Broadband Internet access services at the retail level are subject to general regulations that apply to all providers of electronic communications services, in areas such as defending the rights of consumers and users, or quality of service.
Rights of users of electronic communications
The universal telecommunications service is established, it recognizes the right to have a contract, unsubscribe at any time, be compensated in case of interruption of the service, receive detailed billing, etc.
In addition, a dispute resolution procedure is established between end users and operators, the prohibition of advertising Internet access speeds higher than those supported by the technology used and is fixed in two days, foreseeing its reduction to 24 hours, the period in which portability should be effective.
For a greater detail of these rights of the users consult the User Rights Charter for Electronic Communications Services.
Universal Service
In order to avoid the risk of excluding end-users from basic telecommunications services that are considered essential, such as fixed telephone service and access to the Internet via a fixed location, General Law of Telecommunications establishes the right to the universal service, by which any end user has the right to access to the fixed telephone network, with a connection that guarantees functional access to the Internet (10 Mbps, in the downward direction), as well as to the other services included in the Universal Service, at an affordable price and with a certain quality. See more information about the Right to Universal Service .
Quality of service
The regulation on the quality of telecommunications services aims to ensure that end-users have access to information on the quality of these services, for which it is established that each operator must publish on its website, according to a common model and on a quarterly basis, the quality of service levels obtained on the basis of a set of parameters standardized by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). In this way, it is intended to strengthen the choice of users, allowing them to compare between the contractual conditions and the quality levels achieved by the different operators.
For broadband services, as for other telecommunications services, the content of contracts is established in terms of the quality of service, the quality in the accuracy of billing and the detailed breakdown of it, as well as the treatment of events that lead to a significant degradation of the quality of service.
In the Order IET/1090/2014, of 16 June, regulating the conditions relating to the quality of service in the provision of electronic communications services, it is established that operators of Internet access services have the obligation to obtain and publish the levels of quality of service achieved in their commercial offers of greater implementation, in relation to certain parameters defined in the aforementioned Ministerial Order and to do so, at least through their website.
These parameters include both general, applicable to all telecommunications services, and specific to Internet access services.
Retail Price Control
At the national level, the prices of broadband Internet access services offered to end users are not regulated, so they are set freely by operators. If the situation in which the market is located justifies it, the CNMC has the power to control and limit the offers of those operators with a significant market weight on the basis of the test of replicability of offers of the same (see CNMC/Retail Bid Control Resolutions).