Mio Nat. Currency telecommunication netw orks ::::
TELECOMMUNICATIONS Table 4: Turnover in Telecommunications services
Country:
Indicator Unit 1997 1998 1999 2000
Total receipts from telecommunication Mio Nat. Currency services ::::
Turnover from leased lines Mio Nat. Currency ::::
Turnover from fixed netw ork services Mio Nat. Currency :::: Turnover from cellular mobile Mio Nat. Currency telecommunication services :::: Turnover from interconnection Mio Nat. Currency services :::: Turnover from Internet service Mio Nat. Currency provision :::: Receipts of telecommunication services - International incoming traffic Mio Nat. Currency (total) :::: Receipts of telecommunication services - International incoming traffic Mio Nat. Currency (Intra-EU) :::: Payments of telecommunication services - International outgoing traffic Mio Nat. Currency (total) :::: Payments of telecommunication services - International outgoing traffic Mio Nat. Currency (Intra-EU) ::::
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Telcommunications TABLE 5: Telecommunications volume
Country:
Indicator Unit 1997 1998 1999 2000 National calls 1000 x minutes ::::
Local calls 1000 x minutes ::::
National long distance calls 1000 x minutes ::::
Calls from fixed to mobile netw orks 1000 x minutes ::::
Cellular mobile calls, total 1000 x minutes ::::
Calls w ithin mobile netw orks 1000 x minutes ::::
Calls from mobile to mobile netw orks 1000 x minutes :::: Short text messages (number of 1000 x messages) ::::
Calls from mobile to fixed netw orks 1000 x minutes ::::
Internet, minutes of connection 1000 x minutes :::: International calls, incoming calls (total, 1000 x minutes all of the w orld) :::: International calls, incoming calls (Intra- 1000 x minutes EU, in minutes) :::: International calls, outgoing calls (total, 1000 x minutes all of the w orld) :::: International calls, outgoing calls (Intra- 1000 x minutes EU, in minutes) ::::
TELECOMMUNICATIONS Table 6: Infrastructures indicators
Country:
Indicator Unit 1997 1998 1999 2000
Number of leased lines Number ::::
Number of main telephone lines Number :::: Households share of the main [%] telephone lines :::: Subscriptions to cellular mobile Number services :::: Integrated services digital netw ork Number (ISDN) subscriptions ::::
DSL subscriptions Number ::::
Number of Internet subscriptions Number ::::
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ANNEX 3: LIST OF OFFICIAL AND NON-OFFICIAL SOURCES ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN THE EU/EFTA, IN CANDIDATE COUNTRIES AND IN SOME NON-EUROPEAN OECD COUNTRIES
⇒ EU and EFTA countries
Belgium (B)
Institut National de Statistique www.statbel.fgov.be Belgian Institute of postal services and telecommunications www.ibpt.be
Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) www.ispa.be
Denmark (DK)
Danmarks Statistik www.dst.dk Telestyrelsen - NTA Denmark www.tst.dk
The Ministry of Research and Information Technology of Denmark www.fsk.dk
Germany (D)
Statistisches Bundesamt www.statistik-bund.de Regulatory Authority for Telecommunications and Posts (RegTP) www.regtp.de
Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie www.bmwi.de Bitkom, Bundesverband Informationwirtschaft, Telekommunikation une Neue Medien E.V. www.bitkom.org
Greece (EL)
National Statistical Service of Greece (NSSG) www.statistics.gr National Telecommunications and Post Commission www.eett.gr/default-en.asp
Spain (E)
Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) www.ine.es Comision del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones www.cmt.es
Associación de Usuarios de Internet www.aui.es
France (F)
Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE) www.insee.fr Autorité de Régulation des Télécommunications (ART) www.art-telecom.fr
Association des Fournisseurs d’Accès et de Services Internet (AFA) www.afa-france.com
Ireland (IRL)
Central Statistics Office (CSO) www.cso.ie Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation www.odtr.ie Information Society Commission www.isc.ie
Italy (I)
Istituto Nazionale di Statistica (ISTAT) www.istat.it Autorita per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni www.agcom.it/eng/eng_intro.htm
Ministero delle Comunicazioni www.comunicazioni.it
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Luxembourg (L)
