CORPORATE INFORMATIONFrequently Asked Questions - FAQ
What is a CTI?
The Communal Telecom Installations (CTI) make reference to the infrastructures that are essential for every kind of buildings - commercial premises, houses and others - for reception, adaptation and distribution of television and radio broadcasting signals and telephony, as well. Its development lets us to access the telecom services from the buildings' inner, helping the incorporation of the new technologies. CTI provide of a quality access to a wide range of services (radio, television, Internet, etc.) which is a guarantee of the effective and free access to communications for people, ensuring safety and free competition on communications.
What a CTI is useful for?
A CTI guarantees the following services:
- Land line Telephony.
- Integrated Services Digital Net (ISDN).
- Cordless Fixed Access Services.
- Wide Band Internet (High Speed Internet Access).
- Analogue terrestrial Radio and Television.
- Digital Audio Broadcast (DAB).
- Terrestrial Digital Television (TDT).
- Digital Satellite Radio and Television.
- On cable Telecommunications.
- New Technologies access (LMDS, xDSL).
Within those services a CTI is developed to offer a wide range of functionalities related to the broadcasting field, including:
- Analogue Audio Broadcast.
- Analogue Television Broadcast.
- Analogue Satellite Television Broadcast.
- DVB (Digital TV Broadcast).
- TDT (Terrestrial Digital Television).
- Digital Satellite TV.
- DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast).
Where are de CTI applied in?
CTI installations are applied in every building and real state set - for both, residential or non residential use - on new or existing buildings and regulated (in Spain) by the Law for Horizontal Property. They are also applied to those buildings that, completely or only partly, have been rented for more than one complete year, unless it was a one-home building.
Particularly, the CTI field covers:
- New buildings where the Spanish Telecommunication Law is obligatory for every construction company.
- Integral refurbishment of buildings.
- Existing buildings where the neighbourhood association decides to install a CTI infrastructure.
- Existing buildings where the number of individual aerials is higher than one third of whole amount of commercial premises and flats.
- Existing buildings where the Administration considers the new installation of individual aerials dangerous or unsightly.
Which is CTI's legal obligatory nature (according to the Spanish Law)?
The Law obliges to match the Technical Project's specifications, signed by a Technical Telecom Engineer and endorsed by the Professional Official Association. That endorsement guarantees Law's fulfilment.
In some buildings, such those with more than 20 flats, the Spanish Law demands, besides the Installation Form and the Test Certificate, the Certificate of Completion. That must be issued by a Telecom Engineer, who must also be the Project manager.
The un-fulfilment of the obligation imposed by the Spanish Law in CTI matter for new buildings, will be considered a very serious offence and it can be punished with a fine between 30.050€ and 300.500€, that will be paid by the Builder company or by the Developer company. This administrative procedure can be run just making a simple report to the relevant authority on telecom matter, by any affected person.
How much represent the cost of a CTI out of the cost of the whole building?
It depends, to a great extent on the kind of building and the additional complexity of the CTI infrastructure over the minimum required by Law but, generally speaking, for an infrastructure matching the minimum requirements imposed by Law the cost can be about 600€ per flat. This cost equals the total amount due to the telephone and television installations traditionally incorporated into a building by the builder company.
Which administrative procedure is associated with the CTI on the construction process of a house?
Every building permit must attach an edification Project and a CTI Project. To coordinate, in an effective way, every authors and performers of these projects, the current regulations allows the presentation of the CTI project, to be delayed until this is attached to the Project of architectonic work execution.
Under any circumstances the building work can be run until the CTI project is presented to the relevant authority.
Who is the responsible of ensuring the CTI regulations are applied?
Depending on the circumstances and the characteristics of each building, different sectors and responsible roles take part in the game:
- The Developers and Builders Company must proceed to commission the CTI Project and to delegate the implementation of the CTI, making sure that it matches the CTI Project.
- The City Councils, that must demand the CTI Project presentation attached to the Architectonic Project to grant the building permit, and the CTI implementation certificate, indispensable to grant the certificate of occupancy for buildings.
- The Main Directorate of House and Architecture must demand, attached to the final building certificate, the CTI implementation certificate, indispensable to get the certificate of occupancy for any new building.
- The Provincial Headquarters for Inspection of Telecommunication is the organization in charge of inspecting and controlling the CTI application on buildings. And also has the corresponding sanctioning faculty.
What is a CTI Project composed of?
The CTI Technical Project guarantees the telecommunication networks in the building inners match the current regulation (in Spain). And it must be signed by a Telecommunication Engineer and be made in coordination with the architectonic Project author.
That Project must be endorsed by the corresponding Professional Association and it must describe, in a detailed way, all the elements for which the CTI installations are composed, its localization and mentioning the rules they follow.
The CTI Project is composed of Memory, detailed planes, sheet of terms and conditions and quotation.
Additionally, the project must contain the use of the communal building areas, showing the rights of way imposed to them. And just for finishing, the main issue, the project will also include all the calculations to reach the optimum reception, adaptation and distribution for the radio and television broadcasting services.