REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA

REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA LAW ON COMMUNICATIONS Chapter I GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 1. Purpose of the Law This Law establishes the rights and obligations of the State, enterprises, organisations and natural persons in the management and use of technical facilities of telecommunications as well as disposal thereof, in the fitting out and operation of telecommunications networks, in the provision of postal and telecommunications services and making use of same, as well as the general principles of responsibility for the violations of this Law. In cases where the international agreements ratified by the Republic of Lithuania establish regulations of postal and telecommunications activities other than those prescribed by this Law, the regulations of the international agreement shall apply, provided that they are in compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania. Article 2. Definitions As used in this Law: communications means the totality of telecommunications enterprises and technical facilities; Ministry of Communications and Informatics means the Ministry of Communications and Informatics of the Republic of Lithuania; communications administration means the Ministry of Communications and Informatics, as well as other communications regulation institutions authorised by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania or the Ministry of Communications and Informatics; enterprises within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Communications and Informatics means special purpose postal and telecommunications companies and state enterprises assigned within the sphere of regulation of the Ministry of Communications and Informatics; the post office means an enterprise (enterprise subdivision) which provides postal services at its headquarters and within its service area as well as being engaged in the transportation (delivery) of postal shipments to other analogous post offices in the country and abroad; State Post Office means state enterprises and companies of the Republic of Lithuania controlling interest wherein is held by the state power and government institutions of the Republic of Lithuania; postal services means reception or collection, transportation and delivery of letters, postcards, printed matter, secogrammes, aerogrammes, small packages, and parcels, reception and payment of postal money orders, performance of banking operations of the post office giro system; banking operations of the post office giro system means the customers' settlement of accounts through the post office by means of credit transfer, transfer of funds from the customer's account with the post office to the creditor's account; postal money order means transmission of money by post or telegraph; official indication of postage payment means postage stamps or other marks serving the same function; principal postal services means reception (collection), transportation and delivery of mailing matter; mailing matter means a letter, postcard, printed matter, secogramme, aerogramme, small package, parcel; postcard means a piece of thin card for sending a message by post without an envelope with a postage stamp attached or containing any other mark confirming postage payment; letter means a written or other communication sent by post in an envelope which has postage stamps attached thereto or contains any other postage payment marks; printed matter means a publication sent in an envelope or any other packing which has postage stamps attached thereto or contains any other postage payment marks; parcel means various articles or food products sent in a wooden, cardboard box wrapped in cloth or any other durable material; small package means a shipment of small articles sent in a wooden, cardboard box or any other durable material packing which has postage stamps attached thereto or contains any other postage payment marks; secogramme means a written communication, cliche or publication for the blind in Braille as well as tape recordings and special paper for the blind sent in an envelope or in any packing which has postage stamps attached thereto or contains any other postage payment marks; aerogramme means an air-mail letter on a single sheet of paper that folds to form an envelope which has postage stamps attached thereto or contains any other postage payment marks; telecommunications means any transmission, broadcasting and reception of signs, written texts, images and sounds or any other type of information by means of wire, radio, optical or other electromagnetic systems; technical facilities of telecommunications means equipment and lines of telephone, telegraph, facsimile communication and data transmission, radio communication, radio and television broadcasting and reception as well as other equipment used for telecommunications; certified technical facilities of telecommunications means technical facilities of telecommunications whose technical characteristics conform with the standards established in the Republic of Lithuania and which have been issued certificate of conformity by the communications administration; telecommunications terminals means telephone sets, telegraph apparatuses and fax machines, modems and other equipment of telecommunications service users connected to the corresponding telecommunications network by subscriber lines; telecommunications network means a system of technical facilities of telecommunications specified according to the type or character of communication (telephone, telegraph, data transmission, radio, television, etc.) and installation territory, providing