Working on the transposition of EU Telecoms Package
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
Regulations governing the provision of telephone services to people with disabilities have been given a shake up by new EU directives. These directives, comprising the so-called Telecoms Package, must now be transposed into national law in all Member States, including Ireland. The deadline for transposition is May 2011.
We've been working on behalf of the Not For Profit Business Association, teasing out the important issues for people with disabilities and producing recommendations for the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources outlining how these can be implemented.
The biggest issues are within the updated directive on Universal Service and Users’ Rights which now provides for equivalent access, affordability and choice for people with disabilities and mandates access to emergency services, which has been a problem for deaf and hard of hearing people.