Service Central de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (STATEC) www.statec.lu Institut Luxembourgeois de Régulation www.ilr.lu
Netherlands (NL)
Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (CBS) www.cbs.nl Directorate-General for Telecommunications and Post www.minvenw.nl/dgtp/home
Onafhankelijke Post en Telecommunicatie Autoriteit www.opta.nl
Austria (A)
Statistik Österreich www.statistik.at Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie www.bmv.gv.at
Rundfunk und Telekom Regulierungs-GmbH (RTR-GmbH) www.tkc.at
Portugal (P)
Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE) www.ine.pt Instituto das Comunicações de Portugal (ICP) www.icp.pt
Observatório das Ciências e das Tecnologias www.oct.mct.pt
Finland (FIN)
Tilastokeskus - Statistics Finland www.stat.fi Telecommunications Administration Centre www.thk.fi
Ministry of Transport and Communications www.mintc.fi
Sweden (S)
Statistika Centralbyran - Statistics Sweden www.scb.se The Swedish National Post and Telecom Agency www.pts.se
ITS www.its.se Ministry for Industry, Employment and Communications www.naring.regeringen.se
United Kingdom (UK)
Office for National Statistics (ONS) www.statistics.gov.uk Office of Telecommunications (OFTEL) www.oftel.gov.uk
British Approvals Board for Telecommunications (equipment) www.babt.co.uk Department of Trade and Industry www.dti.gov.uk
Iceland (IS)
Hagstofa Islands - Statistics Iceland www.hagstofa.is Post and Telecommunication Authority (PTA)
Norway (N)
Statistisk sentralbyra - Statistics Norway www.ssb.no Norvegian Post and Telecommunications Authority www.npt.no
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Ministry of Transport and Communications http://odin.dep.no
Switzerland (CH)
Statistik Schweiz - Bundesamt für Statistik –www.statistik.admin.ch Federal office for communications www.bakom.ch
⇒ Candidate countries
Bulgaria (BG)
National Statistical Institute of the Republic of Bulgaria www.nsi.bg
Cyprus (CY)
Statistical Service of the Republic of Cyprus (CYSTAT) www.pio.gov.cy/dsr
Czech Republic (CZ)
Czech Statistical Office www.czso.cz Czech Telecommunication Office www.ctupraha.cz
Estonia (EE)
Statistical Office of Estonia www.stat.ee
Latvia (LV)
Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia www.csb.lv
Lithuania (LT)
Statistics Lithuania www.std.lt
Malta (MT)
National Statistics Office www.magnet.mt/home/cos/index.html
Hungary (HU)
Hungarian Central Statistical Office www.ksh.hu Ministry of Transport, Communication and Water www.khvm.hu/index.html
Poland (PL)
Central Statistical Office www.stat.gov.pl Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications www.ml.gov.pl
Romania (RO)
National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies www.cns.ro
Slovak Republic (SK)
Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic www.statistics.sk
Slovenia (SI)
Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia www.sigov.si/zrs
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Turkey (TR)
State Institute of Statistics www.die.gov.tr/english/index.html Türk Telekom www.telekom.gov.tr/english/main-t.html
⇒ Non-European OECD countries
Australia (AU)
Australian Bureau of Statistics www.abs.gov.au Australian Telecommunications Authority www.austel.gov.au
Canada (CA)
Statistics Canada www.statcan.ca Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission www.crtc.gc.ca
Japan (JP)
Statistics Bureau and Statistics Center www.stat.go.jp/english/1.htm Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications www.soumu.go.jp/index.htm
New Zealand (NZ)
Statistics New Zealand Ministry of Economic Development www.med.govt.nz/index.html
South Korea (KR)
Korea National Statistical Office www.nso.go.kr Ministry of Information and Communication www.mic.go.kr
United States (US)
U.S. Census Bureau www.census.gov National Telecommunications and Information Administration www.ntia.doc.gov
U.S. Department of Commerce www.doc.gov Federal Communications Commission www.fcc.gov
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ANNEX 4: GLOSSARY OF TERMS AND CONCEPTS
- A -
ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line): Technology allowing the use of a copper line to send a large quantity of data (e.g. a television picture) in one direction and a small quantity (e.g. a control channel and a telephone call) in the other.