possibilities for information transmission and reception in all places where equipment for connection to the network (telecommunications terminals) is installed; public telecommunications network means telecommunications network the services whereof are provided to all legal and natural persons; public radio communications network means telecommunication network whose purpose is transmission and reception of communications between movable subscribers or movable and stationary subscribers and the services whereof are provided to all legal and natural persons; state special purpose telecommunications networks means telecommunications networks installed and used only for ensuring the functioning of certain state government institutions and their structures (national security, defence, internal affairs, etc.); telecommunications lines of national significance means international and intercity telecommunications lines owned and operated by state communications enterprises; telecommunications services means services of information transmission by technical facilities; main telecommunications services means telephone and telegraph communications services; telecommunications enterprise means enterprise managing and using technical facilities of telecommunications and providing telecommunications services; telecommunications network operator means enterprise using (monitoring, developing and managing) its own communications network or that owned by another enterprise; subscriber means legal or natural person regularly using postal and (

1. or)telecommunications services under contract concluded with the provider of services; radio and television broadcasting means transmission of radio and (
2. or)television programmes for the residents by means of electromagnetic waves; radio and television network means the total complex of technical facilities for radio and television broadcasting in the entire country or its part; licence means a document which grants its recipient the right to engage in the activities specified in the licence and determines the terms and conditions of the activities; services provided in the obligatory manner means postal and telecommunications services which are defined as obligatory in the enterprise bylaws or licences for activities. Chapter II REGULATION OF COMMUNICATIONS ACTIVITIES Article 3. Legal Regulation of Communications Activities 1. Communications activities and relations between postal and telecommunications operators and their service users in the Republic of Lithuania shall be regulated by this Law, other laws of the Republic of Lithuania, Government decrees as well as other legal acts. 2. The management and use of radio communication, control over it and manufacture, importation, sale, use and supervision of equipment emitting electromagnetic waves shall be regulated by the Law on Radio Communication. 3. International co-operation of the Republic of Lithuania in the postal and telecommunications spheres shall be regulated by the laws of the Republic of Lithuania, Government decrees and international agreements. Article 4. Government Regulation of Communications Activities 1. Communications activities in the Republic of Lithuania shall be regulated in accordance with the respective sphere of competence by: 1) the Government and its authorised institutions; 2) the Ministry of Communications and Informatics and its authorised institutions; 3) the Ministry of National Defence; and 4) the Ministry of Internal Affairs. 2. The Ministry of National Defence shall regulate activities in the sphere of communications used for the country's security and defence purposes as well as the use of telecommunications facilities and networks which are developed and maintained by the services subordinate to it. The Ministry of Internal Affairs shall regulate activities in the sphere of communications used for the country's border protection as well as the use of telecommunications facilities and networks which are developed and maintained by the services subordinate to it. After holding consultations with the Ministry of Communications and Informatics, the Ministries of National Defence and Internal Affairs shall adopt decisions to install telecommunications networks, satellite communication systems, radionavigation and radiolocation stations and systems. 3.Communications administration shall regulate the activities of telecommunications networks and facilities belonging to legal and natural persons, shall co-ordinate their interaction, determine the terms and conditions of provision of principal telecommunications services. Communications administration shall not regulate: 1) the activities of post office operators, unless the activities are connected with the State Post Office and hinder other post offices; 2) the activities of telecommunications networks that are not connected with the public telecommunications networks, unless the activities are related to the provision of services to third persons and interfere with other networks; 3) the activities of state special purpose telecommunications networks, unless they interfere with other networks. Article 5. The Ministry of Communications and Informatics 1 The Ministry of Communications and Informatics is authorised by this and other laws of the Republic of Lithuania to implement Government policy in the sphere of communications, to regulate postal and telecommunications activities in the country. It concerns itself with the development and modernisation of postal and telecommunications infrastructure, endeavours to provide all persons located in Lithuania with equal possibilities for using communications services, encourages competition between communications service providers. 