US mobile giant Verizon Wireless – the market’s largest wireless operator in terms of subscribers – has broken its silence on the controversial USD39 billion would-be merger between AT&T Mobility and T-Mobile USA, declaring that it sees no problem with the tie-up, as long as it does not involve increased regulation for the market as a whole. Speaking to Total Telecom at the Morgan Stanley TMT Conference in Barcelona, Francis Shammo, chief financial officer for Verizon, commented: ‘We have been very silent on this one. The reason we’ve been silent: we said there needs to be consolidation and as long as there is consolidation without regulation we don’t have an objection to it’.

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Source: Telegeography

Italian mobile operators instructed to cut termination rates by 40%. Italy's telecommunications regulator AGCOM has ordered the country's four mobile phone operators to lower by up to 40% the termination rates that they charge subscribers, following a request from the European Commission. In a statement posted on its website, AGCOM said tariffs must go down from between EUR0.025 and EUR0.035 on July 1, 2012 to EUR0.0098 on July 1, 2013. The operators concerned are Telecom Italia SpA, Vodafone Group PLC, Wind Telecommunicazioni SpA of VimpelCom Ltd. and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. A Societe Generale analyst said in a note the rate reduction had been anticipated although it was more aggressive than expected.

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Source: Total Telecom

Pan-Caribbean mobile network operator, Digicel has protested against the decision of the Guyana Parliament not to pass legislation that would break a monopoly on international calls in Guyana. Despite months of consultations and commitments, the Government pulled the legislation at the 11th hour. According to the telecommunications provider, Parliament's decision to allow the current monopoly to continue crushes Guyana's hope for lower international calling rates within the near future. Digicel is requesting that details of the late submission, the reason for the withdrawal of the promised legislation from Parliament today be made available to all stakeholders.

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Source: Cellular-news

Mobile network operators in Venezuela have been ordered to start blocking stolen and lost phones within three months following an instruction from the telecom regulator, Conatel. The networks will also be required to set up a shared database of blocked IMEI numbers so that stolen handsets cannot be reused on another network. It was reported by local media that some 110,000 mobile phones are reported as stolen in the country every month. It was also claimed that 20 murders can be associated with thefts of BlackBerry smartphones.

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Source: Cellular-news 

The European Union still can’t decide if Google’s massive presence in the web search business can be classified as an abuse of dominance that’s hurting competition for others in the field, reports Reuters. Google has the majority of all search traffic requests, but an “abuse of dominance” is not the same as dominance itself, said EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia Friday. In November 2010, the European Commission first opened up an investigation about the matter after rival companies like Microsoft accused Google of abusing its dominant position in the search market. If Google is found in violation of abusing its dominance, it could face a fine of up to 10 percent of its global financial turnover.

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Source: VentureBeat

The Federal Trade Commission proposed Thursday to revamp its online child privacy rules to reflect the ubiquity of smartphones and geolocation services. The proposed updates (.pdf) to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 were welcomed by many in the privacy community. They see the new proposal as a means to combat behavioral advertising targeting America’s youth. By contrast, Facebook, Microsoft, the Entertainment Software Association, the Toy Industry Association and others are arguing for self-regulation when it comes to targeted, online behavioral advertising. The law in question, commonly referred to as COPPA, is designed to protect the privacy of children under 13. Among other things, a major proposed upgrade generally would forbid websites and mobile apps that cater to children under 13 from deploying tracking cookies or using GPS location tracking for marketing without parental consent.

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Source: Wired

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, today released a consultation paper on proposed new penalties to be specified in infringement notices issued under the Telecommunications Act 1997.

“The Gillard Government is committed to ensuring basic standards are maintained for consumers in the telecommunications industry,” Senator Conroy said.

“The infringement notice regime is an important new tool the Government has recently provided the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to enable it to better enforce compliance by telecommunications companies with regulatory requirements.

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Source : DBCDE

Indian telco says it will work with authorities to allay any concerns. India's Directorate of Enforcement has begun a probe into suspected foreign exchange violations by Bharti Airtel Ltd., the country's federal junior finance minister said Tuesday. The Enforcement Directorate, a unit of the federal finance ministry, investigates violations of foreign exchange laws and money laundering. Namo Narain Meena also told lawmakers the country's markets regulator--the Securities and Exchange Board of India--has received complaints over an alleged increase in share holding by its founders to 67.15% from 60.91% in the company between June 2007 and September 2008, without extending an open offer to public shareholders.

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Source: TotalTelecom

Google has taken reasonable steps to improve its privacy policies, the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said today, following an audit at the company's London office. The ICO's audit -- which took place in London in July -- was agreed as part of the terms of an undertaking that Google signed in November 2010 after the company reported that its Street View cars had collected Wi-fi payload data alongside the location mapping information that was the stated aim of the project. The audit found that Google has taken action in all of the agreed improvement areas. The ICO has now asked the company to go further to enhance privacy, including ensuring that users are given more information about the privacy aspects of Google products.

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Source: Cellular-news

Liberia, one of the poorest countries in Africa has joined in the race to register its mobile users. The process was officially launched on July 18th by the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA), the local telecoms regulator. The deadline for the completion of the registration process has been set to 90 days from the start day, a very short period to register about 1.6 million mobile subscribers. Isabelle Gross spoke to Avishai Marziano, the CEO of Cellcom, one of the four mobile operators active in Liberia about their initiative to launch a “paperless” registration process and what SIM registration entails for a mobile operator.

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Source: Telegeography

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is reportedly reconsidering a ruling it previously made under which fixed line incumbent Telstra was initially exempted from regulation in 248 exchanges, amid claims that some of the exchanges in question were not meeting exemption requirements. Having previously ruled that exemption would be allowed in those exchange areas where three or more local loop unbundled-based (LLU-based) providers were offering services to 14,000 or more customers, the regulator has now noted: ‘The ACCC is concerned that competitive pressures on Telstra in the exempt exchanges may not be living up to expectations at the time of the original exemption decision.

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Source: Telegeography

South Africa's biggest wireless phone operator, cut off about a million users on Friday for failing to register their SIM cards under a new law in the country. Under the new Regulation of Interception of Communication Act, mobile phone SIM cards must have been registered by 2200 GMT on Thursday to avoid being cut off from the network. Vodacom, a unit of Britain's Vodafone (VOD.L), said fewer than a million subscribers were disconnected from its network but spokesman Richard Boorman said the impact on revenue would be minimal

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Source: Reuters

With effect from 1st July 2011 to 30 June 2012 EU mobile operators will again be obliged to lower retail prices for roaming calls in line with EU rules first introduced in 2007 and amended in 2009. Consumers opting for the EU-regulated "Eurotariff" will pay no more than 35 cents per minute for calls made and 11 cents per minute for calls received while abroad in the EU. This is the last in the series of regulated price cuts under the current EU Roaming Regulation, which expires end June 2012. On 30 June 2010 the Commission published a report (see IP/10/851) indicating that, while such price cuts have temporarily reduced roaming prices during the regulated period, the current rules did not solve the underlying problem of lack of competition in roaming services and prices remained stubbornly close to the retail caps.

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Source: Europa

The Philippine telecoms regulator the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) is again considering proposals to reduce fees for mobile services in the country by lowering interconnection charges for voice calls and SMS messages sent between rival networks. It is understood the regulator has published two draft decisions on the matter – akin to previous measures floated in 2008 and 2009 – and is launching a public hearing on the plan, timed to take place before any decision is made on PLDT’s plan to acquire a controlling stake in Digital Telecommunications Philippines Inc (Digitel). In a statement released yesterday, the NTC said: ‘The country’s 85 million cellphone subscribers stand to gain from the … thrust of reducing interconnection charges on voice calls and short messaging service.’

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Source: Telegeography

Mobile customers can swap networks, keep number. SIM registration period comes to an end. Ghana will next month allow mobile phone customers to switch network operators but keep their numbers, a move that will increase competition and quality of service, an industry regulator said on Friday. The West African country has some 17 million subscribers able to choose from five networks, including MTN Group Ltd MTN.J, Vodafone Group Plc (VOD.L) and Bharti Airtel Ltd (BRTI.NS). A sixth is due to come on line soon. But tariffs in the country are relatively high and customers frequently complain of poor services. "We believe mobile number portability will revolutionize the mobile sector in terms of competitiveness and quality service delivery," Mawuko Zormelo, a spokesman for the National Communication Authority, said on Friday.

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Source: Reuters

Three out of four Europeans accept that revealing personal data is part of everyday life, but they are also worried about how companies – including search engines and social networks – use their information. These are the main conclusions of a new Eurobarometer survey on attitudes towards data protection and electronic identity, released by the European Commission today. The report reveals that 62% of people in the European Union give the minimum required information so as to protect their identity, while 75% want to be able to delete personal information online whenever they want to – the so-called right to be forgotten. There is also strong support for EU action: 90% want to have the same data protection rights across Europe.

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Source: European Commission

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has announced it is focusing its attention on the implementation of mobile number portability (MNP) now that its SIM registration programme is nearing completion, local newspaper Business Day reports. The telecoms regulator has not specified when the service, which allows mobile phone subscribers to keep their number if they switch service provider, will be implemented. It is expected that MNP will increase competition in Nigeria’s wireless market, which is Africa’s largest by subscribers, with over 90 million cellular users at the end of March 2011.

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Source: Total TeleGeography

 

A new draft regulation that will regulate the operations of telecoms service providers in the country and ensure that operators provide quality service and are held accountable if they fail, will be ratified in two weeks by the Board of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Communications Commission NCC, Dr Eugene Juwah , who disclosed this in a telephone chat with THISDAY stressed that the commission was not folding its arms but had been hampered by a lack of regulation that has made direct action to enforce service quality unlawful.

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Source: BalancingAct-Africa

By 25th May 2011, Europeans will enjoy new rights and services regarding phones, mobile and Internet. New EU telecoms rules to ensure a more competitive telecoms sector and better services for customers are due to be implemented in national law by this date. They include the right for customers to switch telecoms operators in just one day without changing their phone number, the right to more clarity about the services customers are offered and better protection of personal data online. New oversight powers for the European Commission and regulatory powers for the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) will create more regulatory certainty and help telecoms operators to grow in a single, pan-European telecoms market.

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Source: European commission - Information Society

The wireless subsidiary of Bolivia’s state-owned telco Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (Entel), Entel Movil, has revealed that it has expanded HSPA+ coverage to the cities of La Paz, El Alto, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, according to Next Wireless Latam. The cellco, as previously reported by CommsUpdate, last month said it would spend around USD32 million on the introduction of HSPA+ to its network, at which date it claimed to have already launched commercial mobile broadband services using the technology in the cities of Trinidad (Beni), Tarija, Oruro, Sucre and Potosi. Entel’s general manager, Roy Mendez, also noted that so far this year the wireless unit has deployed 372 new cell sites across the country, while he added that a total of 40 new base stations that supported HSPA+ had been brought online last week.

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Source: Cellular-News

Vietnam's mobile phone networks, and handset retailers are complaining about a new law that restricts handset imports to just three seaports, in HCM City, Da Nang and Hai Phong. Currently, many of the higher value smartphones are shipped via air-freight and with minimal paperwork needed to clear customs, but the new regulations will also impose additional paperwork requirements. Officially, the restrictions are to cut down on phone smuggling, but local retailers point out that most smuggling is across the land borders and do not go through the government controlled ports. Doan Thanh Nhan, senior executive of Viettel Trade Import-Export Company told the VietNamNet news that the increased bureaucracy would particularly hit sales of Nokia and Apple smartphones. The new regulations are expected to transform a one week order-to-delivery timeframe into something closer to a month, not only delaying the sale of fashionable smartphones, but also causing the phone companies to have to increase their stock holdings to absorb potential delays.

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Source: Cellular-News

France's three largest mobile networks have lost an attempt to force the newest and smallest entrant to the market to pay a substantially higher fee for its 3G license. The three companies - France Telecom, Sfr and Bouygues Télécom - had claimed that the reduced license fee paid by Free Mobile (Iliad SA) was tantamount to state-aid, and that the company should be required to pay the same fee that they had paid for their licenses.

The fourth license was offered for EUR240 million, compared to the EUR619 million eventually paid by the three incumbent networks. The European Commission ruled though that the procedure for awarding the fourth 3G mobile phone licence in 2009 did not involve any state aid under the EU rules. In the Commission's view, the award was made by way of a transparent and open procedure in accordance with European Union regulations and resulted in a competitive outcome.

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Source: Cellular-News

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is reportedly considering the cancellation of just 15 mobile telephony licences for failure to meet network rollout requirements, compared to the more than 60 suggested in November 2010 by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), India’s Economic Times reports. According to the report, two unnamed DoT officials have claimed that the TRAI’s method of assessing network rollout was flawed, and it is understood that the DoT will send a communication to it in the next few days making this assertion.

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Source: Total TeleGeography

The government of Bangladesh has decided to ask the country’s telecoms regulator to reissue licences to two of the five fixed-wireless operators which had their operations closed down in March 2010 for alleged involvement in illegal VoIP business, the Financial Express reports. The communications ministry on Thursday issued a letter to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) requesting that PSTN operating licences be reissued to RanksTel and National TeleCom (NationalPhone), while sources quoted by the Bangladeshi paper said that the remaining three telcos – PeoplesTel, Dhaka Phone and WorldTel – would also get permission to resume their operations ‘in phases.’

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Source: Total TeleGeography

Kenya's largest mobile network operator, Safaricom has been accused of delaying requests for Mobile Number Portability by the independent holding company managing the service in the country. "The problem lies with Safaricom," Porting Access Kenya Ltd chairman Patrick Musimba said while giving a progress report on the service. "They are not allowing ports to go through."

The MNP service was launched, after many delays at the beginning of last month and in the first month of operations, nearly 44,000 requests to migrate a mobile phone number had been received. However, Musimba said that many requests had been blocked while those that were approved were having problems with SMS messages being routed correctly.

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Source: Total Telecom

The New Zealand and Australian regulators have launched a formal investigation into the trans-Tasman roaming services provided by the two countries' mobile operators. Communications and Information Technology Minister Steven Joyce made the announcement this morning with his Australian counterpart Senator Stephen Conroy, at the Korea-Australia-New Zealand (KANZ) Broadband Summit.

"Many New Zealanders take their mobile phone, tablet or laptop with them when they travel to Australia. They need to have confidence that they are purchasing services in a competitive market. If this investigation finds they are not, then regulatory intervention will be considered," says Mr Joyce. The announcement follows the publication in May last year of a discussion paper that sought stakeholder views on whether a formal investigation was warranted.

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Source: Celluar-news

Pakistan’s mobile network operators have been given until 17 May 2011 to ensure that all of their respective subscribers’ details are registered and verified, after which non-verified connections must be blocked. According to Pakistan’s Daily Times, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has informed cellcos that all customers must register their SIM card details on their Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs). The regulator has further impressed that all possible measures to ensure mobile customers comply with the deadline, and it is understood that operators have agreed to relaunch a marketing campaign to draw attention to the registration requirements. Introduced in October 2009, the PTA’s ‘SIM Information System 668’ service is likely to be integral in the final push to ensure mobile voice subscriber registrations are up to date. The service allows customers to send their CNIC details via SMS, in return receiving details of any SIMs registered against the identity card. For those still not registered, SIMs can be linked to CNIC’s at both Customer Service Centres nationwide.

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Source: Telegeography

Zimbabwe’s three cellular network operators disconnected a combined total of 2.4 million unregistered pre-paid subscriber accounts following the end-February 2011 deadline for registration passing, the regulator POTRAZ has confirmed. Total mobile subscribers declined from around 8.4 million to six million as of this month, as reported by local newspaper ZimDaily. Market leader Econet Wireless Zimbabwe disconnected 1.4 million customer accounts, second-placed Telecel Zimbabwe cut off 692,000 SIM cards and state-run NetOne’s user base shrunk by 300,000 due to non-registration. The cellcos have stressed that all users that have been cut off may re-register with their operator.

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Source: Telegeography

Acquisition clears final hurdle a week after Huawei drops intellectual property lawsuit.Chinese regulators have approved Nokia Siemens Networks' planned acquisition of most of Motorola Solutions Inc.'s network-equipment assets, the two companies said Thursday, clearing the path for the deal to close next week. Nokia Siemens Networks, the joint venture between Finland's Nokia Corp. and Germany's Siemens AG, agreed to buy the bulk of Motorola's network-equipment business for $1.2 billion in July last year, but the deal was awaiting approval from China's Ministry of Commerce, which has the authority to review foreign mergers on antitrust grounds.

The sale is a key component of Motorola's restructuring, generating much-needed cash after the company split into two parts: Motorola Solutions, which sells public safety gear; and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc., which sells mobile phones and set-top boxes.

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Source: Total Telecom

Hutchison 3G UK (Three) has topped the complaints leagues as compiled by the UK's telecoms regulator, Ofcom. Three topped the chart with 0.15 complaints per 1000 customers from October 2010 to February 2011, while O2 was the best performer with 0.04 complaints per 1,000 customers. On average, Ofcom receives 450 telecoms complaints per day about a range of issues including mis-selling, billing errors, lack of service and customer service problems, which reflects the complexity of the telecoms market.

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Source: Cellular-news 

Orange Switzerland says that it is modernising its GSM network and getting its 3G mobile network ready for the future. Modernising the entire mobile network will also reduce its electricity consumption by up to 30%. This will take about two years to complete and forms part of an investment programme of more than CHF700 million (USD780 million) for network expansion over a period of five years. ‘Mobile data transfer has increased more than thirtyfold in just three years, while the explosive growth in smartphones and mobile data services continues apace,’ said Gabriel Flichy, Orange Switzerland’s VP of Network & IT. ‘We will be making huge improvements in urban areas with HSPA+, which allows us to offer theoretical connection speeds of up to 42Mbps. And as an advantageous offshoot of the modernisation, we are also introducing EDGE to our GSM network. This will enable users in rural areas without 3G coverage to surf the Orange network more comfortably. br>

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Source: Telegeography 

Qtel, Saudi Telecom only operators left in running after rivals abandoned auction over government's revenue sharing plan.Syria has postponed next week's auction of a third mobile license due to political ructions in the Arab country, a person familiar with matter said Thursday. "The license has been postponed because some elements on the supervisory committee were from the old government," the person told Zawya Dow Jones by telephone."Some people are no longer on the committee." No new date for the auction, that was slated for April 27, has been set, the person added. The postponement comes after Syria's President Bashar Assad, in moves aimed at containing popular anti-government sentiment, replaced his prime minister and cabinet, and promised to introduce new electoral and media laws.

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Source: Total Telecom

According to local press reports, mobile operator Vodacom South Africa has confirmed that it has exceeded 1,000 active 43.2Mbps HSPA+ sites on its network. Although the deployment has taken place over time, Vodacom stressed that it did not want to publicise the improved speeds until they had achieved ‘significant’ HSPA+ coverage. CEO Pieter Uys commented: ‘We have actually had the technology up and running for some time, but we wanted to have a critical mass of at least 1,000 base stations before flipping the switch to allow consumers access at up to double the speed. We wanted to make sure that we had the service available in more than just one city’.

See Press Release 
Source: Telegeography 

New policy to allow industry consolidation provided the number of players in any single telecom circle does not fall below six. India will consider easing rules on mergers and acquisitions in the telecommunications sector as part of a new policy that could trigger a wave of consolidation in an industry hit by stiff competition.

The rules could be relaxed provided there are at least six players after any deal in a specific service area, Communications Minister Kapil Sibal said Monday. He was speaking to reporters on the broad contours of the new national telecom policy that is expected by the end of 2011. The new policy will replace the one formulated in 1999.

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Source: Total Telecom

­The Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) has cancelled the mobile network operating license held by Rwandatel for allegedly failing to meet its license conditions. The network is to be shut-down on Friday April 8, 2011 at midnight, affecting over half a million customers.

The company was given until this Friday to close its network so that customers could use up outstanding credits on their prepay accounts. The telecom company is partially owned by Libyan investment group - LAP Green - with an 80% stake and the Social Security Fund of Rwanda (SSFR) which has 20 percent. It will continue operating fixed lines, which are mainly used in offices. The move is not related to UN sanctions on Libyan assets held overseas.Rwandatel has over 535,710 subscribers, putting it third behind MTN Rwanda with 2.3 million and Tigo Rwanda with 685,000 users.

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Source: Cellular-News

The National Communications Authority (NCA) of Ghana says that around 85% of SIM cards in the country have now been registered with their respective network service provider. However, it went on the say that 2.5 million SIM cards were barred from making calls from the weekend and that those involved have until July to register them before their lines are completely disconnected.

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Source: Telegeography

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)  launched, of its own initiative, a proceeding to review its decisions on billing practices that would have applied to the residential customers of Small Internet service providers (Small ISPs).  “The great concern expressed by Canadians over this issue is telling of how much the Internet has become an integral part of their lives,” said Konrad von Finckenstein, Q.C., Chairman of the CRTC.

 “Our approach is based on two fundamental principles: cas a general rule, ordinary consumers served by Small ISPs should not have to fund the bandwidth used by the heaviest residential Internet consumers, and it is in the best interest of consumers that Small ISPs, which offer competitive alternatives to the Large Distributors, should continue to do so.

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Source: CRTC

The President of ANCOM, Mr. Cãtãlin Marinescu, and the Minister of Communications and Information Society, Mr. Valerian Vreme, signed at the Ministry’s headquarters the Non-reimbursable Financing Contract for the creation of the online application enabling the end-users to compare between the electronic communications offers.

ANCOM is continuously striving to offer the users tools whereby to enable them to better manage their relation with the providers of communications services, the decision concerning the electronic communications providers’ obligations to inform the end-users being one of the decisions adopted by the Authority to this end. One of the provisions under Decision no.77/2009 obligates the operators to provide ANCOM with the information necessary for the Authority to create and make publicly available a web portal which would allow the tariffs and terms offered by the providers of mobile telephony, fixed telephony, and broadband Internet access to be compared by means of a „price calculator”-type interactive application. The application will enable the user to insert a set of consumption options and will carry out a comparative analysis of the offers existing on the market (introduced in the database), ranking afterwards the most advantageous offers as price is concerned, in direct connection to the options expressed by the user.