- B -
Bandwidth: Physical characteristic of a telecommunications system that indicates the speed at which information can be transferred. In analogue systems, it is measured in cycles per second (Hertz) and in digital systems in binary bits per second (bit per second).
Bluetooth: Low-power radio technology that aims to replace cables and infrared links for distances up to 10 metres. Devices such as PCs, printers, mobile phones and PDAs can be linked together to communicate and exchange data via a wireless transceiver that fits on a single chip. Key applications are the synchronisation of different pieces of equipment (e.g. mobile phones, PDAs and PC) which make it possible to perform only one single entry with any of the devices used. Bluetooth can also be used in data exchange, ticketing, e- wallet or wireless local area network (LAN) applications.
Broadband: Service or connection allowing a considerable amount of information to be conveyed, such as television pictures. Generally defined as a bandwidth greater than 2 mbps.
- C -
Cable modem: Device that interfaces between coaxial cable television/voice channel and home computing equipment. Holds the potential for providing high speed Internet access.
CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access): Any of several protocols used in so-called second-generation (2G) and third-generation (3G) wireless communications. CDMA is a form of multiplexing, which allows numerous signals to occupy a single transmission channel, optimizing the use of available bandwidth. The technology is used in ultra-high-frequency (UHF) cellular telephone systems in the 800 MHz and 1.9 GHz bands. CDMA employs analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) in combination with spread spectrum technology. Audio input is first digitized into binary elements. The frequency of the transmitted signal is then made to vary according to a defined pattern (code), so it can be intercepted only by a receiver whose frequency response is programmed with the same code, so it follows exactly along with the transmitter frequency. There are trillions of possible frequency-sequencing codes; this enhances privacy and makes cloning difficult. The CDMA channel is nominally 1.23 MHz wide. CDMA networks use a scheme called soft handoff, which minimizes signal breakup as a handset passes from one cell to another. The combination of digital and spread-spectrum modes supports several times as many signals per unit bandwidth as analog modes. CDMA is compatible with other cellular technologies; this allows for nationwide roaming. country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD): Domain name locates an organisation or other entity on the Internet. The «.fr» or «.uk» part of the domain name reflects the geographical location in which the entity wants to be perceived to be in.
- D -
Dial-up: Telephone connection in a system of many lines shared by many users. A dial-up connection is established and maintained for a limited duration of time. Dial-up lines are sometimes called switched lines.
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DSL (Digital Subscriber Line): Technology for bringing high-bandwidth information to homes and businesses (small and medium enterprises) over ordinary twisted-pair copper telephone lines. DSL technology includes different variations of the principle, such as ADSL, HDSL, IDSL, RADSL, SDSL, VDSL and DSL-Lite. These technologies are designed to increase bandwidth available over standard copper telephone wires, the speeds ranging from 512 kbps to theoretically 8 mbps. More typically, individual connections provide from 1.544 mbps to 512 kbps downstream and about 128 kbps upstream, assuming that the home or business is close enough to the telephone company central office that offers DSL service. A DSL line can carry both data and voice signals and the data part of the line is continuously connected. DSL is expected to replace ISDN in many areas and to compete with the cable modem in bringing multimedia content (video, music) to homes and small businesses.