2. The Ministry of Communications and Informatics, while discharging the duties imposed on it, shall be obligated and shall have the right to: 1) establish, reorganise, liquidate the institutions and services regulating postal and telecommunications activities and those supervising the use of technical facilities of telecommunications , approve their respective bylaws; 2) submit proposals to the Government to finance postal and telecommunications infrastructure development programmes, compensate from the State budget losses incurred while providing obligatory postal and telecommunications services as well as grant guarantees for the loans obtained by the State Post Office and state telecommunications enterprises; 3) draw up numbering plans of public telecommunications networks and assign them appropriate numbers; issue permits to use technical facilities of telecommunications and equipment which radiates or may radiate radio frequencies or instruct that the permits be issued by the institutions and services regulating telecommunications activities and supervising the use of technical facilities of telecommunications; 4) set qualifications requirements for legal and natural persons which provide postal services and install, develop, maintain and use technical facilities of telecommunications, and requirements concerning the equipment used in their activities as well as determine the procedure for the persons' performance evaluation; 5) control the quality of postal and telecommunications services provided to the consumers, check technical parameters of public telecommunications networks and of those telecommunications networks that are connected with them; 6) issue (draft and approve) postal office and telecommunications regulations; establish the conditions of principal postal and telecommunications services provision, service quality requirements, approve model contracts between telecommunications service providers and subscribers; 7) set technical characteristics requirements of the postal and telecommunications equipment used in the Republic of Lithuania; on co-ordination with the Ministry of Construction and Urban Planning, issue standards and regulations which regulate the designing and construction of postal and telecommunications facilities; 8) upon the declaration of martial law or state of emergency, in case of threat of war, natural disaster and in other cases specified by the Government, issue orders obligatory to all post offices, owners and operators of telecommunications facilities; 9) co-operate with postal and telecommunications administrations of foreign states, in accordance with its competence represent the Republic of Lithuania in international postal and telecommunications organisations as well as at international conferences; and 10) establish the procedure of publishing and circulation of postage-stamps, stamped envelopes and postcards. The Ministry of Communications and Informatics shall also fulfil other functions prescribed by the laws of the Republic of Lithuania and Government decrees. Article 6. Licensing of Communications Activities 1. The Ministry of Communications and Informatics shall issue licences for postal and telecommunications activities in accordance with the procedure established by the Law on Enterprises. Pursuant to the Law on Stamp Duty, stamp duty fixed by the Government shall be paid for the issued licence. 2. The conditions of activities laid down in the licences may be changed on the initiative of the Ministry of Communications and Informatics or the licence holder by mutual consent. In case the licence holder refuses to accept the changes in the licence conditions as proposed by the Ministry of Communications and Informatics, the dispute shall be settled by court. Article 7. Prices and Rates 1. The prices and rates of obligatory postal and telecommunications services provided by the enterprises under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Communications and Informatics as well as of postal and telecommunications services in the market whereof the enterprise holds a dominant position, and the price ceiling of the principal telecommunications services provided by other enterprises shall be fixed by the Government. 2. The rates charged for the services provided by the institutions and services regulating postal and telecommunications activities and supervising the use of technical facilities of telecommunications shall be fixed by the Ministry of Communications and Informatics. Chapter III POST OFFICE Article 8. Exclusive Rights and Duties of the State Post Office 1. The exclusive right and duty of the State Post Office is to collect and deliver letters, postcards, and printed matter, to deliver pensions and provide other postal services established by the Law on Enterprises. The marginal maximum fee charged for the delivery of social security pensions shall be fixed by the Government. 2. The State Post Office shall have exclusive right to: 1) install in public places post office boxes for collecting letters; 2) issue postage-stamps. Postage-stamps issued by the State must contain the inscription "LIETUVA". They may contain the state emblem of Lithuania; 3) use the inscription "Lietuvos paðtas" ( "Post Office of Lithuania") in its documents, seals and stamps, advertising pamphlets and elsewhere; 4) use and allow other enterprises to use devices for the marking of the payment of fee for postal services. Article 9. Transportation of State Mailing Matter State mailing matter and employees accompanying it through the state border crossing posts, permanent and temporary sea, river, channel or other water body ferries are entitled to pass out of turn. Article 10. Delivery of Mail 1. The mail shall be delivered (handed over) to the addressee indicated by the addresser or to the person authorised by this addressee. The mail addressed to persons who are in military service, in hospitals, sanatoriums, labour camps or places of confinement may be delivered (handed over) to the administration of that institution. 