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Source: ANCOM

The UK's Communication Workers Union (CWU) has called on the government to ring-fence revenues raised from next year's 4G license auction and use it to expand broadband internet services in rural areas.
The union says that the money could take the pressure off BBC funding cuts by using a different stream to fund broadband and leave licence fee and digital switchover money where it was meant for.

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Source:Cellular-news

Bangladesh's mobile networks are protesting against proposals by the telecoms regulator to not only raise the radio spectrum fee they pay, but also to set the fee based less on the amount of spectrum they have than their respective customer bases. Different spectrum charges have been imposed on the operators in line with their subscriber bases, an official of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) told the Daily Star newspaper. "That's why per MHz spectrum within the same band is different."

Although operators with higher customer bases often pay more due to their needing more radio spectrum, it is almost unheard of for them to be charged a higher per-Mhz fee as well.

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Source: Cellular-news

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has introduced new rules which make switching mobile phone, internet and television providers easier for consumers, reports the Montreal Gazette. The new framework will force providers to make all necessary arrangements to have services transferred over to them from their competitors, the regulator announced. In the past, consumer rights lobbyists have attacked delays faced by customers in moving between providers, as well as unexpected charges incurred by end-users as a result of making the switch. Under the new rules, subscriber account transfers must be completed within two business days, except in the case of wireless services, for which a much shorter time window of two and a half hours has been set. Additionally, new safeguards will apply to prevent service providers from sharing confidential customer information with their internal sales and marketing groups during the process of transferring a customer account. 

See Press Release 
Source: TeleGeography

Finnish Minister of Communications Suvi Lindén and Russian Minister for Communications and Mass Media Igor Shchegolev have struck a policy agreement on roaming charges between the two countries. Business delegations involved in the negotiations discussed the implementation timetable and pricing schedule for roaming charges.

Mobile telecommunications operators have been ordered to agree on these details by the 1st May. The roaming charge specified by the EU has been set as the reference pricing level.

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Source: Cellular-news

Indian security agencies are not satisfied with a solution offered by Research In Motion (RIM.TO) for accessing data on its BlackBerry Messenger services, junior telecoms minister Sachin Pilot told parliament on Wednesday. RIM gave India access to its consumer services including the Messenger services in January, after Indian authorities raised security concerns, but said it could not allow monitoring of its enterprise email.

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Source: Reuters

The European Commission today decided to send a request for information to Hungary over the new “special tax” imposed on the telecom sector to boost its tax revenues. Hungary introduced special charges for telecoms operators in October 2010. The Commission has concerns that this tax is incompatible with EU telecoms rules, which require specific charges on telecoms operators to be directly related to covering the costs of regulating the telecoms sector.

Hungary has two months to reply to the request, which takes the form of a so-called 'letter of formal notice, the first stage of EU infringement procedures. The Commission has just decided to refer France and Spain to the EU Court of Justice concerning similar 'telecoms taxes' (see IP/11/309).

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Source: Europe's Information Society

Mexican fixed line incumbent Telefonos de Mexico (Telmex) has unveiled plans to break its fixed line voice operations apart, revealing it aims to form two separate companies, one of which will exclusively serve rural areas, the Wall Street Journal reports. Under the telco’s proposals, which will require the approval of the Secretario de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) and other regulatory bodies, Telmex intends to create a new company, Telmex Social, to service rural regions and those areas of the country ‘in which there is no economic interest of any competitor’. The new company, Telmex said, would continue to pay the same interconnection rates to competitors as the enlarged operator currently does.

See Press Release
Source: TeleGeography

India's telecoms regulator said on Wednesday 3.8 million mobile subscribers have opted for mobile number portability (MNP) as of end-February, after the launch of the facility allowing users to retain their mobile numbers even if they switch carriers. MNP was introduced in a northern state in late November and was expanded nationwide from Jan. 20. With 771 million mobile subscribers as of January, India is the world's second-biggest market for mobile services and with monthly additions averaging 19 million in the past one year, it is the world's fastest growing market. The market of 15 mobile carriers is, however, fiercely competitive, with the firms operating under wafer-thin margins.

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Source: Reuters

Automatically renewable contracts that tie consumers with landlines into repeated minimum contract periods unless they opt-out are to be banned under proposals set out by Ofcom today. These contracts, also known as rollover contracts, are currently offered by BT, and several smaller providers, to both residential and business users of landline services in the UK.   

The contracts automatically roll forward to a new minimum contract period – with penalties for leaving – unless the consumer actively opts out of the renewal. Ofcom estimates that approximately 15 per cent of UK residential consumers are on rollover contracts. Ofcom is concerned that rollover contracts make it harder for customers to switch providers and consequently reduce the benefits of competitive choice.

 

See: Press Release 

Source: Ofcom

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has revealed its interim access determinations (IADs) for fixed line services, having suspended a full review of charges in December 2010 in light of the changes to the country’s regulations; the passing of the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Competition and Consumer Safeguards) Act 2010 in November 2010 prompted the halt in the study. Under the now-released determinations the ACCC has issued interim price and non-price terms for the six declared fixed line services, those being: unconditioned local loop service (ULLS); wholesale line rental (WLR); line sharing service (LSS); PSTN Originating and Terminating Access (PSTN OA and PSTN TA); and local carriage service (LCS). According to the regulator the determinations have been backdated to start from 1 January 2011 and will expire at the end of this year, or on the introduction of a final access determination (FAD) for any of the aforementioned services.

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Source: Telegeography

­The Australian Communications and Media Authority has made a declaration prohibiting the supply, possession and operation of jamming devices which are likely to substantially interfere with public mobile telecommunication services (PMTS). Such services include 3G networks and equivalent services such as mobile WiMAX. The Radiocommunications (Prohibition of PMTS Jamming Devices) Declaration 2011 made under section 190 of the Radiocommunications Act 1992 replaces the mobile phone jamming prohibition made in 1999, and follows the ACMA's 2010 review of the effectiveness of that prohibition. The review found that while the prohibition of jamming devices remains necessary, updates to the prohibition were required to address technological change that has occurred since 1999.

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Source: Cellular-News

The Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah, weekend, said that with effect from yesterday, no new SIM card would work until it was fully registered. Juwah said: "All the decisions taken on SIM card registration were taken by all the interested parties. The forum included all the telecommunications service providers, security services, the police, SSS, NSA, and all other prospective service providers.

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Source: All Africa

European mobile phone subscribers will have to be offered the choice of 12-month contracts in addition to the increasingly usual 18 and 24 month contracts, under laws passed by the European Union. The legislation is due to come into effect in May this year, subject to ratification by each of the European Union's nation states.

A spokesperson for the UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom confirmed that "The European Telecoms Package has to be transposed into UK law by the end of May. Under it, contract lengths must not exceed 24 months and consumers should have the option to subscribe to a 12 month contract."

See Press Release
Source: Cellular-News

The chairman of the Philippines’ Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), Ivan John E Uy, has said that the government is considering options to implement a compulsory registration scheme for mobile SIM cards to address ‘security concerns’ in the country. The official points to similar schemes in place in a number of other countries, but notes that it would be a costly exercise. Uy, who is reputed to be an expert on cyber crime, is quoted as saying that the non-registration of SIM cards is causing a headache to many people. ‘It’s allegedly used by criminal elements in their illegal activities,’ Uy said. The regulator, the National Telecommunications Commission, originally proposed SIM registration back in 2000, when the country only had two million cellular phone subscribers.

See Press Release 
Source: Telegeography

Responding to pressure from Indonesia's government, Research In Motion has decided to filter pornographic internet content for BlackBerry users in that country. RIM “is fully committed to working with Indonesia's carriers to put in place a prompt, compliant filtering solution for BlackBerry subscribers in Indonesia as soon as possible,” the Waterloo, Ontario-based company said in a Jan. 10 statement.

This marks the first time that RIM has applied internet filtering in any country, and the move came after Indonesian Information Minister Tifatul Sembiring threatened to shut down the BlackBerry browsing service. It is estimated that RIM has approximately two million users in Indonesia, and analysts report that the market represents one of the fastest growing for the BlackBerry.

See Press Release
Source: Cellular News

National regulator Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) says new telecoms operators wishing to set up shop in the country will not be able to offer 3G mobile services, as it lacks spectrum bandwidth as all available frequencies are currently occupied by Nepal Telecom (Nepal Doorsanchar Company Limited, or NT) and Spice Nepal Private Ltd (Ncell). Speaking at the latest meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), NTA chairman Bhesraj Kandel confirmed that the only way for operators to get 3G spectrum would be if the existing spectrum was reallocated.

See Press Release
Source: Telegeography

Mobile phone service providers in the country have settled on 60 cents as the new rate they will be charging each other to terminate short messages from Tuesday next week. The move to reduce the rate from Sh2 per short message service follows a directive by the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) director-general, Mr Charles Njoroge. He had said last year that he considered the current wholesale termination rate negotiated by the operators extremely high. According to the CCK, termination rates are expected to fall to 5 cents by 2013

See Press Release
Source: All Africa

Survey finds faster broadband needed in schools and libraries The Federal Communications Commission today released a report on the state of broadband connectivity at schools and libraries receiving funds from the federal E-rate program, which provides support to help connect schools and libraries to the Internet. The report is based on data from a survey conducted in 2010 that examined the success and challenges related to broadband use faced by schools and libraries. This survey will help the Commission make data-driven policy decisions for the E-rate program by providing information on the educational and technological needs of schools and libraries.

See Press Release
Source: Federal Communications Commission - FCC

Indian 3G network operators, Reliance Communications and Tata Teleservices are appealing against an order from the Department of Telecoms (DoT) to suspend their video calling services. The two networks argue that the order - related to state security - is discriminatory as the two state-owned networks, MTNL and BSNL are still permitted to provide video calls. The DoT order requires that the private operators suspend the service until they are able to provide live monitoring of the video calls. Bharti Airtel is also reported to have received the same order blocking it from launching video services in the future.

See Press Release
Source: Cellular-news

Operator expects size of fixed broadband market to triple in the next three years. Brazilian telecommunications company Tele Norte Leste Participacoes S/A, seeing limited growth in the mobile business, is betting heavily on its wireline network to deliver faster-growing fixed-broadband and pay-television service. Tele Norte Leste, also known as Oi, will introduce an Internet-based TV service within the next six months, according to Chief Financial Officer Alex Zornig. He also expects the fixed-broadband business to triple over the next three years. "The name of the game in Brazil is broadband and cable TV," Zornig said in an interview Tuesday.

See Press Release
Source: Total Telecom

The Netherlands’ largest telecoms group KPN Telecom (also known as Royal KPN) has informed its customers that from 2011 its call rates for fixed line services will be changing. Under the review of pricing, the telco’s fixed line subscription services will be charged at the same rate for calls made to either a fixed or mobile number, while the cost of international calls will rise. Prices for the incumbent’s combined internet and telephony subscription package ‘Internet Plus Call’ will be adjusted from 15 January 2011, cutting the cost of a call to a mobile number, although fixed-to-fixed calls will more than double in terms of their cost per minute. As it stands, it costs EUR0.04 per minute to call another landline

See Press Release
Source: Telegeography

The Swiss telecoms company hopes new products will help it increase subscribers for SwisscomTV, its Internet Protocol TV product, and prevent customers defecting to other players when they launch in Switzerland probably next year. "You cannot stand still in this industry, too many things happen, and we don't want to be left behind," Britta Reinhardt, Swisscom's head of business innovation told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview at the company's innovation day in Berne, where it exhibits new technologies and products.

See Press Release
Source: Total Telecom

The President of Senegal Abdoulaye Wade has rescinded a government Decree passed in May this year that proposed a higher tax levy on incoming international calls to the country. The decision to veto plans to raise call taxes should hopefully bring the curtain down on a seven-month dispute between the national regulator, Agence de Regulation des Telecoms et Postes (ARTP), and France Telecom-controlled national operator Sonatel. Local newspaper Le Soleil reports the regulatory agency’s director general, Ndongo Diaw, as saying that the tax increases – which were due to enter into effect from August – would have raised CFA5 billion (USD10.4 million) a month for the authorities. However, unions objected to an August decision to monitor incoming calls passed through the PTO, claiming it would hurt Sonatel’s business and put jobs at risk. In September the monitoring, designed to allow the state to calculate the nature of the taxes it could collect, was temporarily suspended. Wade has now withdrawn the decree on monitoring incoming international calls altogether.

See Press Release
Source: Telegeography

Jamaica's government has approved plans to mandate SIM card registration by the country's three mobile network operators. The Minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunications and Special Projects, Daryl Vaz, who made the announcement at a press conference said the legislation is regarded by the local security forces as a tool to assist law enforcement in investigating serious crimes.

"Security intelligence supports the fact that criminal networks exploit the anonymity accorded by pre-paid mobile telephones to execute their nefarious dealings," he said. The Cabinet has approved drafting instructions to prepare for amendments to the Telecommunications Act, 2000 to require SIM card registration.

See Press Release
Source: Cellular-news

On 8 September 2010 the Polish Sejm passed some amendments to the Polish Telecommunications Act to  address significant market position and focus on the conditions of their telecommunications activity. The changes aim to improve the competition on the market as well as aid the implementation of new telecommunications infrastructure. Under the new act, telecoms with a significant market position will be authorised to propose the conditions of their telecommunications activity to the President of the Office of Electronic Communication ("UKE") and negotiate these conditions with UKE. During the procedure, UKE will consider whether the proposition will have a positive impact on the competition on the market and whether it improves the quality of services for end users.

See Article
Source: Mondaq IT & Telecoms

Ofcom has  published an invitation to comment on the Public Interest Test it will conduct in relation to News Corporation’s intention to acquire the shares in British Sky Broadcasting Plc it does not already own.

This document outlines the considerations Ofcom will make as part of its initial investigation and now invites comments from interested parties.

In considering the public interest, Ofcom will have particular regard to the significance attached by Parliament to sufficient media plurality. And in undertaking an initial investigation of this Public Interest Test Ofcom will specifically consider:

• Content types
• Audiences
• Media platforms
• Control of media enterprises
• Future developments in the media landscape

Ofcom is also seeking views about the potential future impact of the proposed acquisition on the sufficient plurality of persons with control of the media enterprise and on potential remedies or mitigations to any public interest concerns identified by interested parties.

See Press release

Source: OFCOM

The UK's Financial Services Authority has adopted rules that require financial organisations to record and store all "relevant communications" for a period of at least six months. The move has been opposed by the banks who claim that it will cost around US$16,000 per handset to implement the rules. Banks and other regulated financial institutions are also required to make reasonable steps to ensure that employees do not make business related calls on personal, unmonitored phones.

See Press Release
Source: Cellular-news

China is to start testing Mobile Number Portability (MNP) in two cities later this month, local media has reported, citing a document released by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The trials of the number portability service will take place in the cities of Tianjin and Hainan. The duration of the trials, or any subsequent expansion is not currently known. The trials are complicated by some local restrictions. In Hainan, while China Mobile 3G subscribers can switch to the other two mobile networks, their subscribers cannot switch over to China Mobile. In Tianjin, subscribers can switch between all three networks but not to C

See Press Release
Source: Cellular-News

The National Communications Authority (NCA) has been called upon to investigate a number of so-called ‘text and win’ promotions being run by Ghanaian telecoms operators amid concerns they may contravene the country’s gaming laws. Ghana Business News says the probe is being forced by Minister of Communications Haruna Iddrisu who has asked the NCA to identify if telecom operators’ practices are consistent with existing rules and regulations. If not, those found to be in breach will be dealt with accordingly. It is understood that MTN and Tigo, in particular, have run campaigns that require customers to text at premium rates in order to stand a chance of winning. However, out of the millions of subscribers who participated in these so-called ‘customer loyalty rewards promotions’ only a few have actually won any prizes.

See Press Release
Source: Telegeography

In issuing the variation determination, which serves to sunset all previous determinations on charges relating to number portability, the Telecommunications Authority would like to reiterate in this Statement that as one of the fundamental principles underlining the UCL Regime, fixed and mobile carriers as holders of the UCL are obliged under their licences to facilitate number portability at their own expenses.

See attached document
Source: OFTA

The Mozambican government has withdrawn its proposal for a new tax on users of mobile phones. On Tuesday, the Minister of Transport and Communications, Paulo Zucula, told reporters that it was not the clients of the mobile phone companies, but the operators themselves, the publicly-owned M-Cel and the local subsidiary of the South African company Vodacom, who were expected to contribute to the new Transport and Communications Development Fund. He thus contradicted a clause in a government decree of 15 September which stated that every client of M-Cel and Vodacom who has a contract with the companies would pay 30 meticais (83 US cents) a month to the fund, while subscribers who use the pre-paid cards would pay five meticais a month. The sums raised by such a tax are far from negligible - they could amount to around 35 million meticais a month.

See Press Release
Source: BalancingAct-Africa

Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) unveiled on Wednesday a new service as part of plans to upgrade its mobile network, amid calls by Italy's telecom regulator for more investment and rival plans to boost mobile broadband coverage. Telecom Italia, Italy's largest telecom operator, said its new service would allow users in Milan and Rome to enjoy speeds of up to 21 Megabits per second over a wireless network, up from a maximum of 14.4 Mbit/second now. The service, to be rolled out nationwide gradually, is part of the company's plans to develop its mobile network to keep up with the growing amount of traffic generated by mobile phones, USB modems, smartphones and tablet computers, it said. "In Italy, there is little use of broadband at home and a lot on the go," Telecom Italia CEO Franco Bernabe told a news conference, noting that 30 percent of Italian users of the social networking site Facebook do so via the mobile network.

See Press Release
Source: Reuters

Europeans are becoming increasingly "digital" according to a European Commission Eurobarometer survey which questioned 27,000 households throughout the EU on their use of internet, telephones and TV. More Europeans are subscribing to broadband internet and digital television in fixed-cost bundled 'packages'. Increased broadband take-up means even more Europeans are going online with 35% now using social networking websites. However, they have concerns about cost, quality of service and security, as well as online freedom. One fifth of fixed and mobile internet users reveal that they have experienced problems with blocked content and applications. The Commission's May 2010 Digital Agenda for Europe not only sets ambitious targets to bring broadband internet to all of Europe's citizens but also outlines measures to boost competition, trust and security.

See Press Release
Source: Europa

Kampala — UGANDA's telecom industry is one of the most vibrant in Africa. The call rates have drastically dropped. Patrick Mwesigwa, the Uganda Communications Commission industry regulator's boss stated that the interconnection rate that was announced in June 2010 is a default or reference rate that the operators refer to when negotiations fail between two parties. Today, a number of operators have revised their interconnection rates from a high rate of sh151 to now sh131 in line with what we recommended as the default rate proposed by UCC. We will make efforts to review the rates even downwards. But right now, nobody is complaining about the sh131.

See Press Release
Source: All Africa

India's Home Ministry has issued instructions to the mobile network operators instructing them to store all text messages for six months. The networks typically store text messages for just a few days, and the move is expected to sharply increase costs as the networks invest in data centres to archive the old messages. Indians send between 130 and 150 billion SMSes, or text messages, a month. Currently, the operators are only required to archive text messages for specific phone numbers under instruction from the security agencies. The operators have warned that forcing them to archive all text messages from all senders will raise costs, and these will have to be passed onto the consumer. There are also concerns that the move could be expanded to include voice calls.

See Press Release
Source: Cellular news

The National Communication Authority (NCA) has expressed worry about the inadequate registration centres by telecom operators to register SIM cards in the rural areas. Many rural people in the Upper West and Northern Regions, who possessed mobile phones, had the trouble of traveling long distances either to the district capitals or regional capitals at a cost to have their phones registered. Some members in the rural communities were still not also aware of the directive by the NCA to register their phones before June 30, 2011.

See Press Release
Source: Balancing Act

The federal government’s use of handheld communications devices and its practices for disposing of unneeded paper documents and surplus computers could expose the personal information of Canadians to unauthorized disclosure, Privacy Commissioner of Canada Jennifer Stoddart has warned.The findings, stemming from two separate privacy audits conducted by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC), were highlighted in the organization’s 2009-2010 annual report on the Privacy Act, tabled in Parliament today. The Act applies to federal departments, agencies and Crown corporations.

See press release
Source: OPCC Canada

The compulsory registration of SIM cards in Mozambique must be funded by Mozambique's two mobile operators, mCel and Vodacom Mozambique, regulatory body the Instituto Nacional das Comunicacoes (INCM) has declared. In a local media briefing, Francisco Chate, director of posts and telecommunications at the INCM insisted that its recently announced SIM card registration scheme must be free of charge to subscribers, with Chate warning the two cellcos that they must not pass on any associated costs to their respective subscribers.

See Press Release
Source: Telegeography

India’s Supreme Court issued a notice to the telecommunication minister asking him to respond to claims that the issuing mobile telephony concessions in 2008 cost the government some INR700 billion (USD15.1 billion). The minister argued that he acted in the public interest, helping to bring down the cost of mobile services. The Supreme Court is hearing a public interest litigation which has called for the judicial body to monitor an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) related to the award of 2G spectrum licences in 2008.

See article
Source: TeleGeography

Ofcom today published research which shows that nearly half (45%) of consumers with broadband or a landline think that switching communications provider is too much hassle. Ofcom is considering ways to make the switching processes quicker and easier across communications services, initially focusing on broadband and landlines, to improve consumers’ experience and to make competition more effective. Ofcom committed to review switching processes in its latest Annual Plan. In addition, a number of broadband and landline providers, as well as consumer groups, have expressed the view that Ofcom should consider these issues.

See Press Release
Source: OFCOM

Arcep has just published on its website a press conference on 3G, 4G frequencies, consumers and net neutrality. You can listen to the speech and the question period.

