S.I. No. 198/1998 - Telecommunications (Amendment) (No. 3) Scheme, 1998.

Bord Telecom Éireann plc, in exercise of the powers conferred on it by section 90 of the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act, 1983 (No. 24 of 1983) hereby makes the following Scheme.

1. This Scheme may be cited as the Telecommunications (Amendment) (No. 3) Scheme, 1998.

2. (1) The collective citation "the Telecommunications Schemes, 1994 to 1998" includes this Scheme.

(2) Articles 4(a), (h), (i) and (j) shall come into operation on 1 July 1998.

(3) Articles 4(b), 4(d) and 4(e) shall be deemed to have come into operation on 1 January 1998.

(4) Article 4(c) shall be deemed to have come into operation on 8 April 1998.

(5) Article 4(f) shall be deemed to have come into operation on 20 October 1997.

(6) Article 4(g) shall come into operation on 15 June 1998.

3. The Interpretation Act, 1937 (No. 38 of 1937) applies to this Scheme.

4. The Telecommunications Scheme, 1994 ( S.I. No. 177 of 1994 ) is hereby amended by:

(a) the addition of the following Article 19(G) after Article 19(F) thereof:

"19(G)(1) Bord Telecom Eireann plc may provide a facility (the Facility) to telephone subscribers generally or to such groups of telephone subscribers as it shall determine, whereby a telephone subscriber connected to the fixed telephone network may receive a discount on Eligible Calls on a single telephone account. The discount shall be calculated as set out in Part 11 of Section VII of Part 6 of the First Schedule to this Scheme. Bord Telecom Eireann plc may, at its absolute discretion, withdraw the Facility from all or any telephone subscribers.

(2) For the purposes of this Scheme "Eligible Calls" are subscriber direct dialled calls (excluding Chargecard calls, calls to the Eirpac Service, calls to other packet-switched networks, calls made to Premium Rate Telephone Service, calls to Directory Enquiry Service, calls to call management services, calls made by use of the National Virtual Private Network facility, calls made by use of the International Virtual Private Network facility, calls made to Inmarsat and Skyphone mobile telephony systems, operator assisted calls, Freefone 1800 calls received by the subscriber, 1350 calls received by the subscriber and 1890 calls received by the subscriber).

(3) It shall be a condition of the application of the Facility that:

(i) an account to which the Facility applies shall be discharged in full within 14 days of the date of issue of the bill or by means of a direct debit mandate approved by Bord Telecom Eireann plc;

(ii) Eligible Calls shall not be eligible for any further or other discounts (including any discounts under Articles 18, 19(A), 19(B), 19(C), 19(D), 19(E) and 19 (F) of this Scheme);

(4) The name of the Facility shall be

(a) TalkSaver when availed of by residential subscribers and

(b) Business Savers when availed of by business subscribers.

(b) the substitution of the following paragraph 19(A) of Article 63 for paragraph 19(A) of Article 63 thereof:

"63(19)(A)(i) Bord Telecom Eireann plc may provide a facility (in this Scheme referred to as "SwitchLink Call Termination Plan 1 Facility") to Service Providers whereby Service Providers may avail of the SwitchLink Call Termination Plan 1 Facility for the purpose of procuring that Bord Telecom Eireann plc delivers Eligible SwitchLink Termination Calls from telephone exchanges owned or operated by Bord Telecom Eireann plc either to subscribers of Bord Telecom Eireann plc within the State or for onward transmission. There shall be charged to the Service Provider and paid by him in respect of the provision to him of the SwitchLink Termination Plan 1 Facility the Subscription Charge and the Call Charges both of which are specified in Part 3(a) of Section XI of Part 6 of the First Schedule to the Scheme.

(ii) For the purposes of this Scheme:

"Call Charges" shall mean the charges payable by the Service Provider in respect of Eligible SwitchLink Termination Calls.

