Conditions and procedures according to the Act No. 194/2017 Coll. and GIA

The procedures listed below follow the Gigabit Infrastructure Act and Act No. 194/2017 Coll.

Definition of the key terms

Electronic communications network:

Transmission systems (whether or not based on a permanent infrastructure or centralised management capacity) and, where appropriate, switching or routing equipment and other means, including inactive network elements, which enable the conveyance of signals by wire, radio, optical or other electromagnetic means, including satellite networks, fixed (circuit or packet switched, including the Internet) and mobile networks, electricity distribution networks to the extent that they are used for the transmission of signals, radio and television broadcasting networks and cable television networks, regardless of the type of information conveyed.

 

Very high capacity network:

  • Electronic communications network that consists entirely of optical elements at least up to the distribution point at the service point
  • An electronic communications network that is capable of achieving similar performance under normal peak conditions in terms of available downlink and uplink bandwidth, resilience, error-related parameters and latency and its variation.

 

Public electronic communications network:

An electronic communications network which serves wholly or mainly to provide publicly available electronic communications services, and which supports the transmission of information between network termination points.

 

Network operator:

a) operator within the meaning of Article 2(29) of Directive (EU) 2018/1972

b) an undertaking which provides physical infrastructure intended for the provision of:

  • services for the production, transport or distribution of gas, electricity (including public lighting), heating, water (including the removal or treatment of waste water and sewage, and drainage systems);
  • transport services including railways, roads including municipal roads, tunnels, ports and airports.

 

Public sector entity:

 A national, regional or local authority, a public entity or an association formed by one or more such authorities or one or more such public bodies.

 

Physical infrastructure:

a) any network element which is intended to accommodate other network elements without itself becoming an active network element, such as pipes, masts, cable ducts, inspection chambers, manholes, junction boxes, antennas, towers and columns, as well as buildings, including their roofs and parts of their facades, or entrances to buildings, and all other objects, including street furniture such as street lighting poles, signs and indicators, traffic lights, billboards and toll gates, as well as bus and tram stops or metro and railway stations.

b) buildings – if they are not part of the network and if they are owned or controlled by public sector entities, including their roofs and parts of their facades and including entrances to buildings. Physical infrastructure also includes all other objects, including street furniture, provided that the above conditions are met:

public lighting poles

signs and indicators

light signals

billboards and toll gates

bus and tram stops

metro and railway stations

 

Physical infrastructure inside a building:

Physical infrastructure suitable to host cable or wireless access networks inside a building, provided that such access networks are capable to provide electronic communications services and connect the access point of the building to the network termination point on the premises of the end user.

 

Civil works:

Any result of building or civil engineering activities taken as a whole, which is sufficient in itself to fulfil an economic or technical function and includes one or more elements of physical infrastructure.

 

Permit:

An explicit or implicit decision or set of decisions taken simultaneously or successively by one or more competent authorities, required by national legislation of an undertaking to carry out the civil works necessary for the construction of elements of VHCN networks.

 

Providing data on physical infrastructure

The operator has the right to minimum information about the existing physical infrastructure (hereinafter referred to as the "minimum information"), based on a written request submitted to CTU. The request may also be submitted via an electronic form. The submission of this request is not subject to the obligation to pay an administrative fee.

If CTU does not have the necessary data, it shall request it from the obliged authority which, as a consequence of its tasks, might hold the minimum data set. Then, CTU shall provide the data to the authorised person.

CTU shall not provide the minimum data set to the authorised person if the reasons provided for by the law are given. CTU shall issue a decision on this fact.

If CTU does not have a minimum data set at disposal and the obliged authority has not provided it within 2 months upon request, CTU shall inform the authorised person about this fact, who may subsequently apply for the data from the obliged person.

The network operator or public sector entity may refuse a request for the provision of minimum information for reasons specified by law. If the network operator or public sector entity refuses the request, it shall notify the operator in writing, with reasons, within 2 months of receiving the request.

 

On-site survey:

Network operators and public sector entities shall comply with reasonable requests for on-site surveys of specific elements of their physical infrastructure upon specific written request from the operator.