See Press release
Source: ARCEP

CRTC encourages competition and investment in the provision of Internet services The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today determined, on the basis of the evidence submitted at a recent public hearing, that large telephone companies must make their existing Internet access services available to alternate Internet service providers (ISPs) at speeds that match those offered to their own retail customers. This requirement will ensure that alternate ISPs can continue to give Canadians more choice by offering competing and innovative Internet services.

See decision (Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2010-632)
Source: CRTC

Israel’s Ministry of Justice has approved a proposal from the Ministry of Communications to limit charges levied against customers that seek to terminate their mobile voice subscriptions early. The proposal also stipulates that mobile operators may not request immediate repayment of any outstanding amounts. Reaction to the development from the country’s cellcos has been mixed but the Ministry of Communications said it was introducing the proposal following numerous complaints from subscribers.The new law will come into effect in January 2011.

See article
Source: Telegeography

The following mobile network operators (MNOs) have published performance pledges for their mobile broadband services. Consumers may access the websites of these MNOs to obtain the information via the following links: CSL Limited Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT) Limited Hutchison Telephone Company Limited SmarTone Mobile Communications Limited The performance pledges do not represent service “guarantees” of the MNOs. They are intended to give consumers an indication of the normal service quality level of the MNOs concerned. Actual performance statistics of the MNOs against the pledges will be published by the MNOs at their respective websites within one month after the end of each quarter. The first batch of performance statistics shall be available before January 2011.

See Press Release 
Source: OFTA - Hong Kong Office of the Telecommunications Authority

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today directed the large telephone companies to rebate $310.8 million to their urban home telephone customers. At the same time, the CRTC has approved a plan for the deployment of broadband Internet service to 287 rural and remote communities.

See Press Release
Source: CRTC

The Commerce Commission has today released its draft report into whether the services that Telecom provides to other telecommunications companies to be resold should remain subject to the Telecommunications Act 2001. Retail services such as residential lines and broadband services are offered by Telecom to wholesale customers to resell at a discount to the retail price – these are known as resale services, and are currently provided commercially by Telecom’s wholesale division. Resale services are subject to the Act so that wholesale customers, in the event that they are unable to agree commercial terms with Telecom, have the ability to ask the Commission to determine the terms and conditions (including price) for supply of these services by Telecom. The Commission’s preliminary view is that wholesale broadband services, business data services and bundled resale services should no longer be subject to the Act given their low take up and the availability of alternative services.

See Press Release 
Source: New Zealand Commerce Commission

Chile's telecoms regulator Subtel will auction off radio spectrum for LTE services in December this year and plans to award the licenses around the middle of next year, Subtel's head Jorge Atton told BNAmericas. "The 2.6 GHz band is available. We are clearing the spectrum and we've decided to auction it. We want coverage and we want broadband capacity to grow and for that we have to provide spectrum," he said.

See Press Release
Source: Cellular-news

­The USA's telecoms regulator, the FCC has proposed removing regulatory barriers to the use of microwave spectrum for wireless backhaul. The proposal was initially recommended in the government's National Broadband Plan. Microwave communications has become, in a growing number of situations, a viable option for backhaul of mobile broadband traffic.

Backhaul costs currently constitute a significant portion of a mobile wireless operator's network operating expense, and the demand for backhaul capacity is increasing. As broadband providers accelerate deployment of next-generation networks, they will require backhaul that can carry what is expected to be significant growth in mobile data traffic.

See Press Release
Source: Cellular News

The U.S. copyright office issued exemptions to a copyright law, giving legal protection for people who unlock their smartphones like Apple Inc's iPhone. Changing operators' fixed phone settings -- a concept known as 'jailbreaking' -- has become widely popular around the world since the 2007 introduction of Apple's iPhone. The move by the copyright office to give exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), will undermine handset makers like Apple's ability to control the installation of software programs on their phones. The copyright office is part of the Library of Congress.

The Library of Congress, which can define exceptions to existing copyright laws, said in a statement that a user can circumvent the phone's functionality to use any legally obtained software. The ruling also allows users to change the wireless service provider. Currently, AT&T Inc is the sole wireless service provider for Apple in the U.S.

See Press Release
Source: Reuters

Las licitaciones 20 y 21, de las bandas 1.7 y 1.9 megahertz, respectivamente, continúan ya que no existe impedimento legal alguno para la entrega de las concesiones a los ganadores de dichos procesos, conducidos por la Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones (Cofetel). Por medio de estas licitaciones la Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) y la Cofetel impulsan la oferta de servicios de telecomunicaciones inalámbricas en el país en beneficio de todos los usuarios.
Para fortalecer el sano desarrollo de esta industria, las licitaciones 20 y 21 se han conducido en todo momento con equidad y transparencia. Ello, permitirá que cada vez más mexicanos tengan acceso a más y mejores servicios de telecomunicaciones a costos más competitivos. A lo largo de los procesos, varias empresas han interpuesto más de 60 medios de impugnación en contra de las licitaciones. Sin embargo, ninguno de éstos ha derivado en detenerlas o suspenderlas.

See Press Release
Source: Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transportes

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has withdrawn its offer for telcos to apply for radio frequency spectrum licences in the 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz bands. In May the regulator released a set of guidelines regarding how it intends to grant spectrum licences in cases where there are competing applications, or when insufficient spectrum is available to accommodate demand. The deadline was initially set for 30 June, and later extended to 30 July.

Although no applications have actually been lodged to date, ICASA spokesperson Macia Socikwa explained that the regulator had been ‘inundated with correspondence from stakeholders seeking clarity on the finer details of the licensing processes’ since the publication of the final High Demand Spectrum Licence Regulations. Although the licences will be withdrawn and revised to take into account certain technological considerations, the existing regulations will be implemented as is.

See Press Release 
Source: Balancingact-africa

Ireland is launching a consultation process to determine appropriate price control of  Wholesale Broadband Access in order to prevent abusive conduct from dominant players.

See Press Release
Source: ComReg

EU regulators are taking a hard look at allegations of anti-competitive behaviour in Internet search services amid concerns that dominant players may be abusing their position, Europe's antitrust chief said on Wednesday EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia was making his first comments since three online firms complained to the European Commission about Google, the world's leading search engine, in February. Google said in February that British price comparison site Foundem and French legal search engine ejustice.fr had alleged that its search algorithm demoted their sites in Web search results because they were rivals of Google. It said Microsoft-owned service Ciao from Bing had complained about Google's standard terms and conditions. Google denied it had done anything wrong.

See Press Release
Source: Information policy

Last week U.S. President Obama announced investment in 66 new broadband projects, many of which fill in fiber “middle mile” gaps in rural communities. The awarded projects are believed to “create approximately 5,000 jobs, help spur economic development in some of the nation’s hardest-hit communities, helping create jobs for years to come. In total, tens of millions of Americans and over 685,000 businesses, 900 healthcare facilities and 2,400 schools in all 50 states stand to benefit from the awards.” While the vast majority of projects is related to building and improving middle mile and FttH infrastructures, some of the projects aim to expand computer center capacity for public use in libraries, community colleges and other public venues.

See Press Release
Source: DSL reports, Whitehouse.gov

Italy's Antitrust Authority said it was opening a probe into allegations Telecom Italia SpA (TI) was abusing its dominant position in the nation's telecommunications market. The charges were brought by rivals Fastweb SpA (FWB.MI) and Wind SpA.

See Press Release

Source: Telecom Italia

A consultation on key questions arising from the issue of net neutrality has been launched by the European Commission. It covers such issues as whether internet providers should be allowed to adopt certain traffic management practices, prioritising one kind of internet traffic over another, whether such traffic management practices may create problems and have unfair effects for users, whether the level of competition between different internet service providers and the transparency requirements of the new telecom framework may be sufficient to avoid potential problems by allowing consumers' choice and whether the EU needs to act further to ensure fairness in the internet market, or whether industry should take the lead. European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, announced in April 2010 her intention to launch this consultation in order to take forward Europe's net neutrality debate. The consultation will feed into a Commission report on net neutrality, which should be presented by the end of this year. All interested parties – service and content providers, consumers, businesses and researchers – are invited to respond to the consultation by 30 September 2010. An open and neutral internet underpins many of the targets set out in the Digital Agenda for Europe.

See Press Release
Source: Europa

En cumplimiento de la Resolución del Poder Ejecutivo de fecha 31/05/2010 la Unidad Reguladora de Servicios de Comunicaciones (URSEC) informa que el 29 de agosto de 2010 a las 2:00 A.M. entrarán en vigencia los cambios en la numeración y marcación telefónica introducidos por el Plan Nacional de Numeración aprobado por esta Unidad.
Ver tambien: Comunicado de UIT sobre cambios del PNN en Uruguay

See Press Release
Source: Unidad Reguladora de Servicios de Comunicaciones URSEC

Nigeria's tele coms regulator, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has confirmed that the delayed Mobile Number Portability will be introduced in the second-half of this year, confirming earlier statements about the issue. Mr. Stephen Bello, the acting vice-chairman of the Commission, told IT News Africa that it had become necessary to introduce MNP because of the high telecom subscriber base in the country. Mr. Earnest Ndukwe, former CEO of NCC, had set May 2009 as the date for the announcement of a timetable for MNP takeoff. On the mode of implementation, he said that the NCC would engage the services of an independent company to oversee the process. He also revealed that the local operators were on board and ready.

See Press Release
Source: cellular-news

Africa’s regulators are increasingly moving to assert their role as the protector of consumer interests in the ICT space. This week the Commissioner responsible for Consumer Affairs told a meeting held by the Liberian Consumers Action Network that it had established a consumer help desk. But if the landscape for ICT consumers is getting more complicated then the responsibilities of companies within the sector is also becoming more demanding.

See Press Release
Source: BalancingAct-Africa

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today released a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) as part of the 2010 quadrennial review of its media ownership rules. The NOI initiates a fresh look at the current rules to determine whether they promote the Commission’s goals of competition, localism, and diversity.
“We live in an ever-changing media world, but the core public interest goals are the same,” said Chairman Genachowski. “The Commission is committed to fostering a strong and independent broadcast media that provides Americans with multiple and diverse sources of news, public affairs, and entertainment programming. The input we seek in this proceeding will help ensure that our media ownership rules continue to protect consumer interests in today’s marketplace.”

See Press Release
Source: USA - FCC

The European Commission has decided to ask the EU Court of Justice to fine Italy for failing to respect a previous Court judgement for not providing full caller location information for emergency services. Member States have an obligation to ensure that when a person dials Europe's single emergency number (112) from a mobile phone, details of his or her location are sent to the emergency services. The Commission's decision to refer Italy back to the Court follows two previous warnings from the Commission.

See Press Release
Source: cellular-news

FICORA's investigations show that the local loop charges Elisa Oyj charges from other telecom operators are not cost-oriented as required by the Communications Market Act, but the prices are unreasonably high. The authority has scrutinized the lawfulness of the pricing of Elisa's monthly fees and connection charges for local loops on behalf of TeliaSonera Oyj's request for action.

In today's decision, FICORA has set maximum prices to be charged by Elisa for leasing out a part of a local loop. Within three months, Elisa must reduce its pricing to a level based on actual costs and deliver new price tariffs and cost calculations to FICORA. According to FICORA's calculations, the unreasonability of pricing is significant. For example, the monthly price of a local loop must be reduced by more than 20 per cent.

See press release
Source: FICORA

The Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) says that it is proposing the continuation of rules to ensure that mobile operators accept voice calls from other operators and maintain cost-orientated prices. Market stakeholders are now being consulted about this proposal and have one month to submit their views. The PTS says that it wants to prevent operators charging excessive prices for services that they sell to each other and that are required for interconnection to function.

There have been similar rules for major mobile operators since 2004, but PTS now proposes that additional operators should be covered by these rules. The operators that PTS proposes should continue to have obligations in the market include Hi3G, Tele 2, Telenor and TeliaSonera. New operators that did not previously have obligations have been added: AINMT (Icenet), Lycamobile, Spring Mobil, TDC and Ventelo.

See Press Release
Source: Cellular News

Broadband.co.uk has  been awarded Ofcom accreditation for its price comparison calculator. The Ofcom price accreditation scheme logo is awarded to price comparison sites that have had their calculators put through a rigorous independent audit.  The audit checks whether the information provided to consumers is accessible, accurate, transparent, comprehensive and up to date.

The full news release can be found here

Source: OFCOM

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has announced that it will conduct a formal inquiry into customer service and complaints handling in the telecommunications industry following what it says is an on-going high volume of complaints to the industry ombudsman.
Announcing the inquiry, ACMA Chairman Chris Chapman said, "Many would share the ACMA's concern about whether the current arrangements which underpin telecommunications consumer protection are really effective in dealing with the issues that concern consumers most."

See Press Release
Source: Cellular News

The Australian Communications and Media Authority will conduct a formal inquiry into customer service and complaints handling in the telecommunications industry following the on-going high volume of complaints to the industry ombudsman. Announcing the inquiry today, ACMA Chairman Chris Chapman said, ‘Many would share the ACMA’s concern about whether the current arrangements which underpin telecommunications consumer protection are really effective in dealing with the issues that concern consumers most. ‘The trend-line growth and sheer quantum of complaints about complaint handling and customer service —up to 900 every working day—reflects poorly on the entire industry. Whether this is evidence of a failing regulatory system or just a perception of that failure, I now believe this issue has to be confronted directly and urgently otherwise we will be talking about these same issues for years to come.

See Press Release
Source: ACMA

The European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association (ETNO) welcomes the importance given to high-speed broadband networks and services in the EU 2020 Strategy as key drivers of growth, innovation and welfare. Ensuring the best conditions for their deployment and take up will therefore be one of the key priorities for ETNO during the years to come.

See Press Release
Source: ETNO

For the first time in Europe, 'talking' cars will be out in normal traffic on ordinary roads on 24th March, thanks to European Commission-funded research. These cars will communicate with each other and with road infrastructure (traffic signs, lights, management centres) whilst being driven in everyday traffic around Amsterdam Airport. The information exchanged with other cars and infrastructure gives drivers additional information, such as hidden hazards, beyond what they can see and hear. This road test aims to demonstrate that cooperative mobility, which is based on vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, is working and has the potential to make car trips safer and more energy efficient.

See also: http://www.cooperativemobilityshowcase.eu
Source: Europa - Information Society
See Press Release

The European Commission has adopted new rules to make it easier for passengers and crew on ships in the EU's territorial waters to make mobile phone calls or send and receive text messages when they are out of range of land-based mobile phone networks. The new rules harmonise the technical and legal conditions for on-board communication services and pave the way for innovative applications, such as remote monitoring of containers stored on-board. This brings new legal certainty and economic opportunities, for service providers who want to offer seamless maritime mobile connectivity across borders.

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Source: Europa - Information Society

In response to press enquiries on an article on mobile broadband service survey published by the Consumer Council in its CHOICE magazine today (15 March 2010), the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) indicated that in view of the increasing popularity of mobile broadband service, OFTA has taken a number of initiatives recently with a view to increasing the level of customer satisfaction in using innovative telecommunications services and to providing a fair regulatory environment conducive to business investment.

See Press Release

Source: OFTA

The Federal Communications Commission launched new digital tools -- the Consumer Broadband Test and the Broadband Dead Zone Report -- that allow consumers to test their broadband service and report areas where broadband is not available.
“Transparency empowers consumers, promotes innovation and investment, and encourages competition,” said Chairman Julius Genachowski. “The FCC’s new digital tools will arm users with real-time information about their broadband connection and the agency with useful data about service across the country. By informing consumers about their broadband service quality, these tools help eliminate confusion and make the market work more effectively.” The fixed version is available at www.broadband.gov

See Press Release  
Source: Federal Communications Commission - FCC  

New rules to come into effect on 1 July 2010 will give consumers the choice of barring all premium SMS from their mobile phones and thus preventing unwanted premium SMS charges. ‘If you don’t want these services, you can simply contact your phone company and ask for them to be turned off,’ said ACMA Chairman, Chris Chapman.

‘This will be a great option for parents who want to make sure their kids don’t sign up for something without understanding the charges. And people trying to manage their phone budget can stop premium charges by barring these services from their phone. ‘This is the latest in a package of measures we have put in place so mobile users can feel confident they will only receive and pay for services they actually want.’

See Press Release
Source: ACMA - Australia Government

El presidente del Consejo Directivo del Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones (INDOTEL), negó categóricamente que en esa entidad se tenga la intención de dañar la imagen o la buena reputación de la Compañía Dominicana de Teléfonos, C. Por A. (CODETEL/CLARO).
El doctor José Rafael Vargas reiteró a la prensa que, en su sesión del 2 de marzo, el Consejo Directivo del órgano regulador de las telecomunicaciones ordenó solicitar a CODETEL/CLARO las informaciones correspondientes a los planes que aplicará a sus usuarios, para fines de compensación por las averías ocurridas en el servicio telefónico móvil GSM provisto por esa concesionaria, los días 15, 16 y 26 de febrero y 1 de marzo de 2010.

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Source: Santo Domingo - Consejo Directivo del Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones (INDOTEL)

La Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes acelera las medidas para promover una política de competencia, convergencia y cobertura en el sector telecomunicaciones. Así, trabaja simultáneamente en distintos frentes para asegurar la rectoría del Estado sobre el espectro radioeléctrico garantizando el uso eficiente del mismo, otorgar seguridad jurídica a los operadores y abatir el rezago existente en materia de concesiones y prórrogas.
- Acelera las medidas para promover una política de competencia, convergencia y cobertura en el sector telecomunicaciones
- Niega la prórroga de dos concesiones de TV restringida en los canales 46 y 52 en la ciudad de México
- Determina sancionar a TV Azteca y Televisora del Valle de México por la transmisión de un servicio de telecomunicaciones que no cuenta con concesión
- Niega la prórroga de nueve concesiones en la banda de 2.5 a 2.7 GHz.

See Press Release
Source: Mexico - Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes  

Kenya's government has hinted that it might lower the cost of 3G licenses, as has been called for by the mobile networks. Currently, only Safaricom holds a 3G license after paying Sh1.9 billion (US$25 million) in 2007. Information Permanent Secretary Dr Bitange Ndemo told Capital FM, "We will do everything possible to ensure that we have created the necessary competitive environment, even if it means that we revise the cost to reasonable levels,". He added that the decision should be made in the next three weeks.

See Press Release
Source: cellular-news

Heated discussions have been aroused by the recent widespread media coverage of the “Fair Usage Policies” (hereinafter referred to as “Policies”) on the unlimited usage of mobile broadband services implemented by mobile network operators.

See Press Release
Source: OFTA Office of the Telecommunications Authority

 The New and Emerging Technologies 911 Improvement Act of 2008 (NET 911 Act) became law on July 23, 2008, requiring Internet Protocol (IP) enabled voice service providers to provide 911 and enhanced 911 (E911) services, and requiring various regulatory undertakings by the Federal Communications Commission.

See Press Release 
Source: FCC Federal Communications Commission

Mintic y CRC dan a conocer decisiones regulatorias de gran impacto para los usuarios El Ministerio de Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones y la Comisión de Regulación de Comunicaciones a través del Ministro (E) de TIC, Daniel Medina Velandia, y del Director ejecutivo de la CRC, Cristhian Lizcano Ortiz, dan a conocer decisiones regulatorias adoptadas por el organismo regulador, referentes a: 1.Aumento de velocidad de acceso a Internet considerada como de Banda Ancha 2.Implementación de Portabilidad Numérica de Telefonía Móvil en Colombia y 3.Reducción de Cargos de Interconexión a Redes Móviles

See Press Release

Source: Comisión de Regulación de Comunicaciones

 The Australian Communications and Media Authority has accepted an enforceable undertaking offered by Commonwealth Securities Limited (CommSec), following complaints that commercial electronic messages continued to be sent to customers after consent had been withdrawn.

 The ACMA commenced an investigation following complaints from consumers alleging that CommSec continued to send them commercial messages, despite the fact that they had previously withdrawn their consent. The ACMA also identified that email campaigns conducted by CommSec in January, February and March 2009, did not provide an option to unsubscribe.

See Press Release 

Source: ACMA  Australian Communications and Media Authority

The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) issued a new Code of Practice to provide the industry with guidelines on the drawing up of service contracts.

The Code will be implemented on voluntary basis and takes effect immediately, replacing two similar codes which the Telecommunications Authority (the TA) issued in 2004. The TA issued a voluntary Code of Practice for the Service Contracts for the Provision of Public Mobile Radiotelephone Services in 2001 and the code was subsequently revised in 2004. The TA also issued the Code of Practice for the Service Contracts for the Provision of Public Telecommunications Service in 2004. These two codes provided that, among other things, language should be plain and words legible and salient points of a contract (such as the compensation clauses and terms for any early termination) should be presented in a prominent place or highlighted in the contract.

See Press Release

Source: Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA)

Mr. Bernard Forson Jnr, the Director General of the National Communication Authority (NCA) in Ghana, has given subscribers of the country’s various mobile networks have up to 1 July 2011 to register their SIM cards or risk having their line blocked or disconnected. Mr. Emmanuel Owusu Adansi, NCAs Director of Special Projects said ‘all customers should endeavour to register their chips to get their lines activated before 1 July’, adding that registration would improve security for users and also help in the fight against mobile phone-related crime.

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Source: TeleGeography

OFTA has published a decision following an investigation into Alleged Misleading or Deceptive Newspaper Advertisements by SmarTone. The Telecommunications Authority (the “Authority”) received an industry complaint alleging that certain newspaper advertisements of SmarTone promoting its mobile service packages were in contravention of section 7M of the Telecommunications Ordinance1 (the “Ordinance”). The Authority’s conclusion is  that this was a substantive breach of section 7M, and having regard to the maximum applicable penalty of $1,000,000, the appropriate starting point for determining the level of financial penalty is $220,000.  While the breach is serious, in mitigation it is noted that the Authority has not received any section 7M related consumer complaints concerning the Advertisements. Further, SmarTone has been cooperative with OFTA throughout the investigation. The Authority has not been able to establish that there are any aggravating factors which offset the mitigating factors which have been taken into account. Accordingly, the Authority is of the opinion that in this case of a third financial penalty for SmarTone, the penalty which is proportionate and reasonable in relation to the conduct concerned is $180,000.

