KPN may not charge more than half a cent for the details of each subscriber

KPN may not charge other parties more than half a cent for the details of each subscriber. However, it may stipulate a condition to the effect that such details may not be used for so-called ‘reverse searches’. OPTA, the regulatory authority for the postal and telecommunications markets, has decided this in response to a complaint filed by Denda Multimedia.

Denda had filed a complaint with both the Netherlands Competition Authority [Nederlandse Mededingingsautoriteit] (NMa) and OPTA. It wants to publish a telephone directory on CD-ROM containing the details of all of the telephone subscribers in the Netherlands. Already at the end of last year, NMa and OPTA had ruled that KPN has a duty to supply subscriber details to external organisations such as Denda at a cost-oriented price and subject to non-discriminatory conditions. According to both regulatory authorities, this would amount to less than half a cent for the details of each subscriber instead of the 85 cents which KPN was charging Denda. Following this preliminary ruling, NMa handed over the matter to OPTA.

OPTA has not handed down a final ruling to the effect that a cost-oriented price means that KPN may not charge other organisations more than 0.5 cents for the details of each subscriber. As it happens, they will only receive these details if they publish a telephone directory containing all subscriber numbers in the Netherlands. OPTA’s ruling does not apply to the production of other directories. Furthermore, KPN is required to supply its information to others subject to the same conditions as apply to itself. OPTA will not allow KPN to stipulate any requirements in relation to the purpose for which some other party wishes to use such information, because KPN does not impose these requirements on itself.

Nevertheless, when supplying subscriber details, KPN may require that they not be used for ‘reverse searches’. This refers to the display of names and addresses by searching for a telephone number. This is not possible in the case of KPN’s CD-ROM telephone directory either and consequently this condition does not violate the principle of non-discrimination. For the same reason the details supplied by KPN may not be copied without restriction.

This decision was taken by OPTA, the regulatory authority for the postal and telecommunications markets, in response to a complaint filed by Denda Multimedia.