Which is the current regulatory status of premium rate services in Spain?

Premium Rate Services, including those based on voice (803, 806, 807, 905), data (907) and those based on the sending of SMS/MMS messages (SMS/MMS Premium) in Spain are subject to a number of legal requirements, and to a Code of Conduct, that PRS providers and operators must respect.

In accordance with the regulations currently in force in Spain, Premium Rate Services (hereinafter, "PRS") (also known as Value-Added Services) are those services that, by dialling a certain prefix, code or telephone number to make a call or to send a message, imply the payment of a specific amount added to the regular cost of the telephony service, which the user pays as a remuneration to the subscriber called (the PRS provider) for the provision of a certain information, communication or other type of service.

The legal regime of the PRS is mainly provided by the Royal Decree 424/2005, the Order PRE/361/2002 (including the amendments made by the Order PRE/2410/2004), and various resolutions passed by the Spanish State Secretary for Telecommunications and Information Society (the "SETSI"), especially, the Resolution dated 15 September 2004, which provides for the publication of the Code of Conduct for the provision of PRS in Spain. According to all these regulations, those services provided through the prefixes 803, 806, 807, and 907 are considered PRS in Spain.

Moreover, after the passing of new rules during 2008, new services and codes have been added to the category of PRS, that is, (i) those services consisting in the sending of SMS/MMS messages for which the operators charge a certain amount to their subscribers, for the provision of a certain service or content (“Premium SMS” services) (according to Order ITC/308/2008 of 31 January, the "SMS Order"), and (ii) phone calls to numbers starting with the 905 prefix, which, after the SETSI Resolution dated 4 December 2008 (the "905 Resolution"), has been reserved for the provision of PRS based on receiving large volumes of incoming calls.

All of them, whether the Voice PRS (which include services provided through the 803, 806, 807 prefixes, and the recently added 905 prefix), and the Data PRS (which include services provided through the 907 prefix, and which could also include Premium SMS services) are subject to specific rules which PRS providers, operators that have been granted and hold premium rate numbers allocated to PRS providers, and operators that provide access to PRS for their subscribers, must respect.

Among the obligations provided by the PRS regulations, firstly, we must highlight the obligation to provide PRS only through those numbers and codes approved by the relevant provisions and resolutions of the SETSI, depending on its price and/or the nature of the service provided. In this respect, please find as follows the different codes available for PRS, and certain conditions specifically applicable to each of them:

a. PRS provided through 803, 806, 807 and 907 prefixes: The SETSI Resolution of 16 July 2002 states what kind of codes must be used for the provision of PRS under these numbers, depending on the nature of the service. Thus, in the case of voice services, we may find code 803 (service only for adults), 806 (leisure and entertainment service) and 807 (professional services). On the other hand, the same  Resolution sets the prices that may be to charge according to the fourth figure of the telephone number, identified with letter A, as follows:

NXY = 803, 806 o 807

A	Price for the access from fixed networks	Price for the access from mobile networks
0 o 1	P  ≤ 0,35 €	P  ≤ 0,65 €
2 o 3	0,35 € <  P  ≤ 0,75 €	0,65 € <  P  ≤ 1,05 €
4 o 5	0,75 € <  P  ≤ 1 €	1,05 € <  P  ≤ 1,30 €
6 o 7	1 € <  P  ≤ 1,65 €	1,30 € <  P  ≤ 1,95 €
8	1,65 € <  P  ≤ 3,15 €	1,95 € <  P  ≤ 3,45 €
9	P  > 3,15 €	P  < 3,45 €

P = Price applied to the caller in euros/minute

On the other hand, according to the SETSI resolution of 3 November 3 2003, the PRS provided on data systems must be provided through number 907. These services are classified into (i) professional services, leisure and entertainment, and (ii) rated for adults, which will be also determined by the fourth figure of the telephone number, identified with letter A. This fourth figure will also determine the price to be charged to the user, as follows:

NXY = 907

Service	A	Access from fixed networks	Access from mobile networks
	0	P  ≤ 0,35 €	P  ≤ 0,65 €
Professionals	1	0,35 € <  P  ≤ 0,75 €	0,65 € <  P  ≤ 1,05 €
Entertainment	2	0,75 € <  P  ≤ 1 €	1,05 € <  P  ≤ 1,30 €
and Leisure	3	1 € <  P  ≤ 1,65 €	1,30 € <  P  ≤ 1,95 €
	4	P  > 1,65 €	P  > 3,45 €
	5	P  ≤ 0,35 €	P  ≤ 0,65 €
Adults	6	0,35 € <  P  ≤ 0,75 €	0,65 € <  P  ≤ 1,05 €
	7	0,75 € <  P  ≤ 1 €	1,05 € <  P  ≤ 1,30 €
	8	1 € <  P  ≤ 1,65 €	1,30 € <  P  ≤ 1,95 €
	9	P  > 1,65 €	P  < 1,95 €