See Press Release and PDF document (attached)
Source : OFTA

T110_08.pdf (1,69 MB)

The Australian Communications and Media Authority is well advanced in its review of the regulation of mobile phone jammers in Australia. As part of that review, the ACMA is also seeking views on a proposal to trial mobile phone jammers at the Lithgow Correctional Centre in NSW.

’It is often not appreciated, but there are important issues involved in weighing up the benefits and disadvantages of allowing jamming of mobile telephone networks,’ said Chris Chapman, Chairman of the ACMA. ‘There are obvious circumstances where there would be clear public benefit in inhibiting the use of mobile phones to prevent criminal and potentially life-threatening activities. At the same time, the use of jammers may have implications for the integrity of mobile networks, including the use of Triple Zero and associated safety-of-life issues.’ 

See Press Release

Source: ACMA Australian Government

Washington, D.C. -- Today, Federal Communications Commission Consumer Bureau Chief Joel Gurin and Wireless Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman sent letters to AT&T, Google, Sprint Nextel, TMobile, and Verizon Wireless to gather facts and data on the consumer experience with wireless early termination fees. This inquiry follows last week’s launch of the FCC’s Consumer Task Force, which was established to promote cross-agency collaboration on the Commission’s consumer agenda.

See Press Release 

Source: FCC Federal Communications Commission

Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações has adopted a draft decision on the obligation to control prices in the wholesale markets for voice call termination on individual mobile networks. According to the draft decision, which will only become final following the conclusion of a public consultation and once all comments received under this consultation have been reviewed, mobile termination rates will continue to move gradually downwards, over a period of time which will allow Portugal to comply with the European Commission Recommendation on termination rates while avoiding disruption.

See Press Release

Source: Portugal ANACOM

El Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones (Indotel), ordenó auditar la calidad de los servicios de telecomunicaciones que prestan las operadoras, con miras a garantizar a los usuarios el óptimo funcionamiento del sistema en el país. La información la ofreció hoy el secretario de Estado y presidente del Indotel, doctor José Rafael Vargas, quien anunció la realización en los próximos días, a través de una reconocida firma internacional radicada en la República Dominicana, un estudio sobre la calidad en los servicios de telecomunicaciones provistos por las diferentes prestadoras que operan en el sistema nacional.

“Con este análisis, el órgano regulador de las telecomunicaciones procura identificar los  principales inconvenientes que presentan los usuarios a la hora de hacer uso de los servicios de telecomunicaciones y en consecuencia propiciar los ajustes o correctivos de lugar que garanticen el óptimo funcionamiento de los mismos”, expresó el secretario de Estado y presidente del Indotel, doctor José Rafael Vargas.

Dijo que el estudio a realizarse abarca desde aspectos técnicos, calidad en la atención de servicio al cliente, satisfacción en la facturación de los servicios, entre otras consideraciones, todas a evaluarse por las dos (2) tecnologías desarrolladas en el  país, CDMA y GSM, y desagregado por las diferentes operadoras de servicios.

See Press Release

Source: Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones

Como una medida para impulsar la competitividad, promover las inversiones brindar certeza jurídica, y apoyar al sector telecomunicaciones, la Secretaría de Comunicaciones y Transportes (SCT) da por concluidos 22 títulos de concesión para operar sistemas de radiolocalización de personas (paggin) y dos títulos de transmisión de radio y TV restringidas, con ello, recupera espectro radioeléctrico para ser aprovechado con nuevas tecnologías.

La resolución se realizo luego de no presentarse en tiempo y forma las solicitudes de prorroga así como por comprobar tecnología obsoleta de estas técnicas de transmisión.

De esta manera, la SCT busca impulsar la competitividad del sector, y generar un ambiente favorable para la planeación de los negocios, así como favorecer a los consumidores con una más amplia variedad de servicios y proveedores.

Finalmente, la dependencia considera que los criterios indispensables para el desarrollo saludable del sector son: fomentar la competencia y evitar el acaparamiento del espectro; garantizar la explotación eficiente del espectro y el pago de una contraprestación por las concesiones; incrementar la cobertura de los servicios; Introducir nuevas tecnologías; y, permitir la continuidad de los servicios para el usuario.

 

See Press Release

Source: Secretaria de Comunicaciones y Transporte

The European Commission has sent a letter to the German telecoms regulator, Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA), calling on it to make the provision of fixed subscriber lines more competitive. Today the market is still dominated by the incumbent operator, Deutsche Telekom (DT). While Deutsche Telekom's offer means that other operators can sell-on to consumers the use of land lines that they have leased from the incumbent, Deutsche Telekom charges these operators the same price as it does its own consumers. This makes it harder for alternative operators to offer consumers a competitive deal. The Commission wants the German regulator to oblige DT to make its land lines available to other telecoms operators. It also asks BNetzA to supervise wholesale prices for alternative operators providing competing services using Deutsche Telekom's network.

 

See Press Release

Source: Europa

 

The European Commission has given its green light to the amended definition of the wholesale broadband access market (WBA) notified by the Austrian regulator RTR (Rundfunk und Telekom Regulierungs GmbH). On 5 October 2009, the Commission had expressed serious doubts about the market definition as originally notified by RTR on 3 September 2009. RTR has now provided sufficient evidence that mobile broadband connections are substitutes to fixed line broadband connections for Austrian residential customers. RTR has also modified its wholesale market definition and now excludes all bitstream access for residential customers from regulation. Nevertheless, the Commission invites RTR to closely monitor market developments and to change the market definition if its forecasts on the continued substitutability of fixed and mobile broadband products and next generation access network (NGA) roll-out prove to be incorrect.

See Press Release

Source: Europa

 

 “ The EU telecoms reform will bring more competition on Europe’s telecoms markets, better and cheaper fixed, mobile and internet services and faster internet connections for all Europeans. Thanks to the strong support of the European Parliament today, Europe has put citizens in the centre stage in telecoms regulation”, said Viviane Reding, the EU’s Telecoms Commissioner . ”It is good news for Europe’s consumers that the new powerful tool of functional separation will help national regulators to address persistent competition bottlenecks in telecoms markets, thereby enhancing consumer choice. I am also grateful that the European Parliament has supported the Commission in helping to bring about a more integrated single market in the telecoms field. The establishment of the new European Telecoms Body BEREC, the institutional set-up of which has been substantially designed by European Parliamentarians, is a very visible sign that we are serious when we say that Europe’s telecoms operators and consumers should no longer feel national borders in network access and the delivery of communication services. A true single market for Europe’s telecoms operators and consumers is now within reach. ”

On the 12 most important reforms of the new EU telecoms package , see MEMO/09/513

See Press Release
Source: Europe's Information Society

Telecommunications operators are divided over new proposals meant to promote fair competition and guard against abuse of market power. Of particular contention is a clause that calls for a 30-day notice to the Communication Commission of Kenya before any tariff changes, and another one touching on the definition of a dominant operator.

Safaricom raised the issue that the two clauses were specifically targeting the company and would undermine its ability to compete effectively, adding that they should be deleted. Safaricom's head of legal and regulatory affairs Nzioka Waita said the way the regulator defines a dominant operator targets Safaricom as a company.

See Press Release
Source: Balancing Act - Africa

The French telecoms regulator, ARCEP, sets out the terms and conditions for access to inhouse fibre wiring in France. The proposed access regulation is to be imposed simultaneously on all operators rolling out fibre lines into the homes of consumers, regardless of whether these operators – also referred to as in-building operators – have significant market power or not. ARCEP intends to oblige all in-building operators to provide access to its in-building fibre network to alternative operators. This way, French consumers will be able to choose between several competing providers of high speed internet connections.

See Details
Source: Europe's Information Society

Spanish operators have blocked some three million prepay SIM cards from making or receiving phone calls pending their owners registering their ownership details. Users of the unregistered SIMs will get an automatic message played when trying to make a phone call instructing them to visit a local retailer.

The operators were due to completely cut off the phones, but a last minute agreement by Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, gives the SIM card owners up to six months to register their ownership before the lines go dead - and losing any prepay credit they may contain.

See Press Release
Source: cellular-news

Bajo el marco de la Ley del Consumidor, la Subsecretaría de Telecomunicaciones y el Sernac requerirán a la operadora móvil, Claro, un proceso de descuentos que incluya, sin diferencias, a todos sus clientes afectados por el corte de servicio ocurrido entre el martes y miércoles de esta semana.

"No pueden haber clientes de primera y segunda categoría. Todos los usuarios tienen los mismos derechos, independiente de su modalidad de pago", sostuvo el Subsecretario de Telecomunicaciones, Pablo Bello.

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Fuente: Ministerio de Transporte y Telecomunicaciones - Subsecretaría de Telecomunicaciones

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously today to begin the process of crafting formal rules for "net neutrality," the principle that all content on the Internet should be equally accessible to all users, and that companies cannot discriminate or block one set of content in favor of another.

The Commission agreed at its monthly open meeting to publish a "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" that would solicit public comment on how best to create rules for ensuring net neutrality, while enabling Internet service providers and telecom networks to continue policing their systems for spam and illegal content.

See Press Release
Source: cellular-news

It has been recommended by a legal adviser to Europe's highest court, that the Europe-wide law forcing mobile operators to cut the rates they charge for using a mobile phone abroad is upheld. Setting the tariff caps, Viviane Reding, the E.U.'s telecom commissioner, said the idea that consumers should pay more when they are travelling in Europe than in their home country goes against the principles of the European single market.

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Source Total Telecom

A British government proposal stated that it would allow U.K. authorities to suspend Internet access temporarily for Britons who repeatedly engage in copyright-infringing file sharing. This proposal was criticized by BT Group PLC, one of Britain's largest Internet service providers, on the grounds that the government proposal would undermine Britons' right to due process and drive up costs for consumers by requiring expensive network interventions on the part of Internet service providers.

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Source Total Telecom

An initial review by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) of advertisements for mobile premium services across television, magazines, internet and other media, indicated potential problems with a majority of the ads despite previous efforts to safeguard subscribers from potential detriments caused by some industry practices. As a result the ACMA is further ramping up its campaign to eradicate unacceptable practice in the mobile premium services industry.

See Media Release
Source ACMA

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (SKMM) would like to remind the public that abuse on 999 Emergency Service is an offence under section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA 1998) and if convicted, the offender can be fined up to RM50,000 or imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year or both. SKMM has to date prosecuted two cases in court and there are still 25 cases under investigation.

See Press Release
Source: Skmm Malaysia

Today, eCall, Europe's in-car automatic emergency call system, received the full backing of Europe's mobile phone industry. Representatives of the industry's GSM Association underlined their commitment to this life-saving technology by signing the EU's Memorandum of Understanding to implement eCall across Europe. eCall automatically dials   112, Europe's single emergency number  , when a car has a serious accident and sends its location to the nearest emergency service – even when passengers do not know or cannot say where they are. Rolling out eCall requires close cooperation between public authorities, car companies and mobile phone operators and could save up to 2,500 lives each year in the EU when fully deployed and reduce the severity of injuries by 10 to 15%.

See Press Release
Source: Europe's Information Society

The German telecoms regulator, Bundesnetzagentur (BNetzA), has notified the European Commission of its plans to impose new regulatory obligations on certain operators for the provision of wholesale termination services, which they provide to other fixed or mobile operators for connecting incoming calls to their networks in Germany. Fixed and mobile termination rates are the prices which operators charge each other for connecting calls to their networks. These rates and the provision of termination services are typically regulated in order to avoid that operators, who have a monopoly for the provision of such services on their networks,
refuse to accept incoming phone calls from another network or set excessive termination rates.

See Press Release
Source: Europe's Information Society

The European Commission has underlined the importance of addressing competition problems in the mobile call termination markets by applying an effective price control mechanism. While noting Slovenian Post and Electronic Communications Agency (APEK)'s views on the appropriate gradual reduction of regulated MTRs, it also notes that allowing the largest mobile operator to charge significantly above its own reported costs could give it an unfair competitive advantage over smaller operators. The Commission called on APEK to reconsider this gradual reduction of MTRs so that efficient termination rates could be applied as soon as possible. It also called on APEK to review its underlying cost model sooner than envisaged, and Mobitel's costing methodology may prove to be a useful reference point in this context.

See Press Release
Source: Europe's Information Society

A dos meses de haberse puesto en marcha el Registro Nacional de Usuarios de Telefonía Móvil (RENAUT), casi 9 millones de números telefónicos han sido registrados en todo el país. Según los cifras que arroja el RENAUT, durante el período comprendido entre el 10 de abril y el 10 de junio, 8 millones 729 mil 199 usuarios de telefonía móvil han registrado exitosamente su número telefónico en la base de datos que exprofeso ha diseñado la Secretaría de Gobernación (SEGOB).

Los usuarios de telefonía móvil en el país envían un mensaje de texto al 2877 con la palabra “Alta” (punto) seguida del nombre (punto), apellido (punto), así como su fecha de nacimiento, y unos segundos más tarde reciben en su aparato telefónico la confirmación de que su número ha quedado registrado en la base de datos.

See Press Release
Source: COFETEL - Comision Federal de Telecomunicaciones

The location of people calling the single European emergency number 112 from their mobile phones in Lithuania is still not always available to emergency services, despite the European Court of Justice deciding, in its judgement last September that Lithuania is required under EU telecoms rules to make this happen. The European Commission therefore decided today to send a letter of formal notice to Lithuania calling on it to comply with the judgement by ensuring that caller location information is available to emergency services for all mobile calls to 112.

See Press Release
Source: Europe's Information Society

La Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones (CMT) ha lanzado hoy una consulta pública en la que propone un recorte del 43% en los precios de terminación de los tres principales operadores móviles con red propia y un descenso del 52% para Xfera(que opera bajo la marca Yoigo). La consulta establece una senda de descenso (glide path) de los precios medios máximos de terminación que durará dos años (del 16 de octubre de 2009 hasta el 15 de octubre de 2011).
 
La CMT plantea que al final del nuevo periodo regulatorio el precio mayorista que cobran los operadores de red móvil –Telefónica (Movistar), Vodafone, Orange y sus respectivos operadores móviles virtuales completos (OMV)- por terminar las llamadas en sus respectivas redes sea de 0,04 €/minuto, frente a los 0,07 €/minuto actuales.
 

See Press Release
Source: Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones (CMT)

Greece's prepaid mobile phone users will now have to register their identities in a bid to tackle illegal immigration and other crime, the communications minister said Tuesday.

Evripidis Stylianidis said widespread anonymous cell-phone ownership made crime-fighting more difficult. "The types of criminals who prefer prepaid phones include drug dealers, immigrant smugglers and blackmailers," Stylianidis said.

Prepaid mobiles were also used in an elaborate illegal wiretapping operation that targeted Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and senior officials in his conservative government during the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

See Press Release
Source: Cellular-news

Malawi's Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) and the local arm of Zain have clashed over plans to lower phone tariffs in the country. The regulator wants to open the market up to more networks, while Zain blames high taxes and says increased subscribers would lead to lower tariffs.

"We believe more players would increase competition on the market and this will force the companies to reduce their tariffs for them to remain competitive. We are sure that consumers would be the ultimate beneficiaries from the increased numbers of players on the market," Macra Acting Director General Mike Kumtiya told the Daily Times newspaper.

The country currently has two mobile networks, Zain and former incumbent, (Telekom Networks Malawi) TNM - while a two more networks have been licensed. Globally Advanced Integrated Networks (Gain) expects to launch its network within the next couple of months, while G-Mobile is still waiting to announce a launch date.

See Press Release
Source: Cellular-news

The Philippines’ dominant telecoms company Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) yesterday launched a nationwide service offering unlimited calls to all areas, but the move was greeted coolly by the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) which said such promotions break local telecoms rules and as such, must be stopped.

According to a report from online journal Business World, the telco’s ‘Call All’ offer promises unlimited calls all over the Philippines for an additional PHP250 (USD5.27) on the user’s landline phone bill. Anyone taking the add-on will be given a PLDT ‘Landline Plus’ subscriber identification module (SIM) for a fixed-wireless connection. ‘We are targeting over 1.3 million PLDT retail landline subscribers and we are also aiming to capture at least 200,000 additional applications each month,’ PLDT retail voice acquisition head Patrick S Tang told reporters.

See Press Release
Source: Telegeography

There seems to be no end to the crisis generated by the 2.3GHz licensing round. While the Ministry of Information and Communications is standing by the cancellation of the process citing lack of transparency, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) remains adamant, warning of far reaching consequences if the Ministry maintains its stand.

While the dust has yet to settle, the National Frequency Management Council (NFMC) charged with carrying out bulk trans-sectoral allocation of spectrum to authorised statutory bodies has officially released the 2.3GHz frequency spectrum to the NCC to pave the way for the commencement of a new licensing process.

See Press Release
Source: BalancingAct-Africa

A price comparison service that allows consumers to get cheaper mobile phone deals by monitoring their online bills was has been accredited by the UK's telecoms regulator, Ofcom. BillMonitor’s price comparison calculator has been awarded the Ofcom price accreditation scheme logo for meeting the terms of a rigorous independent audit. The audit checks whether the information provided to consumers is accessible, accurate, transparent, comprehensive and up to date.

BillMonitor is the first mobile price comparison service to have their calculator accredited by Ofcom.

See Press Release
Source: cellular-news

The Tanzanian government has reportedly unveiled plans to introduce new legislation to help local law enforcement agencies curb the illegal usage of mobile phones in the country. According to local newspaper This Day, the government hopes to use various state-of-the-art technologies to track down people using cellphones for criminal purposes. Professor Peter Msolla, the Minister for Communication, Science and Technology, revealed the government will soon table a bill in the National Assembly for the establishment of a Central Equipment Identification Register (CEIR).

See Press Release
Source: Telegeography

Italy’s leading fixed line operator by subscribers, Telecom Italia, has established an independent supervisory body aimed at ensuring equal access to the country’s fixed line infrastructure, Wall Street Italia reports. The board will monitor the quality and availability of open access infrastructure supplied by Telecom Italia to its rivals. Quarterly reports will be submitted to the regulator, the Autorita per le Garanzie Comunicazioni (AGCOM), the board will also publish an annual report.

See Press Release
Source: Telegeography

La Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones de España (CMT) ha resuelto la cancelación de determinadas personas físicas y jurídicas en el Registro de Operadores de redes y servicios de comunicaciones electrónicas.

See related documents
Source: Comisión del Mercado de las Telecomunicaciones (CMT)

On 6 October 2008, Eircom Limited (‘Eircom’) launched promotional “TalkTime” bundles that included free calls to Meteor.   Since that launch, the Commission for Communications Regulation (‘ComReg’) has been monitoring average actual usage, average total revenue and average total cost of the TalkTime bundles to ensure that Eircom is meeting its regulatory obligations1.  Based on ComReg’s review of the actual data provided by Eircom, ComReg has today issued a notice of non-compliance to Eircom in relation to its obligation not to unreasonably bundle fixed retail narrowband access, that is, retail line rental, with other retail services.  The notification of non-compliance issued relates to the 1MB and 3MB Family TalkTime bundles only.  The annex includes details of the analysis carried out by ComReg.  ComReg has reserved its position in relation to the other promotional bundles that include free calls to Meteor and will continue to review actual data to ensure that Eircom is meeting its regulatory obligations. Eircom has one month either to respond to the notification of non-compliance issued or to remedy the non-compliance.

See Notice and documents
Source: Comreg
 

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has assessed 44 carriage service providers and issued formal directions to two providers for non-compliance with the financial hardship provisions of the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code (TCP Code).

Carriage service providers must comply with the financial hardship provisions of the Communications Alliance’s TCP Code when dealing with customers who are experiencing financial difficulties. The assessment was undertaken in response to a request from ACMA’s Consumer Consultative Forum.

The vast majority of providers were found to comply. However, ACMA was not satisfied that two of the providers had formalised financial hardship policies available to their customers on request. Under ACMA’s formal directions, both providers were expected to formalise financial hardship policies by 10 February 2009 or risk Federal Court action.

See Press Release
Source: Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)

Incumbent Camtel has cut the price of installation and its monthly charges monthly charges by 25%. In a press statement issued in Yaounde last week, the General Manager of CAMTEL, David Nkoto Emane said that subscribers for private homes will pay CFA 35,775 instead of CFA 47,700. Business customers representing companies, associations, financial institutions, NGOs, etc, will on their part pay CFA 89,440 instead of CFA 119,250.

"To make subscriptions affordable for all Cameroonians, the above charges shall be payable in ten monthly instalments", the statement said, stating that penalty for non-payment of late payment of bills is henceforth fixed at CFA 1,550 instead of CFA 1,789.

See Press Release
Source: Balancingact-africa

 Telecommunications companies will need to significantly improve their performance when it comes to contacting people on the Do Not Call Register, with 55 per cent of complaints received by the Australian Communications and Media Authority stemming from unwanted calls promoting phone plans and other related services.

‘This is a matter of obvious concern,’ said Chris Chapman, ACMA Chairman. ‘Consumers register their telephone numbers because they want to reduce the number of telemarketing calls they receive and it is unacceptable to see that some telcos are not respecting that decision. Businesses have had ample time to adjust to the new laws and by now should have robust compliance measures in place.’

See Press Release
Source: ACMA - Australia

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a paper on measures to improve Telecom Penetration in Rural India – The next 100 million subscribers.

See paper
Source: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

The Australian Communications and Media Authority and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission today released a joint report titled Communications Infrastructure and Services Availability in Australia 2008. The report, developed using the expertise of both agencies, discusses the availability of broadband, fixed voice, mobile voice and mobile data in the community.