- E -
EDGE (Enhanced Data GSM Environment): Faster version of the Global System for Mobile (GSM) wireless service designed to deliver data at rates up to 384 kbps and enable the delivery of multimedia and other broadband applications to mobile phone and computer users. The EDGE standard is built on the existing GSM standard, using the same Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) frame structure and existing cell arrangements. It is regarded as an evolutionary standard on the way to Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS).
eEurope initiative: Initiative launched by the European Commission on 8th December 1999 with the adoption of the Communication “eEurope – An Information for All”. The initiative aims at accelerating the uptake of digital technologies across Europe and ensuring that all Europeans have the necessary skills to use them. The eEurope initiative is a key element in the strategy of the European Commission to modernise the European economy. The Helsinki European Council welcomed the eEurope initiative and on the invitation of the Heads of State and Government, the Commission, together with the Council, prepared an eEurope Action Plan to be endorsed by the European Council in Feira (Portugal) in June 2000. The eEurope initiative aims to allow Europe to exploit its strengths and to overcome the barriers that are still holding back the uptake of digital technologies, by achieving three key objectives: Bringing every citizen, home, school, business and administration on-line; Creating a digitally literate and entrepreneurial Europe; Ensuring a socially inclusive Information Society.
Ten priority areas for action have been defined. Successful achievement of the targets for these areas requires a joint effort of the Member States, the European Commission, the industry and the citizens.
The 10 priority areas proposed by the Commission are:
1. European youth into the digital age: bring Internet and multimedia tools to schools and adapt education to the digital age 2. Cheaper Internet access: increase competition to reduce prices and boost consumer choice 3. Accelerating e-commerce: speed up implementation of the legal framework 4. Fast Internet for researchers and students: ensure high-speed access to Internet thereby facilitating co-operative learning and working 5. Smart cards for electronic access: facilitate the establishment of European-wide infrastructure to maximise uptake 6. Risk capital for high-tech SMEs: develop innovative approaches to maximise the availability of risk capital for high-tech SMEs 7. “eparticipation” for the disabled: ensure that the development of the Information Society takes full account of the needs of disabled people 8. Healthcare online: maximise the use of networking and smart technologies for health monitoring, information access and health care 9. Intelligent transport: safer, more efficient transport trough the use of digital technologies 10. Government online: ensure that citizens have easy access to government information, services and decision-making procedures on-line
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electronic Mail (e-Mail): Electronic transmission of letters, messages from one computer to another.
Extranet: Extension of a company’s Intranet that allows external users to access some parts of the Intranet.
- F -
Flat rate: Charge levied on the client irrespective of the usage of the line accessed.
- G - generic Top Level Domain (gTLD): Top-level domain name of an Internet address that identifies it generically as associated with some domain class, such as ‘.com’ (commercial), ‘.net’ (originally intended for Internet service providers, but now used for many purposes), ‘.org’ (for non-profit organizations, industry groups, and others), ‘.gov’ (government agencies), ‘.mil’ (for the military), ‘.edu’ (for educational institutions); and ‘.int’ (for international treaties or databases and not much used). In November 2000, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number (ICANN), a Los Angeles-based non-profit group that oversees the distribution of domain names, approved seven additional gTLDs.
GPRS (General Packet Radio Service): Packet-switched technology which makes it possible to send/receive blocks of data from/to a mobile phone with a speed of 171.2 kbps/28 kbps. Known as 2.5G technology, GPRS provides an “always-on” connection to the Internet and users are normally charged according to the volume of data transmitted rather than the time spent connected.
GSM (Global System for Mobile communication): Main norm of mobile telecommunication used in Europe and in other parts of the world. This circuit-switched technology appeared in 1992 in Finland for the first time and is also called 2G technology. GSM is a digital mobile telephone system that uses a variation of Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) and is the most widely used of the three digital wireless telephone technologies (TDMA, GSM and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA). GSM digitises and compresses data, then sends it down a channel with two other streams of user data, each in its own time slot. It operates at either the 900 MHz or 1800 MHz frequency band. Since many GSM network operators have roaming agreements with foreign operators, users can often continue to use their mobile phones when they travel to other countries. Using a bandwidth enabling transmission of 9.6 kbps, GSM suits for voice transmission but is not adapted for data transmission and Internet access.
- H -
Host: Any computer system with an Internet Protocol address connected to the network.