"Eligible SwitchLink Termination Calls" shall mean direct dialled calls made on Inter City Routes and between exchanges in the State and from exchanges in the State to Northern Ireland and from exchanges in the State to exchanges outside the State (excluding Chargecard calls, Eirpac calls, calls to other Packet Switching Networks, unrestricted 64Kb calls made by use of the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) facility, calls made to Premium Rate Telephone Services, Directory Enquiry calls, calls to Call Management Services, calls made by use of the National Virtual Private Network Facility, calls made by use of the International Virtual Private Network Facility, calls made to Inmarsat and Skyphone mobile telephony systems, calls made to 1850, 1890, 1891, 1511 and 1801 services and Freefone 1800, 1850 and 1890 calls received by the Service Provider).

"InterCity Routes" shall mean calls made between exchanges on routes specified in Part 3(b) of Section XI of Part 6 of the First Schedule to this Scheme.

"Subscription Charge" shall mean the monthly charge (if any) payable by the Service Provider to avail of the Facility.

It shall be a condition of the application of the SwitchLink Call Termination Plan 1 Facility that:

(i) the Service Provider pays the monthly Subscription Charge set out in Part 3(a) of Section XI of Part 6 of the First Schedule to this Scheme.

(ii) accounts to which the SwitchLink Call Termination Plan 1 Facility applies must be discharged in full within 14 days of the date of issue of the bill or by means of a direct debit mandate approved by Bord Telecom Eireann plc.

(iii) Eligible SwitchLink Termination Calls shall not be eligible for any further or other discounts including any discounts under Article 18, 19, 19(A), 19(B), 19(C), 19(D), 19(E) and 19(F) of this Scheme."

(c) the substitution of the following Section XI of Part 6 of the First Schedule for Section XI of Part 6 of the First Schedule thereto:

"

Section XI

SWITCHLINK SERVICE

{Article 63(19)(1)}  Part 1. Installation, Removal and Rental

";

(d) the substitution of the following Part 2 of Section XI of Part 6 of the first Schedule for Part 2 of Section XI of Part 6 of the First Schedule thereto:

"{Article 63(19)(1)}  Part 2. SwitchLink Access Call Charges

LOCAL

Standard Rate:

The Standard rate applies to calls made at or after 8 a.m. and before 6 p.m. on normal working days from Monday to Friday (inclusive).

Reduced Rate:

The reduced rate applies to calls made as follows:

(i) at or after 6 p.m. and before 8 a.m. from Monday to Friday (inclusive)

(ii) all day on Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays

A TRUNK AND B TRUNK

Standard Rate:

The Standard rate applies to calls made at or after 8 a.m. and before 6 p.m. on normal working days from Monday to Friday (inclusive).

Reduced Rate:

The reduced rate applies to calls made as follows:

(i) at or after 6 p.m. and before 8 a.m. from Monday to Friday (inclusive)

Weekend Rate:

The Weekend rate applies to calls made as follows:

(i) on Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays

(e) the substitution of the following Part 3(a) of Section XI of Part 6 of the First Schedule for Part 3(a) of Section XI of Part 6 of the First Schedule thereto:

" {Article 63(19)(a)}   Part 3(a). SwitchLink Termination Rates

INTERNATIONAL BANDS

(f) the substitution of the following Part 4 of Section XI of Part 6 of the First Schedule for Part 4 of Section XI of Part 6 of the First Schedule thereto:

"

{Article 63(19)(B)}     Part 4. SwitchLink Leased Line Discount

A reduction of 8% will be applied to the net Leased Line rental paid to Bord Telecom Eireann plc by a Service Provider following the application of all other relevant discounts.

.".

(g) the substitution of the following Part 3 of the First Schedule for Part 3 of the First Schedule thereto:

"

PART 3

{Article 58}         Subscriber Dialled Trunk Calls

TABLE

Daytime Rate:

The daytime rate applies to calls made at or after 8 a.m. and before 6 p.m. (8 p.m. for calls to NCRTN equipment) on normal working days from Monday to Friday (inclusive).

Evening Rate:

The evening rate applies to calls made as follows:

(i) at or after 6 p.m. (8 p.m. for calls to NCRTN equipment) and before 8 a.m. from Monday to Friday (inclusive) for calls described in Paragraph 1 of the Table; and

(ii) all day on Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays for calls described in Paragraph 2 of the Table.

(iii) on such other times as Bord Telecom Eireann plc may from time to time announce by advertisement in the national morning daily newspapers.

