<s>[INST] The next text is a question of a member of the European parliament:"1.Is the Commission aware that in 1998 KPN, the biggest telephone company in the Netherlands, offered its subscribers a free voicemail connection, only to announce, at the beginning of May2001, that it would be imposing separate charges, as from 10 May, for listening to every incoming voicemail?  2.Does the Commission consider the short period of notice between announcing and imposing the increased charges as compatible with Article 17(5) of Telecommunications Directive 98/10/EC(1) of 26 February 1998, which lays down a substantial period of notice?  3.Does the Commission share the assumption that a better explanation for these charges can be found by looking at KPN's need to cover its high expenditure on the recent purchase of major interests in Germany (E-Plus and UMTS frequencies, together costing € 17billion), as opposed to the cost of providing voicemail, not least because users very often ring back in response to receiving a voicemail message, with the result that the telephone company's outgoings and income will tend to balance each other out?  4.Is the provider of telephone services under an obligation, in the event of any such increase in charges, to take active steps (in particular by publishing information about procedures to be followed and stating a deadline) to provide subscribers in good time with the opportunity to deactivate their voicemail option so that they will not be forced to incur higher costs as a consequence of retaining their connection?  5.Is the Commission also aware that the action described in question1 is being justified by an appeal to technical innovations which most subscribers will never use, viz. forwarding voice messages to e-mail and fax?  6.Does the Commission consider the circumstances referred to in question5 as being compatible with Article 17(4) of Telecommunications Directive 98/10/EC, which stipulates that no payment may be demanded of subscribers for facilities not required for the service requested?  7.What further action will the Commission take, in response to this question, both to correct infringements of the directive concerned and to prevent any repeat of such practices for the purpose of increasing charges, or imitation by others?    (1)OJ L 101, 1.4.1998, p. 24."
Analyze carefully the text and assign it to the most relevant policy area among those listed below. Do not explain your answer and return only a number.
Policy area numbers: 1 = Macroeconomics
2 = Civil Rights, Minority Issues and Civil Liberties
3 = Health
4 = Agriculture and Fisheries
5 = Labour, employment and pensions
6 = Education
7 = Environment
8 = Energy
9 = Immigration
10 = Transportation
12 = Law and Crime
13 = Social welfare
14 = Regional and Urban issues and Planning
15 = Banking, finance and domestic commerce issues
16 = Defence
17 = Space, science, technology, and communications issues
18 = Foreign trade
19 = International affairs and foreign aid
20 = Governance and government
21 = Public Lands, Water Management and Territorial Issues
23 = Culture and media
[/INST]. Answer = [17]. </s>
1.Is the Commission aware that in 1998 KPN, the biggest telephone company in the Netherlands, offered its subscribers a free voicemail connection, only to announce, at the beginning of May2001, that it would be imposing separate charges, as from 10 May, for listening to every incoming voicemail?  2.Does the Commission consider the short period of notice between announcing and imposing the increased charges as compatible with Article 17(5) of Telecommunications Directive 98/10/EC(1) of 26 February 1998, which lays down a substantial period of notice?  3.Does the Commission share the assumption that a better explanation for these charges can be found by looking at KPN's need to cover its high expenditure on the recent purchase of major interests in Germany (E-Plus and UMTS frequencies, together costing € 17billion), as opposed to the cost of providing voicemail, not least because users very often ring back in response to receiving a voicemail message, with the result that the telephone company's outgoings and income will tend to balance each other out?  4.Is the provider of telephone services under an obligation, in the event of any such increase in charges, to take active steps (in particular by publishing information about procedures to be followed and stating a deadline) to provide subscribers in good time with the opportunity to deactivate their voicemail option so that they will not be forced to incur higher costs as a consequence of retaining their connection?  5.Is the Commission also aware that the action described in question1 is being justified by an appeal to technical innovations which most subscribers will never use, viz. forwarding voice messages to e-mail and fax?  6.Does the Commission consider the circumstances referred to in question5 as being compatible with Article 17(4) of Telecommunications Directive 98/10/EC, which stipulates that no payment may be demanded of subscribers for facilities not required for the service requested?  7.What further action will the Commission take, in response to this question, both to correct infringements of the directive concerned and to prevent any repeat of such practices for the purpose of increasing charges, or imitation by others?    (1)OJ L 101, 1.4.1998, p. 24.