HTML (HyperText Markup Language): Set of markup symbols or codes inserted in a file intended for display on a World Wide Web browser page. The markup tells the Web browser how to display a Web page's words and images for the user.
- I -
ICT (Information and Communications Technology): Generic term that covers both information technology (computer hardware and software) and telecommunications equipment and services. i-mode: Packet-based service (9.6 kbps) for mobile devices offered by Japan leader in wireless technology, NTT DoCoMo. i-mode uses a derivation of HTML, called compact HTML, instead of WAP's Wireless Markup Language (WML). First introduced in 1999, i-mode enabled mobile phone was the world first smart phone for Web browsing. The i-mode wireless data service offers color and video. It enables users to do telephone banking, make airline reservations, conduct stock transactions, send and receive e-mail, and have access to the Internet.
Information Society: Term adopted by the European Commission to indicate a society where information is a key component of economic and social activity.
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Internet: Worldwide network of interconnected computer systems, which uses protocols defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force.
IP (Internet Protocol): Method or protocol by which data is sent from one computer to another on the Internet. Each computer (known as a host) on the Internet has at least one IP address that uniquely identifies it from all other computers on the Internet. When you send or receive data (for example, an e-mail note or a Web page), the message gets divided into little chunks called packets. Each of these packets contains both the sender's Internet address and the receiver's address. Any packet is sent first to a gateway computer that understands a small part of the Internet. The gateway computer reads the destination address and forwards the packet to an adjacent gateway that in turn reads the destination address and so forth across the Internet until one gateway recognises the packet as belonging to a computer within its immediate neighbourhood or domain. That gateway then forwards the packet directly to the computer whose address is specified.
Intranet: Internal computer network that operates using the same protocol as the Internet. Its main benefit is seen as being a means of sharing information internally, between company employees.
ISDN (Integrated Service Digital Network): Telecommunication service that turns a copper phone line into a high speed digital link that can quickly transmit voice, data and video images simultaneously.
ISP (Internet Service Provider): Supplier of Internet services including access. Originally distinguished from IAPs (Internet Access Provider) since they provide the major backbone connections between countries, and sold on bandwidth to smaller IAPs.
- L -
Local Loop: Wired connection from a telephone company's central office in a locality to its customers' telephones at homes and businesses. This connection is usually on a pair of copper wires, called twisted- pair. The system was originally designed for voice transmission only using analogue transmission technology on a single voice channel. Today, computer's modem makes the conversion between analogue signals and digital signals. With Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) or Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), the local loop can carry digital signals directly and at a much higher bandwidth than they do for voice only.
Local Loop Unbundling: Process where the incumbent operator makes its local network (the connection between the customer’s premises and the local exchange) available to other companies. The customer is then able to choose another supplier other than the incumbent to provide service. The local loop unbundling is a crucial step towards the completion of the liberalisation of the telecommunication sector in Europe, because allowing the liberalisation of the local telephony. The local loop unbundling is obligatory in the European Union countries since the 1st January 2001, following the adoption of the European Regulation for the local loop unbundling by the Ministers of Industry in December 2000. In addition, the local loop unbundling aims at accelerating the development of the fast Internet access through e.g. the DSL technology.
- M -
Metered/Unmetered Charges: Whether prices are charged on the measurement of actual usage (metered) or not (unmetered). A metered charge is the antithesis of a flat rate charge.
Minitel: Small - French - terminal (keyboard, display and modem) which is not a network, but a tool for connecting to certain kind of networks.
MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service): Application which makes it possible to send and receive messages comprising a combination of text, sounds, images and video to MMS-enabled handsets. MMS is like SMS a non-real time service – a relay platform routes multimedia messages to MMS servers. MMS uses standard Internet protocols such as Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension and Simple Message Transfer Protocol (SMTP) for access to the MMS Environment.
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Mobile commerce: Any transaction with a monetary value conducted via mobile telecommunication networks. The use of a wireless device (mobile phone, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), laptop or custom terminal) and the mobile telecom network to access information and conduct transactions that results in the transfer of value in exchange for information, services or goods.
Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO): Mobile operator that does not own its own spectrum and usually does not have its own network infrastructure. Instead, MVNO has business arrangements with traditional mobile operators to buy minutes of use (MOU) for sale to its own customers. MVNO's value added is the brand appeal, the quality of the distribution channels, and other affinities to the resale of mobile services. MVNO has full control over the SIM card, branding, marketing, billing, and customer care operations.
- N -
New Economy: What rapidly spread since the mid-1990s due to the advent of information and communication technology, re-dimensioning the importance of more traditional industries (e.g. automobiles, pharmaceuticals) and affecting the balance and weighting among economic sectors.
- O -
Offline/online: Term used to describe someone who is not/is currently connected to the Internet.
- P -
PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network): World's collection of interconnected voice-oriented public telephone networks.
- S -
Server: Computer program that provides services to other computer programs in the same or other computers. A web server is the computer program (housed in a computer) that serves requested HTML pages or files.
SMS (Small Messaging Service): Application which makes sending and receiving alphanumeric messages of up to 160 characters to mobile phones that use GSM communication possible. SMS is similar to paging. However, SMS messages do not require the mobile phone to be active and within range and will be held for a number of days until the phone is active and within range. SMS messages are transmitted within the same cell or to anyone with roaming service capability. They can also be sent from a Web site to a digital phone.
Smart phone: Wireless telephone set with special computer-enabled features not previously associated with telephones, especially those common to the Personal Digital Assistant such as a built-in address book. In addition to functioning as an ordinary telephone, a smartphone's features may include: Wireless e-mail, Internet, Web browsing, and fax; Personal information management; Online banking; LAN connectivity; Local data transfer between phone set and computers; Remote data transfer between phone set and computers; Remote control of computers; Remote control of home or business electronic systems; Interactivity with unified messaging.
- T -
TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access): Technology used in digital cellular telephone communication to divide each cellular channel into three time slots in order to increase the amount of data that can be carried. TDMA is used by Digital-American Mobile Phone Service (Digital-Advanced Mobile Phone Service), Global System for Mobile communications (Global System for Mobile communication), and Personal Digital Cellular (PDC). However, each of these systems implements TDMA in a somewhat different and incompatible way. An alternative multiplexing scheme to FDMA with TDMA is code division multiple access (code-division multiple access), which takes the entire allocated frequency range for a given service and multiplexes information for all users across the spectrum range at the same time. TDMA is also used for Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications).
Third Generation mobile services (3G): see UMTS.
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- U -
UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System): Also known as 3G technology, it is a cellular standard that supports speeds up to 2 mbps, and was designed as a successor to GSM. Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is the standard system (IMT-2000) which will be developed around 2003 in order to achieve speeds of connection of 2 mbps/144 kbps, using Wideband-CDMA technology. This norm will enable users to transmit images, video, high volume of data through wireless connection, and obviously to access the Internet.
- W -
WAP (Wireless Application Protocol): Specification for a set of communication protocols to standardise the way that mobile devices can be used for Internet access, including e-mail, the World Wide Web, newsgroups, and Internet Relay Chat (IRC). WAP is based on the GSM communication (circuit-switched technology, 9.6 kbps) and uses Wireles Markup Language (WML).
Wideband-CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access): An ITU standard derived from Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) that is officially known as IMT-2000 direct spread. WCDMA is a third-generation (3G) mobile wireless technology offering much higher data speeds to mobile and portable wireless devices than commonly offered in today's market. WCDMA can support mobile/portable voice, images, data, and video communications at up to 2 mbps (local area access) or 384 kbps (wide area access). The input signals are digitized and transmitted in coded, spread-spectrum mode over a broad range of frequencies. A 5 MHz-wide carrier is used compared with 200 KHz-wide carrier for narrowband CDMA.
WWW (World Wide Web): Collection of HTML pages that reside on Web servers across the world. It is estimated that there are over 100 million publicly accessible WWW pages on the Internet, a number that has been more than doubling every year.
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