Key findings identified in the report include:

* The number of broadband subscribers increased by 1.1 million in the 12 months to June 2008. This increase was driven by growth in wireless broadband (47 per cent) and DSL provided on unbundled services (33 per cent). Unbundled services are the unbundled local loop service (ULLS) and the line sharing service (LSS).
* Broadband connection speeds are rising with a 25 per cent increase in subscribers using a 1.5 Mbps service, predominantly as a result of evolution from ADSL1 to ADSL2+ services.
* Mobile services are evolving from second generation (2G) to third generation (3G) mobile with 8.55 million 3G services in operation at June 2008 (an increase of 88 per cent).
* Fixed voice remains a large part of consumers’ spend on communications services and the number of fixed lines remained stable in the year to June 2008 at 11 million fixed line services in operation. Alternatives to the standard telephone service (STS) for making fixed voice calls are emerging.

See Press Release
Source: Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)

El Consejo Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (CONATEL) dio luz verde al proyecto de nuevos índices de calidad para la telefonía fija. A partir de enero del próximo año las operadoras deberán cumplir con estos nuevos parámetros que toman en cuenta los avances tecnológicos en este tipo de servicio.

En cuanto a la reparación de problemas, el 70% de los reclamos deberán ser solucionados en las primeras veinte y cuatro (24) horas. El restante podría ser resuelto en las siguientes cuarenta y ocho (48) horas o en cinco (5) días.

See Press Release
Source: CONATEL

The congressional telecommunications committee has ruled that Spainish telco Telefonica's minority stake in Telecom Italia (TI) voilates Argentinean anti-trust laws. An investigation was opened after Telefonica joined a consortium that acquired nearly a quarter stake in TI in October 2007.

TI owns a 50% stake in the Sofora holding company that controls Telecom Argentina. When Argentina’s telecoms sector was privatised in the 1990s its fixed line services were divided between Telecom Argentina and Telefonica de Argentina, with a government directive that there be no cross-ownership between the two.

See Press Release
Source: Telegeography

The Commerce Commission today released a telecommunication service obligation (TSO) determination for the Local Residential Telephone Service covering the 2006/07 year. The draft cost is $62.8 million.

Under the TSO, Telecom is obliged to provide certain local residential telephone services to residential customers who may not otherwise be provided with those services at an affordable price. The TSO allows Telecom to recover its costs of providing this service.

In producing this draft determination the Commission has followed the modelling approach used in the 2004/05 and 2005/06 determinations.

The total cost for 2006/07 will be shared according to the TSO Cost Allocation determination for 2006/07 which is available on the Commission’s website. Under the Cost Allocation determination the costs will be shared amongst the following: Telecom, Vodafone, TelstraClear, WorldxChange, Compass, CallPlus, Ihug, Woosh and Teamtalk.

See Press Release
Source: New Zealand - Commerce Commission

The Commerce Commission today announced it is commencing an investigation into whether mobile termination access services should be regulated.

The investigation, under Schedule 3 of the Telecommunications Act 2001, will look at whether mobile termination access services (MTAS) (incorporating mobile-to-mobile voice termination, fixed-to-mobile voice termination and short-message-service termination) should become regulated services under Schedule 1 of the Act.

See Press Release
Source: Commerce Commission

La Comisión de Regulación de Telecomunicaciones (CRT) presenta al sector la propuesta regulatoria de modificación del artículo 65 de la Resolución 1732 de 2007, relativo a las reglas para el envío de SMS y MMS. Asimismo se publica el documento soporte que acompaña la propuesta contemplada en el proyecto de resolución. Se convoca la participación de operadores, entidades, usuarios y público en general dentro del proyecto.

See Press Release
Source: Comisión de Regulación de Telecomunicaciones (CRT), Colombia

The banking fraternity is crying foul over what it described as unfair and increasing competition from money transfer operators.

The industry says the operators are enjoying privileges similar to those extended to deposit taking institutions despite not being covered by the same regulatory regime.

"Currently, there is no legal framework within which these entities provide their services despite behaving like current account institutions," says John Wanyela, executive director of the Kenya Bankers Association. "If these operators want to join the financial sector, they have to be properly licensed."

See Press Release
Source: allAfrica.com

TRAI’s Regulation on Unsolicited Commercial Call completes one year of effective operation. 100 million telephone numbers cross checked by Telemarketers with NDNC before calling on 25th September 2008.

The National Do Not Call Registry (NDNC) is a data base of telephone numbers of those subscribers who do not want to receive Unsolicited Commercial Calls. It was set up under the “Telecom Unsolicited Commercial Communications Regulations, 2007” issued by TRAI and has come into operation w.e.f 12th October 2007. All the registered telemarketers before making marketing calls are required to submit / upload the list of telephone numbers which they want to call for telemarketing purpose to the NDNC. The NDNC takes out (delete) the telephone number of subscribers who are already registered with NDNC from this list and returns the clean list to the telemarketer for calling. Presently, there are 19,163 telemarketers registered with Department of Telecommunications.

See Press Release
Source: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

Los presidentes de los organismos reguladores de América Latina eligieron al Organismo Supervisor de la Inversión Privada en Telecomunicaciones (OSIPTEL), para que lidere en el año 2010 a las entidades regulatorias de América Latina que están agrupadas en Regulatel.

Por otro lado, el OSIPTEL y los miembros de Regulatel se han propuesto reducir las tarifas del roaming internacional entre los países de América del Sur, la cual permitirá que el público que viaje al interior de nuestros países lleve su equipo móvil y realice sus llamadas a un precio mucho más bajo del que se paga actualmente.

See Press Release
Source: OSIPTEL

The Consumer Protection Test for telephone number allocation will prohibit the allocation of 070 personal numbers, 0871/2/3 special service higher rate numbers and 09 premium rate numbers by Ofcom to anyone who appears on either of two lists. The lists, which will be published on the Ofcom website, will name companies and individuals that have in the past used telephone numbers to cause serious or repeated harm to consumers or are involved in cases that we are currently investigating. In compiling the lists, Ofcom will assess individuals and companies (including company directors) that have come to its attention by being subject to a decision from a relevant authority (such as PhonepayPlus, the Office of Fair Trading or the police) and where telephone numbers were central to the behaviour that led to the decision concerned. Scams, frauds and other abuses carried out by individuals and companies using telephone numbers cause serious consumer harm and threaten confidence in certain numbers. Ofcom is responsible for managing the UK’s telephone numbers and for ensuring that best use is made of this resource. Ofcom allocates telephone numbers to a broad range of providers who may then sub-allocate them to organisations, businesses and individuals to use themselves.  From 1 January 2009, the test will apply to numbers newly allocated by Ofcom to communications providers.  Ofcom will allow communications providers to take a self-regulatory approach to introducing a similar consumer protection test in their own number allocation processes and strongly encourages providers to do so.  Ofcom will monitor progress to see if this approach is sufficient and will consider additional regulation where necessary.

See Statement
Source: OFCOM

The Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency (RURA), acting on behalf of the government, has imposed a daily fine equivalent to five million Rwandan francs 5,000,000 Rwf for two weeks for poor network services.

During that period, MTN Rwandacell shall submit to RURA, a clear roadmap showing the actions to be undertaken to meet the quality of service standards. The road map shall ensure that MTN will be able to solve the problem within a period not exceeding two months. The road map shall be subject to the Regulatory Board approval.

See Press Release / Decision
Source: Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency

The 2.5 billion text messages sent every year by roaming customers in the EU cost over 10 times more than domestic short messages (SMS), show figures released today by the European Commission. The average cost of a roaming text message in the EU between October 2007 and March 2008 was EUR 0.29 according to the European Regulators' Group (ERG), but can be as high as EUR 0.80 for travellers from Belgium. Calls on the industry for self-regulation and voluntary reductions of roaming prices for text messages have not been answered. The Commission will therefore start working on measures to ensure that consumers benefit from a truly single market for mobile text services. The Commission will also seek to put an end to "bill shocks" that can hit roaming customers using a mobile connection to surf the Internet. New measures could be proposed by the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council in early autumn.

See Press Release
Source: Europa
See also: FAQs - EU Roaming Regulation: Text Messages & Data Services

Ofcom published a document outlining its role in furthering the interests of citizens. The discussion paper, Citizens, Communications and Convergence, details how Ofcom serves citizens' interests by ensuring that people have access to the communications services, content and skills needed to participate in society. Please send your comments to alistair.bridge@ofcom.org.uk by 8 October 2008. The paper can be found here.
 
Also, Ofcom thinks that while  current regulation of ADR and complaints handling procedures is successful in many respects, it has identified potential problems around access to ADR. It has also found evidence of general levels of dissatisfaction with CPs’ complaints handling procedures. In this Consultation Document OFCOM considers a number of different options to address these issues.To ensure that the interests of citizens and consumers are advanced, it is crucial that OFCOM considers the impact of any proposed regulation on all relevant stakeholders. OFCOM is committed to a thorough and open consultation and is inviting comments on proposals and on other options by 4 October 2008.
See http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/alt_dis_res/

Source: OFCOM

The Commerce Commission has released its final determinations on the price and non-price terms for the backhaul services that support the unbundled copper local loop (UCLL) and unbundled bitstream (UBA) broadband services.

These services will allow Telecom’s competitors to get access to transmission capacity between Telecom’s local exchanges or data switches, and the competitors’ networks. “Having backhaul for both the UCLL and UBA services available will allow companies to offer broadband and voice services to their customers without having to build their own networks all the way to their customers. Instead, telecommunications companies can use Telecom’s network and pay Telecom a cost-based price for the service,” Telecommunications Commissioner Dr Ross Patterson said today.

See Press Release
Source: New Zealand - Commerce Commission

A new Code of Practice to ensure that internet service providers (ISPs) offer greater clarity over customers’ broadband line speeds was published today by Ofcom. Some 37 ISPs, covering over 90 per cent of broadband customers, have already agreed to honour both the letter and the spirit of the Code to give consumers a clearer understanding of the speeds they can get and to ensure that they are on an appropriate broadband package. Ofcom is concerned that consumers could be misled or misinformed when choosing their broadband services by ISPs advertising headline speeds that are higher than users can receive in practice. Ofcom’s own research has shown that consumer satisfaction of ISPs has fallen over the last year. To gain a clearer picture of the issue, Ofcom is also undertaking the UK’s most authoritative and comprehensive broadband speed survey to identify actual broadband performance across the country and its relationship to advertised headline speeds.

See Press release
Source: OFCOM

The Government noted with concerns the occurrence of some door-to-door illicit sale activities selling digital terrestrial television (DTT) set-top boxes by some salesmen claiming to be staff of the Housing Department. The salesmen were allegedly spreading the rumour that the existing four free analogue TV channels (i.e. the Home and International channels of ATV and the Jade and Pearl channels of TVB) would soon be terminated and that new set-top boxes would need to be installed for free television reception.

See Press Release
Source: Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA)

Total 8.00 million telephone connections (Wireline and Wireless) have been added during April 2008 as compared to 10.40 million connections added in March 2008. The total number of telephone connections reaches 308.51 million at the end of April 2008 as compared to 300.51 million in March 2008. The overall tele-density is 26.89% at the end of April 2008 as against 26.22% in March 2008. The total wireless subscribers (GSM, CDMA & WLL(F)) base stood at 269.30 million at the end of April 2008.

See Press Release
Source: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)

Certain newspaper advertisements by HKBN about its  broadband services were alleged to be misleading or deceptive.  The complainant claimed that HKBN made unqualified statements in
the advertisements concerning the transmission speeds of its broadband services, when the speed performance was subject to various qualifications that affected the claimed
speeds.  The complainant alleged that the advertisements were misleading or deceptive in the circumstances.

The Authority’s conclusion is  that this was a substantive breach of section 7M, and having regard to the maximum applicable penalty of $1,000,000, the appropriate starting point for determining the level of financial penalty is $270,000. While the breach is serious, in mitigation it is noted that the Authority has not  received any consumer complaints about the advertisements, and there is no evidence that  large numbers of consumers were actually induced to take up the services, under the  belief that the services would be subject to no qualifications that may substantially affect
the speed performance.  The Authority has also taken into account the fact that HKBN has generally been cooperative in providing information requested by OFTA to conduct the  investigation. The Authority is of the opinion that in this case of a third penalty for HKBN, the penalty which is proportionate and reasonable in relation to the conduct concerned is $220,000.

See Press Release
Source: OFTA

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)  reviewed and varied its December 2007 decision granting conditional approval to the consumer agency known as the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services Inc. Some industry members filed, in February 2008, applications requesting modifications to the decision. After reviewing the applications and related submissions, the Commission has decided to maintain the agency’s membership requirements for a period of only three years. At that time, the Commission will review the need for these mandatory requirements. No extension of the mandatory requirements can take place without a new Commission decision. Membership is currently required for all service providers whose annual revenues exceed $10 million. In addition, the Commission has clarified the circumstances under which the agency can provide remedies related to consumer complaints. For example, when a consumer is awarded monetary compensation related to a dispute with a service provider, the award will be limited to direct financial loss. Finally, should the agency receive a collective complaint, the maximum monetary compensation for that complaint will be no more than $5,000, regardless of the number of complainants.

See Press Release
Source: CRTC

Australians have listed more than 2.3 million telephone numbers on the Do Not Call Register since its launch one year ago. The register, which is overseen by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, was established in May 2007 under the Do Not Call Register Act 2006. It makes it illegal for most kinds of telemarketing calls to be made to domestic and private fixed line and mobile telephone numbers listed on the register in the absence of consent.

See Press Release
Source: Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)

Government will license a fourth mobile operator and a third fixed-line operator in 2009. That's the word from ANC MP and member of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications Khotso Khumalo, who made the announcements at an industry Seminar, in Johannesburg.

In addition to the announcements on new operators, Khumalo also said government wanted VANS to be allowed to self-provide and that the frequency spectrum allocation would be made more efficient. “Things are changing and changing fundamentally,” said Khumalo. “As government, we need to look at better ways to liberalise the telecommunications market.”

See Press Release
Source: Africa - Balancing Act

Con el voto de 72 de los 86 representantes, la Asamblea Constituyente dio paso al Mandato No. 10 sobre Portabilidad Numérica, a través del cual se establece que todo abonado de los servicios de telecomunicaciones móviles tiene el derecho a mantener su número telefónico móvil, aún cuando cambie de red, servicio o empresa operadora.

En cumplimiento a este mandato, el Consejo Nacional de Telecomunicaciones –CONATEL-, como máximo órgano de regulación del Sector, deberá definir y aprobar en un plazo de 120 días la normativa pertinente, para lo cual la SENATEL como su brazo ejecutor ya cuenta con un equipo de técnico y profesional que elaborará el respecto proyecto de reglamento para análisis y consideración del Conatel.

See Press Release
Source: Consejo Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (CONATEL)

El Organismo Supervisor de Inversión Privada en Telecomunicaciones conmina al público a denunciar estos actos delictivos.

En cumplimiento de sus funciones, y a efectos de proteger al público de estos fraudes, el OSIPTEL comunica a la colectividad que sujetos inescrupulosos están utilizando el nombre o las siglas del OSIPTEL, con el fin de que los usuarios de telefonía fija y/o telefonía móvil participen en sorteos de premios aduciendo que son avalados por el OSIPTEL. Estos sujetos solicitan al público que adquieran tarjetas telefónicas y luego los conminan a proporcionar las claves de estas tarjetas con el fin de estafarlos.

See Press Release
Source: Organismo Supervisor de la Inversión Privada en Telecomunicaciones (OSIPTEL)

El Reglamento regula todo lo relativo al espectro radioeléctrico y adapta la anterior normativa a las nuevas realidades del mercado y al estado actual de la técnica. El Reglamento establece las condiciones necesarias para la creación de un mercado secundario del espectro, que permitirá la transferencia total y parcial de títulos habilitantes y la cesión de derechos de uso del espectro.

El Reglamento permitirá alcanzar un uso mas eficaz y eficiente del espectro radioeléctrico y fomentar la competencia, la innovación y la aparición de nuevos servicios.

Asimismo, regula un Registro público de concesionarios, accesible a través de Internet, que refuerza la información y la transparencia en la gestión de este recurso escaso.

See Press Release
Source: Ministerio de Industria Turismo y Comercio

European Commission launches public consultation on the functioning and the effects of the EU Roaming Regulation
As of today, the European Commission invites feedback by industry, consumers and other interested stakeholders to review the functioning and effectiveness of the EU Roaming Regulation, which entered into force on 30 June 2007. According to the provisions of the Regulation, the Commission must report to the European Parliament and the Council in 2008 about the functioning of the new roaming rules and their effects. The public consultation aims to gather responses from mobile operators, businesses, consumer associations and any interested party by 2 July 2008.

See Press Release
Source: Europa

OFTA Investigates into Suspected Use of Unlicensed Radio Transmitter Equipment The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) has today (4 May 2008) initiated an investigation into the suspected use of unlicensed radio transmitter equipment following unlicensed radio transmission detected at 102.8 MHz. The radio transmission mainly relayed the voice contents of an open forum held by Citizens' Radio at the Times Square, Causeway Bay.

"The use of unlicensed radio transmitters is a criminal offence under section 8 of the Telecommunications Ordinance (TO). Those who knowingly participate in the delivery of messages through unlicensed radio transmitters may also commit a criminal offence under section 23 of the TO," warned the spokesperson of OFTA.

See Press Release
Source: Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA)

The Federal Communications Commission on May 1st  adopted an interim cap on payments to competitive eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs) under the Universal Service Fund (Fund).

This action was a crucial first step toward comprehensive reform of Universal Service and intercarrier compensation, two carrier compensation regimes that are directly interrelated. Such comprehensive reform is critical to ensuring the continued provision of affordable telecommunications for all Americans.

See Press Release
Source: Federal Communications Commission - FCC

The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) has today published  the outcome of its review of the Code of Practice for Carrier Pre-Selection  (CPS).
ComReg undertook a review of the original Code of Practice in order to  determine exactly which provisions in the Code have a regulatory obligation  and which do not.  It was decided that, in order to clarify the provisions with regulatory obligations  and those without obligations, two documents should be created. These are:
• Regulatory Guidances for Undertakings Relating to CPS (08\28a) –  for provisions with a regulatory obligation;
• Output of the CPS CoP Review: Provisions not having a legal basis  (08\28b) – for provisions which do not have a regulatory obligation,  but would be of benefit to consumers if they were to be implemented  by operators.
 
The obligations included in the Regulatory Guidances document incorporate directions not only from ComReg but guidance from other agencies such as the  Office of the Data Protection Commissioner and the National Consumer Agency. At the same time ComReg is encouraging discussion with all operators in  relation to the non-legal provisions contained within the Code.

See Press Release
Source: COMReg

Five major broadband internet service providers (ISPs) have made a significant step in enhancing the transparency of their service performance by making known to the public their first batch of performance statistics against their services pledges for the first quarter of 2008 (3-month period ending 31 March 2008).  

This is one of the major joint initiatives of the industry and the Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) in further enhancing the quality of customer service of the internet service industry. The five ISPs who have published the service performance statistics include Hong Kong Broadband Network Limited (HKBN), Hutchison Global Communications Limited (HGC), New World Telecommunications Limited (NWT), PCCW IMS Limited (PCCW-IMS) and Hong Kong Cable Television Limited (HKCTV).

See Press Release
Source: OFTA

In this Decision, the Commission determines that it was inappropriate for TELUS Communications Company (TCC) to impose a $2.95 per month network access charge for certain residential subscribers of basic toll services. For basic toll subscribers who had not used TCC's long distance network during the applicable period, the Commission finds that the network access charge was equivalent to an unauthorized residential local rate increase in non-forborne areas and contravened the rate cap in forborne areas, and directs TCC to reimburse or credit those affected customers.

See Press Release and Decision
Source: CRTC

The Federal Communications Commission held, on Thursday 17th, its second hearing on network management in recent weeks. The majority of people who spoke at the meeting support mandated network neutrality, which would require ISPs to deliver data equally without regard to the source or subject matter, and to disclose the way they are managing their networks and if they deliver on the speeds they promise.

The FCC Chairman Kevin Martin expressed his opinion on the commission’s task to investigate the management of broadband networks by providers such as Comcast Corp. The FCC is currently looking into some reports sent by different consumer groups, which show that cable operator Comcast Corp has unreasonably blocked or hindered some file-sharing services. Programs such as BitTorrent, used to distribute TV shows and movies were unavailable.

See Statements from the Hearing; Press Release eFluxMedia, Information Week
Source: Federal Communications Commission - FCC

In order to reduce input cost of Telecom access Service Providers, thereby facilitating reduction in tariff further, and to enhance the teledensity including rural areas, the Department of Telecom has formulated the some guidelines on infrastructure sharing among the Service Providers and Infrastructure Providers.

See Guidelines
Source: Ministry of Communications & Information Technology - Department of Telecommunications

Autoridades buscan prevenir y contrarrestar explotación sexual y pornografía de niños, niñas y adolescentes en el país.
La Comisión Nacional para la Sociedad de la Información y el Conocimiento (CNSIC) y el Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones (Indotel), pusieron en marcha hoy los trabajos para establecer una estrategia nacional que garantice “un uso sano y ético del Internet en la República Dominicana”. La medida tiene como objetivo realizar acciones administrativas, técnicas y comunicacionales para prevenir y contrarrestar la explotación sexual y pornografía de niños, niñas y adolescentes en el país.

See Press Release
Source: Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones - INDOTEL

Con esta medida el Organismo Supervisor de la Inversión Privada en Telecomunicaciones (OSIPTEL), impulsa la competencia en el servicio de Internet y reducirá en más de 90% el costo fijo mensual de los operadores que deseen competir con Telefónica del Perú a nivel nacional en el servicio de Internet mediante el uso de los circuitos virtuales ATM con acceso ADSL.

Con respecto a la medida que incentivará el acceso a Internet el Regulador de las Telecomunicaciones emitirá pronto una norma que logrará que se reduzca el precio mensual y el fijo que pagan los operadores por conectarse a la red de Telefónica. De esta manera, los operadores distintos de Telefónica podrán ofrecer a sus clientes un servicio con tarifas más competitivas.