Weekend Rate:

The weekend rate applies to calls described in Paragraph 1 of the Table made as follows:

(i) on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays; and

(ii) on such other times as Bord Telecom Eireann plc may from time to time announce by advertisement in the national morning daily newspapers.

Daytime Rate:

The daytime rate applies to calls made at or after 8 a.m. and before 6 p.m. on normal working days from Monday to Friday (inclusive).

Evening Rate:

The evening rate applies to calls made as follows:

(i) at or after 6 p.m. and before 8 a.m. from Monday to Friday (inclusive); and

(ii) on such other times as Bord Telecom Eireann plc may from time to time announce by advertisement in the national morning daily newspapers.

Weekend Rate:

The weekend rate applies to calls made as follows:

(i) on Saturday, Sundays and Public Holidays; and

(ii) on such other times as Bord Telecom Eireann plc may from time to time announce by advertisement in the national morning daily newspapers.

(h) the substitution of the following Section VII of Part 6 of the First Schedule for Section VII of Part 6 of the First Schedule thereto:

"

Section VII

VOLUME DISCOUNTS

{Article 18, 19, 19A, 19B, 19C, 19D, 19E, 20, 20B}

Part 1. International Volume Discount

Volume discounts on International calls are applied on a monthly basis to the combined total of Eligible International Volume Discount Calls as per Article 18, as follows:

Part 2. Total Volume Discount

Volume discounts on total calls are applied on a monthly basis to the combined total of Eligible Total Volume Discount calls as per Article 19, as follows:

PART 3. International Freefone Volume Discount

Volume discounts on International Freefone Calls are applied on a monthly basis to the combined total of Eligible Freefone 1800 Calls as per Article 20, so as to result in the following reduced charges:

PART 4. 'B' Trunk Volume Discount (no longer provided)

Volume discounts on 'B' Trunk calls are applied to the total eligible 'B' Trunk calls as per article 19A, as follows;

PART 5. International Term Discount

Discounts on Eligible International Calls are applied to total Eligible International Calls as per article 19B, as follows;

Part 6(l). National 18XX Discount

Discounts on Eligible 18XX Calls are applied to National 18XX Calls as per article 20B as follows;

(ii). Regional Extension Fees

On National 18XX discount options 3 or 4 it is possible to avail of regional extension fees whereby traffic is collected within a region and is transported by Bord Telecom Éireann plc to its ultimate destination thus bypassing National 18XX rates.

Part 7. (i) Business Selections Discount

7(i) Volume discounts on Business Selections calls are applied on a monthly basis to the combined total of Eligible Business Selections Calls as per Article 19(C), as follows:

7(ii) INTER CITY ROUTES (Calls made on the following routes are calls made on Inter City Routes for the purposes of the Business Selections Discount facility. The routes are one way)

Part 8. Multi Site Discount

Multi Site Volume discounts are applied on a monthly basis to the combined total of Eligible Subscriber Dialled Calls from Nominated Telecommunications lines as per Article 19(D), as follows:

INTERNATIONAL BAND

Part 9. Residential International Bonus

Volume discounts on Residential International calls are applied on a bi-monthly basis to the combined total of Eligible Calls as per Article 19(E), as follows:

Part 10. Circle of Friends

A discount of 10% on the combined total of Eligible Calls made in every two month period as per Article 19(F).

. " ;

(i) the addition of the following Part 11 to section VII of Part 6 of the first Schedule thereto:

"

SECTION VII

Volume Discounts

Part 11: TalkSaver and Business Savers

Volume discounts are applied to the combined total of Eligible Calls as per Article 19(G), as follows:

(j) the substitution of the following Part 3 (a) of Section of Part 6 of the First Schedule for Part 3(a) of Section XI of Part 6 of the First Schedule thereto:

NATIONAL

INTERNATIONAL BANDS

PRESENT when the Common Seal of BORD TELECOM EIREANN PLC was affixed thereto this 12 day of June 1998.

Mackay

Director

Martin Geoffrey

Telecom Eireann

St. Stephen's Green

Dublin 2

Jerry

Director

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The purpose of this Scheme is to effect certain modifications to the Telecommunications Scheme.