2. The mail to households shall be delivered to subscriber post boxes. The procedure for the delivery of mail to legal persons and the mail addressed "poste restante" shall be established by the post office. 3. Owners of multi-apartment houses must install blocks of subscriber post boxes on the first floor of the stairway, Gardeners' associations must install post boxes at the main entrance to the collective garden. 4. Owners of private houses must install subscriber post boxes at the entrance to their territory or on the wall of the house so that they would be within the reach from the sidewalk or road side. 5. The post office may install collective subscriber post boxes in areas built up with private houses. Such boxes shall be installed at a distance not exceeding 300 m from the place of residence of post office clients in urban areas, and 500 m -in rural areas. The mail shall be delivered to such boxes only provided the subscriber receives periodical publications no less frequently than three times a week. 6. Delivery of mail to the owners of householdings, which do not comply with the requirements specified in par. 3 and 4 of this Law and to individuals which do not install subscriber post boxes, may be terminated. 7. If the addressee fails to pay cash on delivery (COD) fee within 30 days or any other postal charge, the post office may sell the shipment and remit the proceeds to the budget according to the procedure established by the Ministry of Finance, if the addresser fails to take it back within one year from its sale. The proceeds from the sold shipment shall be given back to the addresser less postal costs. 8. The procedure for sale or destruction of shipment which is impossible to deliver to the addressee or return to the addresser or for the utilisation of proceeds received therefrom shall be established by the Ministry of Communications and Informatics upon co-ordination with the Ministry of Finance. Article 11. Control of Mailing Matter 1. Post office employees, when accepting the mailing matter for sending on, may check whether they do not contain articles the mailing of which is prohibited, and if such articles are found, to detain them. 2. State institutions and their officers may examine the mailing matter and its documentation, search articles and seize them only in accordance with the procedure established by the laws of the Republic of Lithuania. Article 12. The Secrecy of Mailing Matter 1. The post office employees shall be prohibited from furnishing to unauthorised persons information concerning the rendering of postal services to other persons, as well as providing them with conditions to get such information by themselves. 2. Information concerning the users of postal services is necessary for determining the rate for postal services, must be minimal and may not be divulged to other persons except the users of services themselves or persons authorised by them. Article 13. Liability of the Post Office 1. The procedure for the payment of compensation for the lost or damaged mailing matter as well as its delayed delivery shall be established by the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. 2. Compensation shall not be paid if unregistered letters or money or other valuables included in them or in unregistered parcels are lost. Chapter IV TELECOMMUNICATIONS Article 14. Interaction of Telecommunications Networks 1. Telecommunications networks shall be connected to public telecommunication networks and inter connected according to the contracts signed by their operators and in compliance with technical conditions established by communications administration. These contracts must be in compliance with the recommendations of International Telecommunications Union, the conditions of the application thereof shall be established by the Ministry of Communications and Informatics. 2. Telecommunications network operators shall be prohibited from providing conditions in network connection contracts, discriminating one operators and granting privileges to other operators. Disputes between operators concerning the conditions of the connection contract under preparation shall be settled by the Ministry of Communications and Informatics. If the operators of both connected networks provide services, the cases and methods of the disconnection of these networks shall be established by the Ministry of Communications and Informatics. 3. In the issued licences, the Ministry of Communications and Informatics shall have the right to: 1) establish the main terms and conditions of telecommunications network connection contracts ; 2) specify technical level of telecommunications networks that are being connected; 3) specify what information the operators of telecommunications networks must exchange during the operation of telecommunications networks; 4) instruct telecommunications enterprise to organise communication with special and emergency services; 5) establish the numbering of the network and the codes of the communication with other networks. Article 15. Importation, Sale, Production, and Utilisation of Technical Equipment of Telecommunications 1.Importation (sending