See Press Release
Source: Organismo Supervisor de Inversión Privada en Telecomunicaciones - OSIPTEL

Proposals for new rules to stamp out misleading sales and marketing practices in the mobile market were announced by Ofcom today. This follows a warning last summer that, unless the sector cleaned up its act, Ofcom would introduce mandatory rules. Despite this, some mobile phone companies and third party sales agents are still engaging in unacceptable practices that are against the consumer interest.Ofcom is particularly concerned about two practices:

• where customers are given false or inaccurate information when they want to buy a mobile contract; and
• some "cash back” promotions offered by sales agents where  they fail to reimburse the consumer.

See Press Release
Source: OFCOM

The Commerce Commission has issued its final recommendation to the Minister of Communications on the regulation of mobile roaming. It has recommended that the mobile roaming service not be designated, which means that it will not be subject to price regulation. The Commission is also recommending that the definition of the service be amended to make it compatible with modern technology.

The Commission considers that there are insufficient grounds to recommend extending the mobile roaming service to include the determination of price. Vodafone and NZ Communications Ltd, a new mobile company, already have a commercial agreement for the provision of roaming services. In the Commission’s analysis, the difference between the price in the commercial agreement and a price likely to be set under designation was too small to justify intervention, when the cost delay and uncertainty of designation was taken into account.

See Press Release
Source: Commerce Commission

Source: OFCOM

ARCEP is launching today its second cycle of fixed telephony market analysis. It is submitting to public consultation its plan which involves deregulating the fixed telephony retail markets and focusing solely on access and interconnection which constitute a long-time bottleneck (access to the telephone network, call origination and termination).

The document is open to public consultation until 4^th April 2008 at 5.00 PM. Responses must be sent to the following address: fixe@arcep.fr.

This document, with player contributions, will then be submitted to the competition authority, Conseil de la Concurrence, for its opinion.

See Press release and document

Source: ARCEP

According to China Daily, China's Ministry of Information Industry (MII) and National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) jointly announced on Wednesday the country's mobile roaming service charges would be lowered starting from March 1 amid fervor of consumer expectation to entirely abolish them.

Mobile phone users would be charged about 8 US cents per minute for making calls outside the local service area, and about 5 cents, per minute for receiving calls when they travel to another province, according to the new plan. This means that the country's 539 million mobile subscribers would be able to enjoy price cuts ranging from 54 percent to 73 percent from next month on, or no later than May 1.

Read full Article

Source: China Daily

The interests of consumers of communications services in Kenya will be better protected, following the creation of a Consumer Affairs Division at CCK.

The new division will be responsible for strengthening the Commission's capacity to discharge its consumer protection roles. The creation of the division has been necessitated by the increase in the number of players in the communications sector, incidences of non-compliance to licence conditions and violation of the rights of consumers.

See Press Release
Source: Communications Commision of Kenya (CCK)

According to the competition authority (Conseil de la concurrence), there is no prompt measures are be taken against France Telecom in relation to complaints by rivals concerning access to FTTh.  However, is has deceided to investigate  thorougly.

See Press Release
Source: Conseil de la concurrence

The Commerce Commission has issued guidelines on how the Commission addresses issues or complaints that relate to competition concerns in the telecommunications market.
The Commission enforces Part 2 of the Commerce Act, which relates to restrictive trade practices, including the use of market power by one company to limit the level of competition in a particular market. The Commission also enforces the Telecommunications Act, which focuses on the regulation of companies with market power in the telecommunications industry. Both Acts have a similar purpose which is to promote competition in markets for the long term benefits of consumers.
Commission Chair, Paula Rebstock, said "These guidelines provide clarity as to when action against anti-competitive behaviour in the telecommunications industry would be taken under the Commerce Act.”

See Press Release
Source: New Zealand - Commerce Commission

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation announces a Full Committee hearing for February 14, 2008, at 10 a.m., on U.S. readiness for the nationwide transition from analog television broadcasting to digital television (DTV) broadcasting.

With the February 17, 2009 transition date now just one year away, the hearing, One Year to the DTV Transition: Consumers, Broadcasters, and Converter Boxes, will focus on consumer awareness, the role of broadcasters and the Federal Communications Commission, and the status of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration converter box program.

See Press Release
Source: United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation

The Office of the Telecommunications Authority launched an on-line database service today making available a channel for the public to access readily via the internet the coverage information of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) services on a building-by-building basis.

See Press Release
Source: OFTA

The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) launched an on-line database service, making available a channel for the public to access readily via the internet the coverage information of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) services on a building-by-building basis.

"This is an initiative by OFTA for the convenience of the public to enquire about DTT services coverage information for residential buildings," a spokesperson for OFTA said.

See Press Release
Source: OFTA - Office for the Telecommunications Authority

Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) reported that digital terrestrial television (DTT) broadcast has no bearing on the interference of analogue television services, after conducting investigation into over half of the public complaints received since the launch of DTT services on 31 December 2007.

The investigations were carried out by this office in the past four days in responding to public concern about the suspected interference between DTT and analogue TV signals following the simulcasting of the two services.

See Press Release
Source: Office of the Telecommunications Authority

House of Representatives Committee on Communication, last week in Abuja, threatened to recommend revocation of MTN's operational licence over poor service. Briefing newsmen, Jerry Mamwe, Chairman of the Committee, said MTN had been given three weeks within which to improve its services or have its licence revoked.

Mamwe said the committee had directed MTN to suspend sales of its SIM cards to customers, pending when it improves its roll out capacity, adding that the decision was informed by its refusal to improve its services, in spite of the committee's several official and informal appeals. "While we must agree that GSM operators have enjoyed the benefit of time, the customers have continued to suffer poor services rendered by MTN to be specific," he said. According to him, MTN account for 85 per cent of poor telecommunication services to customers in the country, which was unacceptable to the committee.

See Press Release

Source: Balancing Act - Africa

The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (“OFTA”) has completed an investigation into the competitiveness of local leased circuit (“LLC”) provision in Hong Kong. The purpose of the investigation was to obtain an updated picture of the state of competition in relation to LLC services, especially from the perspective of users.

The main conclusion to be drawn is that there are effective competitive constraints on traditional LLCs. Alternative technologies and service platforms are increasingly viable, and the various competing service providers are closely chasing each other on service quality and network coverage. The competitive pressure from new entrants and new service platforms is maintaining the overall trend of lower prices for local data connection services in Hong Kong.

See Press Release

Source: Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA)

The Competition Bureau has undertaken an initiative to ensure that consumers receive proper disclosure of any terms and conditions that affect the value and use of prepaid long distance telephone calling cards. The Bureau will be contacting providers of prepaid telephone calling cards across Canada to ensure that these businesses disclose more information on the cards themselves and in any related advertising material. At a minimum, businesses should:

• Disclose the effective rate per minute and the number of minutes available on the card.
• Disclose any conditions that might adversely affect the advertised rate per minute and number of minutes near the main body of the representation — this information should not be printed in a small font or appear on a background that obstructs its visibility.
• Discontinue the use of fine print disclaimers that contain information contradicting the main message — the main body of the representation should not be misleading when read alone.

See Press Release

Source : Industry Canada

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa –ICASA- has published the final standard Terms and Conditions for Broadcasting, Electronic Communications Services and Electronic Communications Network Services Individual licences in Government Gazette No. 30530. This is in terms of the Electronic Communications Act which provides that the Authority must prescribe the terms and conditions to be applied to individual and class licensees.

The publication of the Terms and Conditions is a culmination of an open and consultative process with stakeholders. As part of the process, the Authority published a notice to prescribe the general Terms and Conditions for individual and class licences in August 2007.

See Press Release

Source: Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA)

Cualquier operador de telefonia fija o movil debe permitir la realizacion de llamadas de larga distancia a traves de los operadores habilitados y segun lo soliciten los suscriptores, reitero la Comision de Regulacion de Telecomunicaciones -CRT-.

El Director Ejecutivo de la CRT afirmo que los cambios recientes en el servicio de telefonia de larga distancia no modificaron los derechos de los usuarios, por lo cual ninguna empresa que preste servicios de telefonia fija o movil puede imponer o restringir un operador determinado para cursar a traves del mismo llamadas de larga distancia.

See Press Release

Source: Comision de Regulacion de Telecomunicaciones (CRT)

On November 14, 2007, the Commission will hold a public hearing in Gatineau, Québec, to consider the organization and mandate of
the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services. The hearing is expected to last one to two days.

See more

Source: CRTC

During the first half of 2007, ANACOM received 10,259 written complaints and 363 requests for information from users of communications services and from the general public about their dealings with providers of communications services and the use of these services. In addition, a further 2,347 consultations were made by phone or in person.

Compared to the same period of 2006, the overall volume of complaints has increased by 28% from 8,004. Complaints made using the complaints book system made up around 66% of the total volume of complaints received by this Authority during the first half of 2007 (6,764 of an overall total of 10,259). Full press release

Source: ANACOM, Potugal

 

New Delhi, 30^th October, 2007: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today directed all Access Service providers, including BSNL and MTNL, the following:

            (i) To provide the facility of unsubscribing of any value added service through telephone calls and SMS, free of charge, and through e-mail or FAX or any other means and also give adequate publicity to such facilities through their websites and by communication through SMS and other means.

            (ii) In case of any offer for any value added services made to the customer in writing or through SMS or FAX or e-mail, such offer shall contain all relevant details of the value added service offered, including the charges thereof, and before activation of such value added service the explicit consent of the customer shall be obtained through telephone or SMS or FAX or e-mail or by other electronic means. Full press release

Source: TRAI, India

 

 

The Government gazetted today (October 26) the commencement notice to implement the second phase of the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance (UEMO), as well as the supporting Unsolicited Electronic Messages Regulation, on December 22, 2007.

     "The second phase of the UEMO will establish rules for sending commercial electronic messages," a spokesperson for the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau said. Full press release

Source: OFTA, Hong Kong

Brazil's telecoms regulator Anatel gave conditional approval on Tuesday to Spanish telco Telefónica's (NYSE: TEF) acquisition of Telecom Italia (NYSE: TI), local and international press reported Brazil's communications minister Hélio Costa as saying.

On April 28, a consortium of Italian firms and TEF reached an agreement to indirectly acquire a 23.6% controlling stake in TI. The group agreed to buy TI's controlling shareholder Olimpia from Italian holding companies Pirelli and Sintonia for around 4.1bn euros (US$5.6bn). Full press release

Source: Business News Americas

Los especialistas que participan en la reunión 36 de APECTEL, analizan los desafíos que impone la seguridad de las redes de telecomunicaciones y los ataques informáticos. La cooperación entre los operadores de la industria y la protección de los consumidores, son materias de preocupación para las economías del Asia Pacífico.

La importancia de Internet como una infraestructura indispensable para el desarrollo de las actividades socioeconómicas del mundo global, ha motivado a las Economías miembros de APEC a enfrentar el incremento y la especialización de los ataques informáticos con una estrategia común. Full press release

Source: SUBTEL, Chile

In Morocco, Decision DG/ANRT/N°13/07 (september 11th 2007) set the rules on telecom services promotion strategies. 

Source: ANRT

During the first half of 2007, ANACOM received 10,259 written complaints and 363 requests for information from users of communications services and from the general public about their dealings with providers of communications services and the use of these services. In addition, a further 2,347 consultations were made by phone or in person.

Compared to the same period of 2006, the overall volume of complaints has increased by 28% from 8,004.

See Press Release

Source: ANACOM

Between 13 August and 7 September 2007 employees of the Office of Electronic Communications inspected how mobile providers implemented the provisions on retail charges for regulated roaming calls and on transparency of information on retail charges derived from Article 4 and Article 6 (3) of the Regulation (EC) No 717/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 June 2007 on roaming on public mobile telephone networks within the Community and amending Directive 2002/21/EC.

Here you can find the complete press release

Source : UKE

On April 4, 2007, the Media Bureau (“Bureau”) of the Federal Communications Commission (“Commission”) announced a filing window opening on Friday, October 12, 2007 and closing on Friday, October 19, 2007 for FM reserved band (channels 201 – 220) applications for noncommercial educational (“NCE”) FM new station and major change applications. On August 9, 2007, the Commission issued a public notice (the “Notice”) seeking comment on a proposed limit of ten NCE FM new station applications during the window for any party. For the reasons stated below, the Commission is adopting the proposed ten-application limit on NCE FM new station applications filed by any party during the window. Full press release

 

Source: FCC, United States

La Comisión de Regulación de Telecomunicaciones publica para conocimiento y comentarios del sector, el documento “Modelo Inicial de Medición del Nivel de Satisfacción del usuario para los servicios de Larga Distancia, Móvil, e Internet”, que describe las principales características de la metodología propuesta para realizar la Medición del NSU de los mencionadas servicios, así como los formatos de las encuestas a utilizar para la prueba de campo. Full report

Source: CRT,Colombia

The consumer guide Phones and Broadband - a Guide for People with Disabilities and Older People, has been launched by ComReg and the National Disability Authority (NDA). The Large Print, Braille, Easy to Read and Audio formats of the guide can be acquired directly from both ComReg and the NDA. The available electronic formats can be accessed below by clicking on the following link to ComReg's consumer website.

Source: ComReg

Consumers in the European Union have been paying up to 60% less for using their mobile phone abroad since this summer. The transition to the Eurotarrif by Europe's mobile phone operators is proceeding according to plan. This is the result of a study carried out by the 27 national telecom regulators – united in the European Regulators Group (ERG) – in collaboration with the European Commission.

(04/10/2007) Mobile operators have generally complied with the requirements to introduce, offer, and make available a "Eurotariff" (tariffs no higher than 49 eurocents per minute for calls made abroad and no higher than 24 eurocents for calls received abroad, excluding VAT) for all their roaming customers from 30 July. By 30 August, around 200 million EU consumers had already switched to the Eurotariff. Many operators have moved faster than legally required and activated the Eurotariff already in July or in August. The ERG study also shows that operators are generally on track to implement the new transparency provisions introduced by the EU Roaming Regulation.. Full press release

Source: Europe's Information Society

Ofcom today published the UK’s first comprehensive review of the children’s television market. The review assesses the current state of children’s programming and the prospects for the future delivery of a wide range of high-quality and original content for children.

Ofcom’s study reveals significant changes in the children’s media market, including:

• Children have an increasing range of media available to them - nearly two thirds of 12-15 year olds have access to the internet and mobile phone while ‘media stacking’ is becoming increasingly common – over 80% of this age group regularly watch TV while engaging with other media devices...Full press release

Source: OFCOM, United Kingdom

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian government plans to criminalize identity theft to give police the ability to stop such activity before any fraud has actually been carried out, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said on Tuesday.

He said he would introduce legislation targeting the actual gathering and trafficking in credit card, banking and other personal data for the purposes of using it deceptively.Full report

Source: Reuters

During the first half of 2007, ANACOM received 10,259 written complaints and 363 requests for information from users of communications services and from the general public about their dealings with providers of communications services and the use of these services. In addition, a further 2,347 consultations were made by phone or in person.

Compared to the same period of 2006, the overall volume of complaints has increased by 28% from 8,004. Full press release

Source: ANACOM, Portugal

La aplicación del canon digital, en las actuales condiciones que han pactado el Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio y el de Cultura, podría llegar a duplicar el precio de algunos dispositivos electrónicos, como determinados teléfonos móviles, según la Asociación de Empresas de Electrónica, Tecnologías de la Información y Telecomunicaciones de España (AETIC).

El canon digital por copia privada es una medida para compensar a los autores y editores prevista por la Ley de Propiedad Intelectual, aprobada el 8 de julio del año pasado, que transpuso así al derecho español las disposiciones de una norma europea aprobada en 2001. Full press release

Source: consumer. es

A Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações (Anatel) publicou ontem a Resolução nº 481, que aprova a Norma para a Certificação e Homologação de Baterias de Lítio e Carregadores Utilizados em Telefones Celulares. As baterias e os carregadores, que antes eram analisados em conjunto com os telefones, passarão por teste específicos de segurança e qualidade. Entre eles, está o que permite avaliar a bateria quando submetida a ações que podem provocar elevação excessiva da temperatura, o que pode desencadear a explosão do material que compõe a célula de armazenamento de energia.

A expectativa é de que as novas regras ajudem a reduzir o comércio dos produtos de origem duvidosa. Com a norma, que afeta um mercado de mais de 110 milhões de linhas móveis, as baterias de celulares deverão portar um selo de segurança, para facilitar a identificação da origem pelo usuário. O selo trará a logomarca da Anatel e o número da homologação, que será um requisito obrigatório para o comércio do produto. Full press release

Source: ANATEL, Brazil

Washington, DC -- The Commission has released an updated agenda for its Digital Television Consumer Education Workshop to be held Wednesday, September 26, 2007, at FCC Headquarters, 445 12^th St., NW, Washington, DC, in the Commission Meeting Room.  It will begin at 8:00 AM and end at 4:15 PM.   The updated agenda is attached.

 

Source: FCC, USA

La actual gestión ha publicado un proyecto de modificación del Reglamento de Calidad de los Servicios Públicos de telecomunicaciones, que establece metas de calidad obligatorias por hora y por componente de la red, bajo apercibimiento de sanción. Además, incorpora nuevos indicadores para regular la calidad de acceso a la red, mensajes de texto, calidad de voz y cobertura y que exigirá para su correcta supervisión de una adecuada provisión de recursos en el Organismo Regulador. Full report

Source: OSIPTEL, Perú

Biel-Bienne, 17.09.2007 - The e-licensing project of the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) is one of the winners of Germany's 7th eGovernment competition and receives the 2007 special prize for Switzerland. The competition awards prizes to projects which drive modernisation of public administration through the use of internet technologies. The award ceremony took place on 14 September in Berlin. The competition is held under the auspices of the German Interior Ministry and is organised by Cisco and Bearing Point.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has directed the licensee of Perth youth community radio station Groove FM to take steps aimed at ensuring compliance with the additional conditions of the station’s community broadcasting licence. On 5 July 2007 ACMA found that the licensee, Youth Media Society of Western Australia, had failed to comply with additional conditions ACMA imposed on its licence in May 2006.

The directions are issued under new enforcement powers conferred on ACMA in February 2007, to enable it to more effectively address contraventions of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992. It is the first time the power to issue a remedial direction has been used in relation to a community broadcasting licensee. Contravening a requirement of a remedial direction issued by ACMA is an offence under the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, and a penalty of up to $5,500 per day may be imposed. Full Press release

Source: ACMA, Australia

The Australian Law Reform Commission is studying whether to force website operators to take down information that may violate privacy.  Matters include whether the Spam Act should cover Bluetooth messages, whether VoIP numbers come under the Do Not Call Register Act and whether to lift candidates, lawmakers and political parties' exemptions from spam and telemarketing laws parties. The report recommends more than 300 privacy changes. The commission recommended banning charges for unlisted phone numbers. The final report is due March 31, 2008.

overview.pdf (977.64 KB)

Source: ALRC

The Federal Trade Commission is warning mortgage brokers and lenders, and media outlets that carry their advertisements for home mortgages, that some of the advertising claims currently appearing in Web sites, newspapers, magazines, direct mail, and unsolicited e-mail and faxes may violate federal law.

See Press release

Source : FTC

Bolivia's telecoms regulator Sittel is in the process of evaluating technical reports presented by mobile operators explaining why they have failed to meet minimum traffic congestion standards, Sittel's public affairs chief Erick Butrón told BNamericas.

Mobile operators had until September 4 to present these reports. According to Butrón, the regulator may decide this week when its technicians will present their final conclusions to the board. Full Press release

Source: Business News Americas

On 4 September 2007 ITU has released a major publication, Trends in Telecommunication Reform: the Road to NGN. This is the 8^th of a series of reports focusing on the ongoing transformation in the telecom/ICT sector to inform regulators and policy makers around the world.

During the past week, the report got news coverage by numerous leading national and international media, witnessing the interest of the ten chapters of research and analysis dedicated to issues related to the transition towards Next Generation Networks (NGN). You can find links to some of the news reports in the attached document.

More information about the 2007 report is available at the “On the Road to NGN” website.

The publication is available for sale at the ITU bookshop.

New Delhi:8^th Sept 2007-The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (the Authority) had issued “Telecom Unsolicited Commercial Communications Regulations, 2007”,on 5^th Jun‘07 for putting in place a mechanism for curbing the unwanted telemarketing calls. The Regulation prescribed a three months time frame to establish a National Do Not Call Registry (NDNC).

 

1. For the implementation of the Regulation, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has authorized NIC for installation, operation and maintenance of NDNC Registry.

2. DoT also issued guidelines on 6^th June,2007 to the existing telemarketers to get themselves register with the DoT through their telecom service providers by 31^st August, 2007.

3. It was envisaged that the NDNC registry would be implemented in three phases:-

i. Online registration of the telemarketer

ii. Registration of telephone users not wanting commercial calls/unwanted calls with their respective telecom service providers so that unsolicited calls are stopped after 45 days of their registration with Telecom Service Providers.

iii. Telemarketers to first check their subscriber calling list with the National Do Not Call Registry, so that such registered numbers are not sent the unsolicited commercial communication. Full Press release

 

Source: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), India

On Tuesday, September 4, 2007, came into force the decision on establishing certain financial obligations owed by the providers of electronic communications networks or services and of the postal services providers to the National Regulatory Authority for Communications and Information Technology.

 

The maximum term provided for establishing the monitoring tariff owed for 2007, in accordance with the provisions of the Government Emergency Ordinance no.79/2002 on the general regulatory framework for communications, approved with amendments and completions by Law no.591/2002, with the subsequent amendments and completions, is September 15, 2007. Full press release

 

Source: ANRC, Romania

School children from each state and territory will participate today in the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s online safety program, Cybersmart Detectives.

