Rul­ing cham­ber 3

Ruling chamber 3 is responsible for all decisions made in the wholesale markets for telecommunications, with the exception of leased lines, in accordance with the Telecommunications Act (TKG) (Federal Law Gazette I, No 1963 of 27 June 2017).

Its main regulatory activities cover

• the local loop ("last mile")
• wholesale broadband (bit stream, ZISP)
• fixed line origination and termination
• mobile termination
• broadcasting (VHF transmission)

The Ruling chamber's activity is geared towards the flexible use, based strictly on the principle of proportionality, of the sector-specific regulatory instruments.

On the basis of section 13(1) TKG, the ruling chamber may impose one or more abstract regulatory order(s) on companies with significant market power that are active on the wholesale markets or on companies that control access to final customers.

On the basis of a regulatory order, a specific regulatory decision can or must then be made regarding:

• rates approval (sections 30(1), 31 et seq. TKG)
• access orders (section 35 TKG)
• reference offers (section 23 TKG)
• prohibition of anti-competitive practices (section 42 TKG)
• surrender of gain (section 43 TKG)

To encourage the shared use of infrastructure for broadband expansion, the following will be implemented where necessary:

• dispute resolution and dispute settlement procedures (section 77a-e TKG) involving the

- shared infrastructure use by public telecommunications network operators (section 77a TKG)
- alternative infrastructures (section 77b TKG)
- shared use of publicly built federal highways (section 77c TKG)
- shared use of federal waterways (section 77d TKG)
- shared use of railway infrastructure (section 77e TKG)

with the aim of reaching a regulatory decision.

An additional area of responsibility is the administration of agreements for access services submitted by companies with significant market power.