The application shall specify the physical infrastructure elements concerned in connection with the construction of the VHCN network elements or associated facilities. An on-site survey of the specified physical infrastructure elements shall be permitted within one month of the date of receipt of the application under reasonable, non-discriminatory and transparent conditions. he survey may be limited or refused only if necessary to ensure the security of certain buildings owned or controlled by public sector entities, the security and integrity of networks, national security, the security of national critical infrastructure, public health or safety, or for reasons of confidentiality or operational or commercial secrecy.

 

Access to physical infrastructure

Network operators and public sector entities that own or control physical infrastructure shall, upon written request from the operator, grant all legitimate requests for access to that physical infrastructure on fair and reasonable terms and conditions, including price, for the purpose of building elements of VHCN networks or associated facilities.

The request must specify the elements of the physical infrastructure to which access is requested, including a specific timeframe.

 

Access to physical infrastructure inside the building:

The provider of public electronic communications networks has the right to install its lining up to the access point at its own expense and the right to access the existing internal physical infrastructure in the building (in the case of the installation of VHCN elements), if duplication is technically impossible or economically inefficient, based on a written request addressed to the holder of the right to use the access point and internal physical infrastructure.

The holder of the right to use the access point and the physical infrastructure inside the building shall comply with all reasonable written requests for access to the access point and the physical infrastructure inside the building on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions, including price, where applicable.

 

Provision of data on civil works

The network operator and public sector entities owning or controlling the physical infrastructure shall provide the operator with minimum information on planned or ongoing civil works financed from public funds on the basis of its reasoned written request under the conditions and to the extent specified by law. The network operator or public sector entity owning or controlling the physical infrastructure shall also provide this information to CTU. The submission of this request shall not be subject to the obligation to pay an administrative fee.

 

Coordination of civil works

Public sector entities owning or controlling physical infrastructure and network operators shall comply with all reasonable written requests from operators to coordinate such construction work in connection with the construction of VHCN network elements or associated facilities, under transparent and non-discriminatory conditions.

Requests for civil works coordination will be granted provided that the following conditions are met:

a) the coordination of the civil works does not entail any non-recoverable additional costs for the network operator or the public sector entity owning or controlling the physical infrastructure that originally planned the given civil works, including costs caused by further delays (this is without prejudice to the possibility for the parties to agree on the allocation of costs);

(b) the network operator or public sector entity owning or controlling the physical infrastructure that originally planned the civil works shall retain control over the coordination of these works

(c) the application is submitted as soon as possible and, where a civil works permit is required, no later than one month before the submission of the final project to the permitting authorities.

 

Land access agreements:

Legal entities acting primarily as lessees of land or holders of rights other than ownership rights to land on which facilities are to be or have been installed for the purpose of building elements of VHCN networks, or legal entities managing leases of such land on behalf of land owners, shall be obliged to negotiate with the operator, at its request, on the operator's access to such land, in good faith, including a price that may take into account market conditions in accordance with national contract law.

The above-mentioned entities shall inform CTU of the conclusion of the subject agreements, including the agreed price.

 

Dispute resolution

CTU is a dispute resolution body. It resolves disputes relating to:

  • access to infrastructure
  • failure to provide requested information
  • on-site survey
  • civil works coordination
  • access to physical infrastructure inside the building

The administrative fees for filing an application for a resolution of the dispute shall be:

  • CZK 10,000 – dispute over access to physical infrastructure, dispute over coordination of civil works
  • CZK 2,000 – dispute over on-site survey of physical infrastructure, dispute over access to physical infrastructure inside the building, dispute over provision of minimum information, dispute over data on civil works

 

Disputes must be resolved within the prescribed time limits:

  • within four months: disputes over access to physical infrastructure
  • within one month: failure to provide requested information, dispute over on-site survey, dispute over civil work coordination, dispute over access to physical infrastructure inside the building

CTU shall publish the decision on disputes on a confidential basis.

No appeal, review or renewal of proceedings is permitted against the CTU's decision on the dispute. The party to the proceedings may apply to the court in civil proceedings pursuant to Part Five of Act No. 99/1963 Coll., the Code of Civil Procedure, as amended.

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