ACMA will run the event in collaboration with Victoria Police, the National Association for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (NAPCAN) and law enforcement agencies Australia wide. Full Press release

Source: ACMA, Australia

A Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações (Anatel) e as cinco concessionárias de telefonia fixa local - Brasil Telecom, Oi/Telemar, Telefônica, CTBC Telecom e Sercomtel - assinam o Termo de Obrigações de Universalização que vai beneficiar instituições de assistência às pessoas com deficiência auditiva. A partir da assinatura do termo, as concessionárias terão nove meses para atender a todas as instituições cadastradas na Secretaria Especial de Direitos Humanos da Presidência da República (SEDH) e que tenha assinado o Termo de Adesão. A cerimônia será realizada às 16h desta quarta-feira, 5, no miniauditório da Agência, localizado no Setor de Autarquias Sul, Quadra 6, Bloco E, em Brasília.

Esta é a primeira vez que serão utilizados recursos do Fundo de Universalização dos Serviços de Telecomunicações (Fust). Estão estimados cerca de R$ 1,3 milhão para cobrir a parcela de custo exclusivamente atribuível ao cumprimento das obrigações de universalização que não possa ser recuperada com a exploração eficiente do serviço. O ressarcimento às concessionárias será realizado em parcelas semestrais, ao longo de cinco anos.  O Fundo cobrirá os custos de instalação de uma linha telefônica na sede da instituição beneficiária de isenção do pagamento mensal da assinatura básica e dos equipamentos de interface que permitam a utilização da telefonia fixa pelas pessoas com deficiência auditiva, aparelhos denominados Terminais de Telecomunicações para Surdos (TTS's). Full Press release

Source: Anatel, Brazil

Geneva, 4 September 2007 — ITU has released a major publication, Trends in Telecommunication Reform: the Road to NGN. In its 8th edition, Trends reports on the evolution of circuit-switched telecommunication into "next-generation" networks, as operators around the world fight to remain competitive. The Report aims at enabling regulators and policy-makers in developing countries to better understand the changes transforming the ICT sector so they can evolve their policy and regulatory frameworks to leverage today’s technological and market developments.

What does NGN mean for regulators? They have many choices to make. Some view NGN as the intersection of the telecom and Internet worlds. If so, which regulatory regime should apply? The current heavily-regulated telecom regulatory model? The lightly-regulated Internet model? Or some new hybrid model? The migration to NGN affords an opportunity for regulators to analyze current practices and revise them in light of what makes sense going forward. This Trends report offers a detailed discussion of the kinds of measures that are needed to ensure that regulation keeps pace with technological and market developments so that the best of NGN is available to all of the world’s people.

The ITU press release is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

More information about the content of the 2007 report is available at the “On the Road to NGN” website.

The publication is available for sale at the ITU bookshop.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has issued a written direction to Bytecard Pty Ltd to comply with the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman Scheme (TIO Scheme).

‘The TIO Scheme is an essential consumer protection mechanism that provides consumers with an independent avenue for resolving disputes with their communications provider. Given the nature of a co-regulatory environment, the failure of this provider to comply with the scheme results in its customers not having the same level of protection as other consumers,’ said Chris Chapman, ACMA Chairman. Full Press release

Source: ACMA, Australia

Last week, Lebanon’s Telecoms Minister promised to review mobile phone call charges before the end of his government’s term. The country’s charges are considered to be amongst the highest in the world, with pre-paid calls costing an average of more than USD0.45 per minute, and calls for contract users averaging around USD0.20 a minute.


See more

Source: Telegeography

OTTAWA-GATINEAU —The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today issued a public notice asking for input on the nature, governance, structure and mandate of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS).

In April 2007, the federal government called on the telecommunications industry to establish an independent, industry-funded agency to resolve complaints from consumers and small businesses. This new agency (the CCTS) was set up by industry members on a provisional basis and began operations on July 23, 2007. On that same date, the agency’s founding members filed a proposal with the CRTC describing its organization, which the Commission will consider during a public consultation starting on November 14, 2007, in Gatineau. Full Press release

Source: CRTC, Canada

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has instigated its first formal investigation under the Do Not Call Register Act 2006, which established the Do Not Call Register for Australian consumers. ACMA will investigate Lifestyle Dynamics following numerous complaints from people listed on the Register about continuing to receive calls from the company.

The Do Not Call Scheme commenced on 31 May 2007 and has since attracted more than 1.6 million registrations. Since that time, ACMA has worked with industry to build compliance with the new scheme. As part of this approach, ACMA initially wrote to 259 businesses that had been the subject of complaints, warning them of their new obligations and advising them of the penalty provisions for non-compliance. Full Press release

Source: ACMA, Australia

By means of the Electronic System of Public Procurement (SEAP), available from March 2002 on the website address www.e-licitatie.ro, the registered public institutions organize award procedures of the public procurement contracts by electronic means, in which any economic operator may participate. 

Starting January 1, 2007, according to the Government Emergency Ordinance no.34/2006 regarding the award of the public procurement contracts, public work concession contracts and services concession contracts, all state institutions have the obligation to publish the individual service contract forecast, the service procurement notice and the award notices, as well as the invitations to tender related to the requests for quotation within SEAP. So far, the 8,166 contracting authorities registered within the Electronic System of Public Procurement have published 106,134 notices and invitations to tender related to the public procurement procedures. 6,028 of them were published in the Official Journal of the European Union, thus Romania holds the first position in electronic transmission of notices towards OJEU. Full Press release

 

Source: ANRC, Romania

Consumers and emerging technologies will be the focus of discussion at this week’s inaugural Communications Consumer Dialogue, jointly hosted by the Australian Communications and Media Authority and Communications Alliance.

To be held on Wednesday 22 August 2007, the dialogue will focus on new and emerging technologies and how they will benefit consumers.

‘The dialogue is an opportunity for consumer representatives and those with an interest in consumer issues to focus on how Australia will achieve equitable access in the area of emerging technologies,’ said Chris Chapman, ACMA Chairman. Full Press release

Source: ACMA, Ausralia

Bolivian telecoms watchdog Sittel is due to give local mobile telephony operators 10 days starting Wednesday (Aug 15) to decongest the current mobile traffic on their networks or face sanctions, Sittel head Clifford Paravicini told BNamericas.

According to Paravicini, Sittel's technicians determined last weekend that the average mobile congestion on the networks of the three operators was 20% while regulations allow for a maximum of 5%. Full Press release

Source: Business News Americas

The Australian Communications and Media Authority and Communications Alliance have come together to present the inaugural Communications Consumer Dialogue, which will focus on how new and emerging technologies might benefit consumers.

Louise Sylvan, Deputy Chair, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, will deliver the keynote address, while award winning journalist Jennie Brockie will be the master of ceremonies and moderator at the event on 22 August 2007.

‘The Communications Consumer Dialogue will see Communications Alliance and ACMA working together for the benefit of consumers. The two organisations will combine to look at how consumers can gain the benefits that future communication technologies will provide,’ said Anne Hurley, Communications Alliance CEO. Full Press release

Source: ACMA, Australia

Chilean mobile operator Claro is violating consumer protection laws by reporting subscribers that are behind on bill payments to credit reporting agency Dicom, telecom regulator Subtel's head Pablo Bello told press.

According to Bello, Claro, which is owned by Mexico's América Móvil (NYSE: AMX), has been sending subscriber information to Dicom, owned by US credit reporting agency Equifax, for the last six months for late payments of between 15,000 pesos (US$28.65) and 500,000 pesos.

However, consumer protection laws mandate that consumers cannot be reported to Dicom for non-payment of utility bills, José Roa, director of Chile's consumer protection agency Sernac said. Chilean authorities have registered about 180 cases involving Claro reporting subscribers to Dicom, Roa added. Full Press Release

Source: Business News Americas

Washington, D.C. – In a Second Report & Order (Order) adopted today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revised the 700 MHz band plan and service rules to promote the creation of a nationwide interoperable broadband network for public safety and to facilitate the availability of new and innovative wireless broadband services for consumers.

The 700 MHz Band spectrum, which runs from 698-806 MHz, currently is occupied by television broadcasters and will be made available for other wireless services, including public safety and commercial services, as a result of the digital television (DTV) transition. The Digital Television and Public Safety Act of 2005 (DTV Act) set a firm deadline of February 17, 2009, for the completion of the DTV transition. The DTV Act also requires the FCC to commence an auction of the previously unauctioned commercial spectrum in the 700 MHz Band no later than January 28, 2008. Full Press Release

Source: Federal Communications Commission (FCC), United States

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today issued a Request for Proposal to find an operator to develop, implement and manage the National Do Not Call List (National DNCL).

The National DNCL will help reduce the number of unsolicited calls Canadians receive as they will have the option of adding their numbers to the database. The CRTC published rules for the creation and operation of the list on July 3, 2007.

Link to the press release

Source: CRTC

Washington, DC – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) which seeks comment on potential DTV consumer education initiatives. Among other things, the NPRM seeks comment on requiring broadcasters, multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs), retailers and manufacturers to take certain actions to publicize the digital transition. It will facilitate the upcoming transition to digital on February 17, 2009, a deadline established by Congress.  A successful completion of the digital transition depends upon ensuring that appropriate policies are in place to minimize the burdens and costs borne by consumers. It also depends on government and industry working together in promoting consumer awareness. Full Press Release

Source: Federal Communications Commission (FCC), United States

O Conselho Diretor da Agência Nacional de Telecomunicações (Anatel) aprovou hoje, em sua 444ª reunião, alterações no Regulamento do Serviço Móvel Pessoal (SMP). O regulamento define as regras gerais para a prestação do serviço da telefonia móvel, estabelece direitos e deveres (dos usuários e das prestadoras) e também trata das formas de provimento do serviço. As principais alterações aprovadas pela Anatel ampliam e consolidam os direitos dos usuários e aumentam os deveres das prestadoras. Entre as inovações decorrentes das regras aprovadas - que entrarão em vigor seis meses após sua publicação no Diário Oficial da União - destacam-se:

Créditos - As operadoras serão obrigadas a oferecer créditos pré-pagos com validade de até 180 dias e revalidar os créditos expirados a partir da inserção de novos créditos (desde que antes do prazo de rescisão do contrato). Full Press Release

Source: ANATEL, Brazil

The seventh annual CRTC Telecom Monitoring Report shows that the residential market is experiencing vigorous competition due to the efforts undertaken by cable companies and, to a lesser extent, other providers of local telephone service.

The telecommunications industry continues to demonstrate growth, which is being driven by the adoption of new technologies by Canadians. For instance, Internet and cellular telephone services accounted for 50% of all telecommunications revenues in 2006, a jump from 45% over the previous year. Full Press Release

Source: Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Canada

Consumers in deregulated markets will benefit from increased competition between local telephone service providers, in the same way they already do when choosing between competing long-distance, wireless and Internet services,” said Konrad von Finckenstein, Q.C., Chairman of the CRTC. Full Press Release

Source: Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Canada

"Canada's New Government believes that an independent agency with a mandate to resolve complaints from individuals and small business retail customers is an integral component of a deregulated telecommunications market," said Minister Bernier, Minister of Industry. "We continue to believe that reliance on market forces and competition benefits both Canadian businesses and consumers."

The Telecommunications Policy Review Panel, in its 2006 report, recommended the creation of such a telecommunications consumer agency, noting that it would protect the interests of Canadian consumers in a world where "telecommunications services are becoming more pervasive and increasingly complex for consumers." Full Press Release

Source: Ministry of Industry, Canada

Ampliar a participação da sociedade no processo de regulamentação das telecomunicações, bem como traçar os perfis de usuários que fazem críticas e sugestões a documentos da Anatel disponíveis para consulta na Internet. Foi com base nesses propósitos que o Sistema de Acompanhamento de Consulta Pública (Sacp) passou por alterações recentemente. A grande novidade é que o cidadão, ao fazer seu cadastro ou recadastramento, poderá escolher a opção "receber notificação de novas consultas" - o que implica o recebimento de e-mail toda a vez em que forem disponibilizados novos documentos no sistema. O usuário poderá, além disso, escolher os temas sobre os quais deseja receber a notificação de inclusão de consultas públicas. Full Press Release

Source: ANATEL, Brazil

Customers with a life threatening medical condition will benefit from new priority assistance arrangements registered today by ACMA.

The priority assistance code seeks to put in place consistent, industry-wide arrangements for the provision of priority services for a residential customer (or an individual in their household) who has a diagnosed life-threatening medical condition.

The priority assistance code was revised to ensure industry wide consistency, revised timelines for priority assistance customers in Connect Outstanding situations and to address the offering of priority assistance using new technologies.

Source: ACMA, Australia

The opening up of network industries, such as telecommunications, transport and utilities industries to competition has benefited users by putting pressure on service providers to keep their costs and prices down. Access to services at affordable prices for the less well off is also improving. However, in some Member States delays in market opening and in removing legal and technical barriers to new entrants have held performance back and competition is developing only slowly in postal services, the railways and the energy sector.

"The EU's policy of opening the telecoms, transport and other network industries to competition has been the right one, since this has made them more competitive putting downward pressure on prices without compromising either the service or its quality. But much more needs to be done to extract the full benefits of competition for the consumers of Europe," Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said. Full Press Release

Source: European Commission

ANRCTI launches for public consultation a draft decision on the rules based on which the Authority will designate the universal service provider which shall have the obligation of making available for the telephony services users a subscribers directory and directory services, that will include the telephone numbers as well as certain identification data of the subscribers of all publicly available telephone services providers.  

 

At present, in Romania, the commercial mechanisms specific to a competitive market do not satisfy the end-users’ right to have access to this type of directories and directory services, set out by the EU Directive which regulates the universal service in the electronic communications sector. The Law no.304/2003 on the Universal Service and users’ rights relating to the electronic communications networks and services, with the subsequent amendments and completions, stipulates that the universal service providers designated by the Authority have the obligation to make available to the end-users at least one subscribers directory, in printed format, electronic format or both, and at least one directory service, which would comprise the subscribers of all fixed or mobile telephone services providers, whether the payment for such services is made in advance (through prepaid cards, for instance) or after the services had been provided.

 

Source: ANRC, Romania

Washington, DC – The Federal Communications Commission today announced it will hold a day-long Digital Television Consumer Education Workshop at its Washington, DC headquarters on Wednesday, September 26, 2007.

 

The purpose of the workshop is to provide an opportunity for all interested parties to jointly discuss the challenges associated with the upcoming transition and explore ways to develop coordinated consumer education activities.  Organizations representing a broad range of consumers and other stakeholders will be represented, including those who represent senior citizens, low-income consumers, non-English speakers, people with disabilities, tribes, and public interest organizations working on behalf of underserved customers or those living in rural areas. 

Source: FCC, United States

Costa Rican telecoms and IT chamber Camtic believes the highest priority in preparing the telecoms sector for liberalization is the creation of a suitable regulator, Camtic president Alexander Mora told BNamericas.

For the transition to a completely liberalized market to truly benefit consumers the changes that come have to go much further than just turning a state monopoly into a private monopoly, he said.

"The most important issue of the telecoms liberalization is the overall regulation... we need a regulator with teeth and claws," Mora said.

Source: Business News Americas

ACMA has registered a revised code of practice developed by the Australian Communications Industry Forum (a subsidiary of Communications Alliance Ltd) that allows consumers to preserve their privacy when using telecommunication services. The Calling Number Display Code allows consumers to choose whether to send or block calling number display information.

Consumers still have the option to block or enable calling number display. This can be exercised either permanently or on a call-by-call basis. ‘The revised code provides service providers with more flexibility in the means of blocking or enabling caller number display information, while preserving the ability of customers to either block or display their information’ said said the Communications Alliance Chief Executive Officer. Full Press Release

Source: Australian Government and Media Authority (ACMA)

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has registered a code of practice that provides stronger protection for consumers against the unauthorised transfer of telephone services from one provider to another.

The new Customer Transfer Code is a result of the revision of a code registered in 2001. ‘The revised code ensures that the person who is responsible for the service is the one who consents to the transfer. If a service is transferred without the account holder’s consent, the transfer is unauthorised and can be reversed,’ said Chris Chapman, ACMA Chairman. Full Press Release

Source: Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)

The Commission has today sent Spain a letter of formal notice for failing to comply with the television advertising rules contained in the "Television without Frontiers" Directive. A report by an independent consultant revealed numerous and frequent infringements of the rules by the major Spanish television channels. The infringements relate particularly to the limit stipulated by the Directive, of 12 minutes per hour for spot advertising and teleshopping.

Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media, said "Spain has not taken the requisite measures to ensure effective compliance with all the provisions of the "Television without Frontiers" Directive. Everything must now be done to remedy this situation and to establish a genuine internal market for audiovisual media services". Full Press Release

For further information: Press Pack about the new Directive on audiovisual media services without frontiers: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemlongdetail.cfm?item_id=3430

Source: European Commisssion

   

ARCEP is submitting for consultation its proposed modification of France Telecom’s obligations on the wholesale call origination market. This adaptation of the regulation applicable to France Telecom alone due to its competitive position is based on the establishment of symmetrical regulation (i.e. applying to all operators) in May.

France Telecom’s implementation of a repayment offer for other operators, instead of the current third party invoicing offer, will help to make invoices easier to understand for France Telecom customers.

ARCEP continues its improvement process for the VAS market’s functioning

In 2006, ARCEP initiated an analysis of the functioning of the VAS value chain (08, 3BPQ and 118XYZ numbers). This showed that the increase in the number of local loop operators and service providers, which is also a factor of competition and choice for consumers, has made the task of content publishers wishing to be reached by as many subscribers as possible more complex. ARCEP has also observed increasing dissatisfaction on the part of consumers, for whom trust in the use of VAS is based in large part on improving transparency, pricing clarity and the ethical control of content.

ARCEP’s process is organised around three major stages

First, ARCEP put in place a "symmetrical" regulation decision, applicable to all operators, in order to clarify the legal framework for end-to-end accessibility of VAS and inter-operator relations. The second stage of the regulatory aspect launched today by ARCEP involves adapting, following this first stage, the so-called "asymmetrical" regulation, which is applied solely to France Telecom, and will end with the adoption and implementation of this new decision (cf. the call for public consultation appended to this press release). The third aspect of ARCEP’s action will continue through discussions with players and consumer associations aiming to ensure greater transparency and pricing clarity, which are key to restoring consumer trust in the use of these services.

ARCEP renews its call for ethical control of the content of VAS, which was formerly performed by CST-CTA, with the announced creation of a national deontological commission of on-line public communication services.

Towards greater invoice clarity for France Telecom customers

The modification of France Telecom’s offer for third-party operators should help to make invoices easier for customers to understand. Currently, France Telecom’s operator offer, called "third party billing", has VAS calls managed by third party operators which are billed in the "third section" of France Telecom customers’ invoices. This section shows the names of the technical intermediaries between France Telecom and the content publishers, which are invisible and often unknown to the consumer. The invoice is often issued by France Telecom several months after the call has been made.

Figure 1: VAS chain from the France Telecom customer to the content publisher

Before the end of the year, France Telecom customers’ invoices will have all calls to VAS in the same section, and the "third section" will disappear. France Telecom will invoice all VAS calls on its own behalf and will answer directly any question regarding these calls through its customer service, as do other fixed or mobile operators which already propose this service to their own customers.

If customers have a question regarding the "third section" of France Telecom’s invoice, depending on the VAS, they must contact either France Telecom’s customer service or the third party operator’s. By the end of this year, if there is a problem with a VAS, customers will always contact France Telecom’s customer service.

Figure 2: Changes to France Telecom’s customer invoice

New Delhi, 15^th June, 2007- Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released a regulation called “Telecommunication Consumers Education and Protection Fund Regulations, 2007”.

 

2. As per the regulation, a Telecommunication Consumers Education and Protection Fund shall be established by the TRAI for the telecom consumers’ awareness, education and for protection of their interests. Telecom Service Providers, who may have charged their subscribers any amount in excess of the rates of telecommunication service determined under any regulation or order or direction made under the TRAI Act, or amount in excess of the rates announced by the service providers where the rates have been notified under market forbearance, which could not be refunded to the concerned subscribers and thus lying as unclaimed with the service providers, shall transfer the excess amount so collected to the credit of the Telecommunication Consumers Education and Protection Fund. The said amount shall be transferred within a period of thirty days after being so directed by the TRAI and in case where no direction has been issued by the TRAI within a period of thirty days after the expiry of 12 months from the date on which such amount became due for refund or after expiry of period of limitation specified under any law. It is estimated that various telecom companies have approximately Rs.10 crore undisbursed amount accumulated over last ten years.

 

3. It is pertinent to note that refunds to a large number of consumers of different service providers became due under various Directions or Orders issued by the Authority from time to time, but a significant amount of these excess moneys could not be refunded to the consumers for different reasons by the concerned service providers and accordingly, such sums of moneys are lying with the service providers in separately earmarked accounts. The retention of such excess charged moneys, which actually belong to the consumers, by the service providers would amount to undue or unjust enrichment and, therefore, these moneys are required to be ploughed by an institutionalised mechanism for utilising such moneys for activities aimed at promotion of telecommunication consumer’s education and protection.

 

4. It has been provided in the regulation that only the income from such amount credited to the corpus of the Telecommunication Consumers Education and Protection Fund shall be utilised for consumers’ education and protection. However, as the generation of income by way of interest may take some time and, in the mean time to undertake activities related to telecommunication consumers’ education and protection, it has been provided that during the initial period of 18 months a small portion limited to five per cent of the initial corpus of the Telecommunication Consumers Education and Protection Fund shall be utilized for said purposes.

 

5. All expenditure from the Telecommunication Consumers Education and Protection Fund shall be incurred on the recommendations of the committee constituted under these regulations which, inter alia, consist of the representatives of the service providers and the consumers’ organizations to ensure transparency. The expenditure shall be incurred for the following purposes:-

(a) to undertake programmes to educate the consumers of the Telecommunication services about various measures taken by the Central Government or TRAI for protecting the interests of consumers of telecommunication services;

(b) to conduct studies and market research projects, either directly or through specialized agencies or institutions on matters relating to protection of the interests of consumers of telecommunication services;

(c) to organize seminars, symposia and workshops on the subject of consumer welfare and consumer education in the field of telecommunication.

