Universal Service Obligation

At present, Universal Service is about ensuring that a home telephone is available and affordable for everyone. In the UK it means an obligation on BT and Kingston (in the Hull area) to provide this. It covers things like special tariff schemes for customers on a low income and reasonable access to public call boxes. It includes provision of a text relay service for customers with a hearing impairment. The Panel has made recommendations and provided advice on universal service and related matters to both Ofcom and the European Commission.