When the liberalisation of the telecommunications market was launched in the first half of the nineties, a special body – an ombudsman's office – was set up in order to deal with complaints from consumers on operators in the sector. This office’s independence is guaranteed by law. The Institute’s role is limited to providing its management with staff.
The more recent gradual liberalisation of the postal sector sparked the plan of extending the competence of the mediation service for the postal sector to include all market players, modelled on its counterpart for the telecommunications sector.