Commentary on Sections Postal operators generally Section 50: General access conditions
234.This section describes the general access conditions that OFCOM may impose on any postal operator requiring it to give access to other postal operators, or users of postal services, and/or to maintain accounting separation relating to this access. Access may be required to the postal operator’s postal infrastructure, including both physical infrastructure (such as letter boxes) and non-physical infrastructure (such as information relating to postcodes), or any service which the postal operator provides within the scope of the universal postal service. This section transposes the first part of Article 11a of the Directive.
235.Subsection (4) provides that a general access condition may only be imposed if it appears to OFCOM that it is necessary to protect the interests of the users of postal services and/or to promote effective competition.
236.Subsection (5) provides that in deciding what obligations to impose in general access conditions, OFCOM must take account of a number of factors, in addition to their overarching duty to secure the provision of the universal postal service set out in section 29. These include technical and economic viability, feasibility, investment made by the postal operator, the need to secure effective competition in the long term, and any relevant intellectual property rights.
237.Subsection (6) provides that for the purposes of this section, reference to giving a person access to an operator’s postal infrastructure includes giving a person an entitlement to use, be provided with or become a party to any services, facilities or arrangements comprised in the infrastructure.
238.This section is supplemented by the provisions in Schedule 3, which set out the kind of matters that may be included in general access conditions and the resolution of access disputes by OFCOM.