3. in)of technical telecommunications equipment from abroad, manufacture for sale or any other distribution in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania and trade in them or any other distribution shall be regulated by communications administration licences the issuance procedure of which shall be established by the Government. 2. Only certified telecommunications equipment may be brought from abroad or produced for sale in the territory of the Republic of Lithuania, as well as traded in or distributed in any other way without the permission specified in par. 1 of this Article. The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to the equipment emitting electromagnetic waves. 3. All legal and natural persons may use, without limitations, terminal equipment of telecommunications certified in the Republic of Lithuania, radio and television receivers, other equipment receiving radio signals. The provider of telecommunications services shall be prohibited from forcing directly or indirectly to acquire or take on lease terminal equipment of telecommunications supplied by any particular producer. 4. All legal and natural persons may, without limitations, install and operate wire telecommunications networks in their premises and in their land holdings, which are not connected with other networks and are used only for their own needs. 5. Only certified technical telecommunications equipment may be used in public telecommunication networks and networks connected with them. Article 16. Certification of Telecommunications Equipment The procedure for the certification of telecommunications equipment shall be established by the Government. Article 17. Connection of Telecommunications Terminals to Public Telecommunications Network Telecommunications terminals may be connected to public telecommunications network, as well as their maintenance may be carried out only by the employees authorised by the operators of relevant public networks or persons possessing licences issued by communications administration. The licences shall be issued to persons with adequate qualifications and having necessary equipment, in accordance with the procedure established by the Ministry of Communications and Informatics. Article 18. Installation of Telecommunications Networks 1. State enterprises and operators of state special-purpose telecommunications networks shall have the right to lay telecommunications lines and build their facilities on the land owned by the state, as well as on public roads (motorways and railways and the land attributed to them, in the streets, squares, state waters and on their shores, across bridges, through tunnels) and in the space over them, upon co-ordination of the time limits and conditions for carried out works and their maintenance with the holders and users of state-owned land. 2. Telecommunications enterprises shall have the right to lay underground telecommunications lines and build their facilities without changing the purpose of land use: 1) in the land to which an easement has been established by the mutual agreement between the land owner or the user of state-owned land and the telecommunications enterprise; 2) in the land which is being rented by the telecommunications enterprise from the land owner or the user of state-owned land for the period during which the works are being carried out. If the land owner or its user refuses to let the land or to establish an easement to it, the Government may adopt the decision relative to the establishment of easement in the telecommunications line route. 3. Telecommunications enterprises must repair the damage caused to the environment while laying the telecommunications lines, and compensate land owners and users for the damage caused in the manner established by the existing laws. 4. While constructing or reconstructing buildings, roads, bridges and other objects, the relocation works of telecommunication lines shall be performed by construction clients according to the technical conditions specified by the owners of such lines. 5. If the owner of land to which no easement is established requires to remove the telecommunication lines going through his land, the telecommunication enterprise must complete relocation works within two years from the moment of the filing of request. If the land owner requests to remove from his land the telecommunication lines laid prior to the coming into effect of this Law, the relocation works shall be carried out at the expense of the land owner. The telecommunication enterprise having removed at the request of the land owner telecommunication lines from his land, shall acquire the right to cut off all telecommunication network terminals installed in his household. Article 19. Protection of Telecommunications Networks 1. The protected zone of telecommunication networks shall comprise a strip of land along the telecommunications lines and around telecommunications objects, including the plants and buildings situated on it. In this zone it shall be prohibited to change the purpose of the land use, to construct buildings or other structures, to keep equipment and substances, dig, drill wells, blow, and carry out other works, during which or as a result of which damage may be caused to telecommunications structures, without prior consent of the owner of telecommunications lines and (