Additionally, it should be noted that, according to the indicated regulations, neither the PRS provided using the 907 prefix nor those provided over the 803, 806 and 807 prefixes followed by the digits (A) 7, 8 or 9 (i.e., the most expensive numbers), will be subject to free access (opt-in). Therefore, callers who want to use these services should specifically request access to them by way of an application to their telecoms operator including the date and the signature of the subscriber.

b. PRS provided through 905 prefix: As for the previous numbers and codes, the recent 905 Resolution also sets out what type of codes, within the 905 prefix, should be used for the provision of PRS based on receiving large volumes of incoming calls, depending on the nature of the services. Similarly, the 905 Resolution sets the prices that may be to charge according to the fourth figure of the telephone number, identified with letter A (having disappeared, with this new resolution, the numbering ranged billable on a call time basis. Therefore, all calls to the 905 prefix must be billed per call, with limited duration), as follows:

NXY = 905

Digit A	Type of Service	How it is charged	Maximum price for the caller
0	Reserved
1	Professional use entertainment and televoting	Per call	0,30 € fixed network
			0,75 € mobile network
2			0,60 € fixed network
			1,05 € mobile network
3	Reserved
4	Professional use, entertainment and televoting	Per call	1,20 € fixed network
5			1,65 € mobile network
6	Reserved
7	Televoting	Per call	0,60 € fixed network
			1,05 € mobile network
8			1,20 € fixed network
			1,65 € mobile network
9	Reserved

c. Premium SMS and MMS services: Finally, with regard to Premium SMS/MMS services, the SMS Order has also provided public numbering resources and codes that can be used for the PRS based on sending SMS/MMS messages, depending on the price and type of service or content provided. Indeed, following the SMS Order, the numbers that may be used for Premium SMS services will have to have the same structure, length and format as the National Number (NXYABMCDU) established by the current National Numbering Plan, forbidding the use (what was happening until now) of internal codes of only 4 digits. The distribution of codes provided by the SMS Order, depending on the price and the type of service, is as follows:

Number Formats	Value of the ranks	Lenght of the numbers	Service modality
25YAB	Y,A,B = from 0 to 9	5 numbers	a) Price ≤ 1, 2 €
27YAB
280AB			The under-rank 280AB will be used for campaigns of beneficial type
29YABM	Reserved to 6 numbers
35YAB	Y,A,B = from 0 to 9	5 numbers	b) 1,2 € < Price ≤ 6 €
37YAB
39YABM	Reserved to 6 numbers
795ABM	A,B,M = from 0 to 9	6 numbers	c) Subscription services with price by received message ≤ 1, 2 €
797ABM
7999 ABMC	Reserved to 7 numbers
995ABM	A,B,M = de 0 a 9	6 numbers	d) Exclusive adults services of price ≤ 6 €
997ABM
999ABMC	Reserved to 7 numbers

Operators who provide Premium SMS services will have to apply to the Spanish regulator (the CMT) the granting of numbers according to the service to be provided by them. To date, the CMT has already allocated numbering blocks to operators that have been authorized to provide a “SMS/MMS storing and forwarding” service, which in turn are able to assign such numbers to Premium SMS service providers.

It is also noteworthy that the provision of PRS, in whatever modality and through any prefix, number or code, is subject to other obligations, such as:

• The requirement to comply with and abide by the PRS Code of Practice, as approved by the aforementioned Resolution of 14 September 2004. The Code of Conduct establishes the way that PRS must be provided and advertised, among other things. However, it should be noted that in accordance with the SMS Order, it is pending the approval in the coming months of a new Code of Conduct that must adapt the current Code of 2004,to PRS based on SMS/MMS messages.
• The obligation to respect the users’ rights, including (i) the right to block access from its telephone line to the PRS, (ii) the right to receive detailed bills, clearly separating the amount corresponding to the telephony service, which includes the network service that allows the provision of the PRS (network service which is provided by the operators), from the amount relating to the remuneration to the PRS provider, for the service provided, and identifying such PRS provider, (iii) any other right established by consumer protection regulations.
• The obligation, for the operators that assign premium rate numbers to PRS providers, to file with the SETSI the standard contracts between the operator and the PRS provider, for approval.
• The prohibition, for those operators holding premium rate numbers, to sub-assign such numbering resources to other companies, other than directly assigning them to the PRS providers.

Compliance with the obligations applicable to the PRS and with the regulations referred to, is subject to monitoring by the PRS Supervisory Commission within the SETSI (the “CSSTA"), which is the competent body responsible for ensuring the proper provision of those services. Any breach could lead to the withdrawal of numbers from the PRS provider (in case of breach of the Code of Conduct), apart from any other economic fine, in case that the consumers and users’ rights have been infringed.