26. 10. 95 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 256/49 COMMISSION DIRECTIVE 95/51/EC of 18 October 1995 amending Directive 90/388/EEC with regard to the abolition of the restrictions on the use of cable television networks for the provision of already liberalized telecommunications services THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 90 (3) thereof, Whereas : ) Under Commission Directive 90/388/EEC of 28 June 1990 on competition in the markets for tele- communications services ('), as amended by Direc- tive 94/46/EC(?), certain telecommunications services were opened to competition, and the Member States were requested to take the measures necessary to ensure that any operator was entitled to supply such services; as far as voice telephony services to the general public are concerned, the Council Resolution of 22 July 1993 (3} acknow- ledges that this exception can be terminated by 1 January 1998, with a transitional period for some Member States ; the telex service, mobile communi- cations and radio and television broadcasting to the public were specifically excluded from the scope of the Directive; satellite communications were included in the scope of the Directive through Directive 94/46/EC. During the public consultation organized by the Commission in 1992 on the situation in the tele- communications sector, following the Communica- tion of the Commission of 21 October 1992, the effectiveness of the measures liberalizing the tele- communications sector and in particular the libera- lization of data communications, value added services and the provision of data and voice services to corporate users and closed user groups, was ques- tioned by many service providers and users of such services. The regulatory restrictions preventing the use of alternative infrastructure for the provision of libera- lized services, and in particular the restrictions on the use of cable TV networks, are the main cause of this continuing bottleneck situation. Potential service providers must now rely on transmission capacity — ‘leased lines’ — provided by the tele- communications organizations, which are often also () OJ No L 192, 24. 7. 1990, p. 10. () OJ No L 268, 19. 10. 1994, p. 15. () O No C 213, 6. 8. 1993, p. 1. @) @ competitors in the area of liberalized services. To remedy this problem, the European Parliament, in its Resolution of 20 April 1993 (¥, called upon the Commission to adopt as soon as possible the neces- sary measures to take full advantage of the potential of the existing infrastructure of cable networks for telecommunications services and to abolish without delay the existing restrictions in the Member States on the use of cable networks for non-reserved services. Following that resolution the Commission completed two studies on the use of cable TV networks and alternative infrastructures for the deli- very of those telecommunications services which have already been opened to competition under Community law: ‘The effects of liberalization of satellite infrastructure on the corporate and closed user group market’, Analysis, 1994 and ‘L’impact de l'autorisation de la fourniture de services de télé- communications  libéralisés par les ciblo- opérateurs’ by Idate, 1994. The basic findings of those studies emphasize the potential role for, amongst other things, cable TV networks, in meeting the concerns raised about the relatively slow pace of innovation and delayed development of liberalized services in the European Community. Opening such networks would help to overcome the problems of high pricing levels and lack of suitable capacity, which are largely due to current exclusive provision of infrastructure in most Member States. The networks operated by autho- rized cable TV providers indeed offer opportunities for the supply of an increasing number of services, apart from TV broadcasts, if additional investment is forthcoming. The example of the US market shows that new services combining image and tele- communications emerge when certain regulatory barriers are removed. Some Member States have therefore abolished previous restrictions on the provision of some data services and/or non-reserved telephone services on cable TV networks. One Member State permits voice telephony. Other Member States have, however, maintained severe restrictions on the provision of services other than the distribution of TV broadcasts on those networks. () O] No C 150, 31. 5. 1993, p. 39.