4. or)the owner of the objects. 2. Dimensions of protected zones, methods of their designation, the procedure for carrying out works in them shall be established in the regulations of the protection of telecommunications networks, approved by the Government. 3. Enterprises, organisations, owners and users of land, as well as other persons, through the fault of which telecommunications facilities have been damaged, must compensate the enterprise operating this facility for the caused damage. 4. Upon co-ordination with state-owned land holders and users, the employees authorised by enterprises operating technical telecommunications facilities shall have the right to freely move around protected zones of telecommunications lines, to repair or reconstruct the lines, dig pits and open trenches. Said employees shall also be permitted to trim off tree branches, to cut shrubs in order to maintain the width of the clearings established in the design and the distance to the air line wires. 5. Upon completion of the works specified in par.4 of this Article, telecommunications enterprises must bring the environment to its former condition and compensate the land users for caused damage. Article 20. Radio and Television Broadcasting 1. One of the wire radio or cable television network channels must be used for broadcasting the first national programme of the Lithuanian Radio and Television. This Law shall not regulate the use of other channels. 2. Radio and television broadcasting enterprises which are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Communications and Informatics must broadcast all the programmes of the Lithuanian Radio and Television. Said enterprises may broadcast the programmes of other mass media ( radio and television studios, editorial offices) in the cases and in the manner established by the Government. Article 21. The Secrecy of Messages Transmitted by Telecommunications facilities 1. Employees of telecommunications enterprises shall be prohibited from disclosing the contents of telephone conversations, telegraph messages and of information transmitted by other telecommunications facilities to unauthorised persons or to provide them with conditions to learn it by themselves, which they learn in the course of the performance of their official duties. 2. Information concerning the users of telecommunication services, necessary for the calculation of the fees for services, must be minimal and may not be divulged to other persons, with the exception of the users of services themselves or persons authorised by them. 3. Information concerning the number of the telecommunications terminal, the location of its installation and ownership is not secret, but at the request of the subscriber may not be disclosed to other persons. 4. Information specified in par. 1 and 2 of this Article may be disclosed or conditions may be provided for learning it only in cases and in the manner provided by the laws of the Republic of Lithuania. 5. Persons who violate the requirements set forth in par. 1 of this Article shall incur administrative and criminal liability in the manner established by laws. Employees of telecommunications enterprises who have committed such violations shall be dismissed from office as having discredited themselves. Persons who violate the requirements set forth in par. 2 of this Article shall incur administrative liability. Chapter V RIGHTS, DUTIES AND LIABILITY OF THE POST OFFICE AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS ENTERPRISES Article 22. The Right of Entry 1. Upon notifying the owner of the land, a person authorised in writing by telecommunications enterprise may enter this land holding ( if it is not built up, used as a garden or playing ground) for performing design examination of telecommunications facilities. 2. Post offices and telecommunications enterprises shall have the right to install and maintain subscribers' post boxes and post boxes and telecommunications facilities in the streets and other public places, if this does not interfere with the movement of pedestrians and transport, as well as to enter the objects of private property, when it is necessary to install, check or repair technical facilities of telecommunications. If while exercising these rights, material damage is caused to private or public property, the enterprise must compensate for the damage caused. 3. Representatives of telecommunications enterprises may enter the landholdings of the Ministries of National Defence and Internal Affairs and their subdivisions in accordance with the procedure established by the joint order issued by said Ministries and the Ministry of Communications and Informatics. Article 23. The Duty to Inform 1. Post offices and telecommunications enterprises must inform in advance in writing the Ministry of Communications and Informatics about the commencement of the provision of postal and telecommunications services, as well as about the changes in service provision conditions. 2. Post offices and telecommunications enterprises must announce in advance about the changes in service provision conditions and rates and fees. Article 24. Mandatoriness of the Rules Post offices and telecommunications enterprises, as well as legal and natural persons providing postal and telecommunications services or in any other way related to postal and telecommunications activities, must observe the rules approved by the Ministry of Communications and Informatics. Article 25. Liability Violation of this Law shall incur liability under the effective laws of the Republic of Lithuania. Article 26. Final Provisions 1. The Law on Communications of the Republic of Lithuania comes into effect as of 1 January 1996. 2. The Provision of par.1 of Article 8 of this Law, pursuant to which the state post office has an exclusive right to deliver social insurance pensions and Article 10, come into effect as of 1 January 1997. 3. To repeal the Law on Communications of the Republic of Lithuania No.I-1392 of 30 May 1991. I promulgate this Law passed by the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. Algirdas Brazauskas President of the Republic Vilnius 30 November 1995 No. I-1109