 

6. The regulations provide that no amount in respect of which a claim has been filed before any court of law, tribunal or consumer forum or in respect of which an order has been made by any court of law, tribunal or consumer forum shall be transferred to the Fund. The regulations further provide that any person, becoming entitled to refund of any amount in pursuance of an order made by a Consumer Forum under the Consumer Protection Act,1986 or by any court or tribunal, subsequent to the transfer of such amount to the Telecommunication Consumers Education and Protection Fund shall be paid such amount by the service provider in accordance with the order made under that Act or the court or tribunal, as the case may be, and the service provider may apply to the Authority for reimbursement of such amount.

 

7. The Authority expects that the measures for the consumers’ education and their protection as envisaged in the regulation would:

(i) create awareness among the telecommunication consumers in different parts of India in respect of their rights;

(ii) eventually reduce the amount which may remain unclaimed in future by such consumers;

(iii) educate them regarding latest development in the telecommunication sector and telecom laws and steps taken by the Authority and Central Government to protect and promote the interests of the telecommunication consumers; and

(iv) also prevent the avoidable events of excess charging of rates by the service providers at times which is often unintentional due to fast changes taking place in the telecommunication sector and other reasons.

Full text of the “Telecommunication Consumers Education and Protection Fund Regulations, 2007 (6 of 2007)” is available on TRAI’s website: www.trai.gov.in

Source: TRAI, India

Information and Communications Minister Hon. Mutahi Kagwe officially launched the equipment, known as the Quality of Service Monitoring System (QSMS), at the CCK offices in Nairobi. Other facilities launched together with the QSMS were a specialized ICT library and a Geographic Information System (GIS) for the communication sector.

The increase in fraud caused by the theft of terminals in Latin America, is a problem that has affected operators as well as governments and final users, generating millions in losses.

On other hand, preventing by the way of blocking handsets in the country of the theft, far away from stopping or decreasing the problem, have made the handsets to cross the borders.

Other fact that generates stolen handsets traffic through the borders is that countries show differences in prices which stimulates these crimes maker to traffic stolen handsets from countries with lower prices to countries’ black markets where these devices are more expensive.

At this point, a whole chapter could be dedicated to show how high taxes schedules are linked to more expensive mobile services and consequently benefits the growth of black markets, affecting general health and growth of the economy. But this can be developed in more depth, as an special relevant issue, in other occasion.

The GSM Association have developed a tool named IMEI Database, which permit to build black and grey lists of stolen and lost handsets, from the management of the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity), a unique number for every mobile phone.

The connection to this solution is free for all GSM operators, who constitute 70% of the regional market share (index which is still increasing).

The solution is very useful in order to combat the theft of terminals. This tool prevents the stolen terminals from being activated by other companies, because regardless of the SIM card that is inserted, the equipment will not work.

For this system to be usable and effective, the operators must have the EIR platform (Equipment Identity Register), which imply an important investment for the operator. This platform allows building a database with unique IMEI numbers of the lost or stolen telephones of each company. It is possible to find today in market variety of these solutions with variety of prices also.

In spite of this or other systems could be efficient in terms of their work, it is indispensable to legislate in every country of the region for the theft, alteration and commercialize of stolen handsets to be considered a grave crime, even with jail punishment, as in fact it happens with other goods, as the car. Otherwise, these crime makers will never feel the menace of the law.

In our region, because in terms of public policies, the theft of mobile telephones is perceived as a serious social matter and an increasing problem, there are already a number of countries that have taken initiatives at a national level, and even established regulatory requirements in certain markets. However, it seems to us that there is a big space in terms of punishing the crime.

As an Association, we believe and we are convinced that this is the way to take to combat theft of mobile telephones, maintain the consumer’s trust and above all show the commitment and concern of the operators and regulators in respect to this important issue, identifying theft as a crime penalized by the law, such as is the case today in respect to piracy of music and console games. see http://www.citel.oas.org/newsletter/2007/marzo/fraude_i.asp

 

Cable has operated under a special legal regime since its beginning. The law of 9 July 2004 on electronic communications and audiovisual communication services established the principle of bringing agreements signed between territorial units and cable operators into compliance with the legislative framework in force, setting1^st July 2006 as the deadline. However, by that date, most agreements had not been modified, due to a lack of agreement between the players.

The law of 5 March 2007 on the modernisation of audiovisual broadcasting and the television of the future established the process which would lead to the agreements being brought into compliance. The law makes ARCEP responsible for drafting a public report on the conformity of cable agreements.

The legislator wanted this report to:

• determine the state of advancement of the compliance of the agreements

• distinguish between the main legal categories of the agreements

• make recommendations to guarantee their compliance

Work has already begun with Avicca (Association des Villes et Collectivités pour les Communications électroniques et l’Audiovisuel) and Noos-Numéricâble.

ARCEP wishes to involve all interested players in this process. They are invited to submit any information they feel ARCEP should know (agreements, addenda) as well as their technical, legal and economic analyses to: report-cable@arcep.fr

ARCEP will hold a public consultation based on a pre-report during the month of June, for a period of two weeks. The final report will be published in early July.

Source: ARCEP, France

Ofcom today announced a new regulatory code for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers that will ensure that consumers have access to important information about the capabilities of their service. All VoIP providers will be required to comply with the code from June 2007.

VoIP services offer consumers the prospect of cheaper calls - especially for calls from one VoIP service to another - and valuable new services such as call handling and unified messaging.

Over the last twelve months a range of new VoIP services have been launched and demand continues to grow. Industry forecasts predict that there could be as many as three million users in the UK by the end of this year.

Following public consultation in 2006, Ofcom has decided to put in place measures to ensure that consumers have access to information which helps them make informed purchasing decisions. The new code of practice requires VoIP providers to make clear:

• whether or not the service includes access to emergency services;
• the extent to which the service depends on the user's home power supply;
• whether directory assistance, directory listings, access to the operator or the itemisation of calls are available; and
• whether consumers will be able to keep their telephone number if they choose to switch providers at a later date. (…)

 

Source: Ofcom, UK.

The Ecuadorian telecoms regulator has prepared a plan to improve the quality of service (QoS) in mobile telephony. The plan, which includes various aspects such as the number of successful calls, average delivery time of SMS, areas of network coverage problems, service interruptions, and QoS on special events, has been passed to the national mobile operators Otecel S.A. (operating under the brand name Movistar), Conecel S.A. (operating under the brand name Porta), and TelecSA (operating under the brand name Alegro PCS) for execution. Hereafter, mobile operators will be obliged to produce periodical reports over network capacity, investment plans, and projects of infrastructure upgrades as part of the plan's execution, which coincides with the reviewing of the mobile concessions of Movistar and Porta in 2008.

Source: Communications Direct.

Russia's Supreme Court has upheld the legality of fees for calls from fixed-line to mobile phones, ITAR-TASS reported Friday.

 Earlier this year, Stanislav Mirochnik, a lawyer and an aide to a State Duma deputy, filed a claim with the Supreme Court seeking to void a governmental ruling on local and long-distance communications. In particular, Mirochnik challenged the fees that fixed-line users subscribed to tariff plans with unlimited calling have to pay when they make calls to mobile users. The court rejected Mirochnik's claim. The fees were introduced in July 2006 simultaneously with the launch of the Calling Party Pays (CPP) principle. In most cases, fixed-line users pay 1.5 rubles per minute for calls to mobile phones.

Source: Cellular-News.

Ofcom today announced an inquiry into the use of premium rate telecoms services (PRS) in television programmes.

Premium rate calls cost up to £1.50 per minute from the BT network and typical services include TV vote lines, competitions, and interactive TV games.

Viewers and a range of other stakeholders have raised serious concerns with Ofcom regarding apparent systematic compliance failure on the part of a number of broadcasters, whose actions appear to contravene existing consumer protection rules. (…)

The inquiry will examine:

• Consumer protection issues and audiences’ attitudes to the use of PRS in television programmes;
• The benefits and risks to broadcasters in the use of PRS in programmes;
• The respective compliance and editorial responsibilities of broadcasters, producers and telecoms network operators and others involved in those programmes;
• The effectiveness of broadcasters’ and telecoms operators’ internal compliance procedures, guidelines and arrangements to ensure compliance with Ofcom and ICSTIS codes;

The inquiry will also propose recommendations on actions necessary to restore confidence and trust. (…)

Source : Ofcom, UK.

Bringing together regulatory authorities from all around the world, the 7th Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) has identified best practice guidelines needed to facilitate the migration of Next Generation Networks (NGN). The 38-point roadmap is designed to encourage regulatory frameworks that foster innovation, investment and affordable access to NGN. "Our goal is to encourage the design of regulatory frameworks that foster innovation, investment and affordable access to NGNs and that facilitate the migration to NGN and ultimately lead to bridging the digital divide," said Dr Hamadoun I. Touré, ITU Secretary-General. "We believe the best practices adopted at this meeting will ultimately offer the possibility of delivering real benefits to providers and consumers, through cost reduction as well as offering innovative new services". The best practice guidelines underscore the importance of embracing the principles of a clear and transparent regulatory process including the adoption and enforcement of rules; technology-neutral and competitive network provision under a coherent approach that address the issues raised by convergence. The guidelines also call on regulators to adopt forward-looking regimes subjected to regular reassessments to ensure that undue regulatory barriers to competition and innovation are removed. This on-going monitoring would also ensure that users and providers are able to migrate to future networks whenever market conditions are met. Mohamed Al Ghanim, Director General of the TRA of the UAE and Chairman of GSR 2007 said, "GSR is the industry’s premiere symposium for ICT regulators and we are delighted that it has concluded on such a high note. We at the TRA of the United Arab Emirates are firmly committed to adopting the best practices identified at this symposium and tailor them for the UAE market", Al Ghanim added. "We encourage all to reap the benefits of these guidelines in order to collectively raise the standards of the telecommunications industry." Regulators are also urged to adopt investment friendly regulation considered as of paramount importance for the success of NGN network deployment, while maintaining a level playing field and protecting consumer interests. The adoption of flexible but accurate interconnection models are also encouraged to allow smooth transitioning to NGNs. In particular, participants agreed that regulators should take steps to ensure that the market suffers no undue distortion of competitiveness. In view of the high level of convergence both at the transport and service level, participants felt that there was a risk that NGN providers and operators could be in a position to restrict service level competition to their own advantage. There was therefore agreement that regulators should be vigilant and monitor any incident that could require a regulatory response in a way that would not act as a deterrent for NGN service providers and operators. Regulators are also asked to keep in mind the need to create regulatory certainty for both incumbent and competing or alternative providers. "NGN is seen as somewhere between the telecom and Internet worlds, creating a whole new range of issues to be tackled by regulators," said Mr Sami Al-Basheer Al-Morshid, Director of ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT)". "The best practice guidelines endorsed by over 100 CEOs and board members of national regulatory authorities come a long way in addressing the issues and provide the way forward for all regulators around the world," he added. Because the deployment of NGN will not happen overnight, the best practices encourage regulators to define policies that allow for the co-existence of legacy and IP networks, alternative voice services such as VoIP or bundled services that can offer voice together with TV and Internet also called triple play. In doing so, regulators are to consider applying the same obligations to all operators and providers of telephony services whether traditional irrespective of how they are delivered to consumers, under the symmetrical regulatory approach. Commenting on the success of the Symposium, Professor Ibrahim Kadi, Senior Advisor of the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) of Saudi Arabia said, "GSR 2007 met its set objectives of providing networking opportunities and the symposium format facilitated the sharing of knowledge and experiences amongst regulators from all over the world." The best practice guidelines cover all aspects of service provision including authorization, access, interconnection and interoperability, numbering and NGN identification systems, universal access, quality of service, consumer awareness, security and protection. This year’s event introduced a new feature, Speed Exchanges, to provide additional opportunities for participants to meet informally and exchange views. Topics discussed in the Speed Exchanges included interconnection, the enabling environment, consumer protection, quality of service, regulatory implications of VoIP, why holding public consultation on NGN, international roaming, regulatory issues for convergence and what to do with regulatory bottlenecks. Speed Exchanges were also held on building confidence and security in the use of ICT as called for by the Action Plan of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and on the next steps in the negotiations of the World Trade Organization (WTO). "The Speed Exchanges proved extremely useful and came at the right time," expressed Roxanne Maria McElvane, Senior Counselor of International Development at the US Federal Communications Commission International Bureau. "After two days of high-level presentations and discussions, the exchanges allowed us to address specific topics and areas of interest with other regulators from around the world providing greater interaction and networking opportunities." The Symposium was organized by ITU and hosted by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the United Arab Emirates (TRA). More than 470 participants took part in the Symposium, with Heads and Board Members from 100 national regulatory authorities as well as private sector representatives and international organizations. http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/treg/Events/Seminars/GSR/GSR07/index.html

India's Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has announced that it has advised the Telecom Commission to fine seven telecoms operators, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Hutchison Essar and Tata Teleservices, for failing to meet their roll-out obligations. Under their new Universal Access Service (UAS) licences, the seven operators were obliged to provide 90% external and in-building coverage within their licensed service areas. The DoT has asked the Telecoms Commission to levy a fine of 70 million rupees (US$1.6 million) per service area.

Source: Global Insight.

Ofcom today set out its intention to extend existing rules designed to prevent mis-selling by fixed line telephone providers. Ofcom considers that these rules work in the interests of consumers, protecting them from inappropriate sales practices and ensuring that they can shop around for better deals with confidence.

Mis-selling refers to inappropriate sales and marketing activities including ‘slamming’, where customers can be switched from one company to another without their express knowledge and consent.

In May 2005 Ofcom introduced new regulations designed to combat mis-selling. General Condition 14.5 requires providers of fixed-line telephony products to establish, then comply with, a code of practice for sales and marketing in accordance with Ofcom’s guidelines. These rules are currently scheduled to expire in May of this year. Ofcom today published proposals to extend these regulations past that point.

Ofcom also proposes that the General Condition be expanded to include providers of services using Local Loop Unbundling (LLU). While the number of complaints related to mis-selling of LLU services is currently low, the potential for consumer harm may increase as providers increasingly migrate customers to LLU. It is essential that customers feel protected from mis-selling in an increasingly competitive market.

In February 2006 Ofcom reviewed current approaches to migrations, switching and mis-selling across transferable voice and broadband products. It assessed whether a common switching process might better protect consumers from harmful excesses of a competitive market. Ofcom will complete this work during 2007.

Ofcom is seeking views on these proposals by 17 April 2007. See Related Items for the full consultation.

Source: Ofcom, UK.

The Hague, 2nd of February 2007. The Commission of OPTA, the Independent Post and Telecommunications Authority in the Netherlands has imposed a fine of EUR 75.000 on a Dutch spammer. This private individual sent unsolicited electronic messages to consumers to promote erection enhancement pills, pornographic websites, sex products and such. This is the largest fine which OPTA has imposed for a contravention of the prohibition against spam.

OPTA took a number of factors into consideration when determining the amount of the fine. First of all, the spam authority considered the number of spam messages involved. This person had sent a minimum of nine billion spam messages. In addition, he had earned a minimum of USD 52.000 (more than EUR 40.000) through this spam. Anotheraggravating factor was that this person used hundreds of so-called ‘proxies’. The latter are computers of unsuspecting end users, which were used as staging bases for sending spam. In this way the spammer managed to conceal his real identity.

In the course of its investigations, OPTA used information provided by Microsoft. “It is a good sign that businesses such as Microsoft are taking responsibility in relation to internet security,” says the OPTA chairman, Chris Fonteijn. “If spam is to be eliminated effectively, it is important for the public and private sectors to work together.”

Sending unsolicited e-mail (advertising or otherwise) to private individuals has been prohibited in the Netherlands since May 19th 2004. The spammer used lists of e-mail addresses, whose origin is unknown. These lists also contained the e-mail addresses of private individuals. So-called ‘dictionary attacks’ were also launched. This refers to e-mail addresses which are generated using random combinations of numbers and letters. Section 11.7 of the Telecommunications Act stipulates that the sender must have the recipient’s consent before sending advertising material by e-mail. The relevant e-mail message must also reveal the sender’s identity and specify where the recipient can unsubscribe from receiving future e-mail messages.

Since the prohibition of spam has come into effect, OPTA has put a special Dutch website – www.spamklacht.nl – into service, which contains information about this prohibition and how to submit complaints about spam. Such complaints constitute an important source of information for OPTA’s investigations. More than 20,000 complaints have been received through this site to date.

Source: OPTA, The Netherlands.

The three-day meeting (5-7 February) will bring together Heads of national regulatory authorities from both developed and developing countries to achieve consensus on the best ways to address the challenges brought about by the migration to NGN networks. 60 heads of regulatory authorities, together with 50 of their commissioners and board members are slated to attend. By 2008, at least 50% of all international telecommunication traffic is expected to be carried on IP networks. IP provides a common language in which different networks (for instance fixed and mobile; local and wide-area) can communicate together. Thus, IP is the touchstone for convergence and a common platform for NGN, while network capacity increases every month. In order to remain strategically competitive in an increasingly converged world of services and content where voice is no longer the sole source of revenue, operators and carriers are migrating from circuit-switched to Internet-Protocol (IP) networks and from there to Next-Generation Networks or NGN, which allow for decoupling the network’s transport and service layers. NGN networks promise to offer full and true convergence of fixed and mobile, voice and data, data and video and IT, telecoms and broadcast sectors. This means that the choice of technology used for infrastructure will no longer have an impact on the kinds and variety of services delivered over that infrastructure. The deployment of NGN networks will also offer ubiquitous access for users of these networks as well as for competing service providers. This shift, while taking place gradually, is already happening in several parts of the world. NGN presents many opportunities but also many complexities and challenges and requires new regulatory thinking to promote investment and ensure that carriers can remain competitive in this new environment while ensuring open access. For more information see: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/treg/Events/Seminars/GSR/GSR07/

In 2006, the Tariff Monitor, a free tool on ANACOM’s website ( www.anacom.pt) that allows consumers to compare tariffs for mobile telephone services, was accessed around 43.2 thousand times by consumers and was used to make over 57.1 thousand simulation operations. This translates to an average of around 3,600 accesses and 4,760 simulations per month.

ANACOM’s Tariff Monitor has now been in public operation for 16 months, and during this time a total of around 75.3 thousand accesses and 129.2 thousand simulation operations have been recorded.

Among the range of tools available - monthly consumption, call and message comparison, virtual calls and messages – the use of the call and message comparison tool has proved to be especially popular. According to available data, up to 31 December 2006, around 73 thousand tariff consultations and 37.3 thousand call or message comparisons have been carried out by users. This corresponds, respectively, to around 56.5% and 28.9% of the all simulation operations performed.

The Tariff Monitor is a simulator developed by ANACOM with the cooperation of the three mobile operators (TMN, Vodafone and Optimus). It gives private consumers the information they need to assess and compare the various tariff alternatives for terrestrial mobile services available in Portugal.

Source: Anacom, Portugal

Bolivia's telecoms regulator will implement a per second billing scheme for all mobile and fixed line operators in lieu of the current per minute system, local press reported. The billing change came via a presidential decree that said the new system would provide better access to telecommunications for Bolivia's population.[...]

Source: Cellular-News.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority is seeking comments on enhanced call handling features in relation to the Telecommunications (Customer Service Guarantee) Standard 2000 (No.2) (CSG Standard).

ACMA is carrying out the consultation at the request of the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator the Hon Helen Coonan as a result of a report released in April 2006 titled Rethinking Regulation: Report of the Taskforce on Reducing Regulatory Burdens on Business.

The report reviewed various areas of regulation, including social and environmental regulation. Consumer related regulation and the specific review of the Customer Service Guarantee were issues raised in the report.

The report made a recommendation that:

ACMA should consult with all telecommunications providers as part of a review of the need for regulation of connections to specified services, in the context of wider development of the market for these services.

The government agreed to this recommendation in principle, noting that it considers no requirement for change in the current arrangements relating to connection times is needed. However, the government agreed that, in relation to enhanced call handling features, it will ask ACMA to consult with carriage service providers (CSPs) on this aspect of the CSG Standard and report to the government.

Source: ACMA, Australia

In this Decision, the Commission amends the statement of consumer rights and directs the incumbent local exchange carriers to implement the publication directives established in Statement of consumer rights, Telecom Decision CRTC 2006-52, 29 August 2006, effective the date of this Decision.

Source: CRTC, Canada.

In this Decision, the Commission amends the statement of consumer rights and directs the incumbent local exchange carriers to implement the publication directives established in Statement of consumer rights, Telecom Decision CRTC 2006-52, 29 August 2006, effective the date of this Decision.

Source: CRTC, Canada.

The Information and Communications Technology Ministry will submit all private telecom concession contracts to the Council of State within a couple of weeks to examine if they comply with the relevant investment laws. ICT Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom, however, gave an assurance  that consumers would not be affected if there were no amendments in the contracts. He added that he had to seek the opinion of the Council of State about all concession contracts after finding that the concession contracts granted by CAT Telecom to Digital Phone (DPC) and True Move could have violated the 1992 joint state-private investment regulations.

The regulations require all joint state-private investment projects to go through a feasibility study and Cabinet's approval if their value exceeds Bt1 billion. Sitthichai said that both concessions did not win the Cabinet's approval. Athueck Asvanund, vice chairman of True Corp, said yesterday that Charoen Pokphand (CP) consulted about the matter with CAT since the day CP took over Wireless Communication Services (WCS), which was later renamed True Move.

He added that CAT stated that the WCS concession did not need to go through the 1992 regulations because it is part of the existing concession of Total Access Communication (DTAC) granted by CAT in 1990. CAT owns the 1800 MHz spectrum which was given as a concession to DTAC. Part of the spectrum was returned to CAT, which was later given as a concession to DPC and WCS in 1996.

CP is the parent of True, which, in turn, is the parent of True Move. Athueck asked which party would compensate True Move if the concession was affected by the ministry's move. "And who'll want to jointly invest with the state agencies when one day you tell private operators that their concessions are illegal after you had granted them the concessions?" he added.

True Move and DPC have almost six million and a few hundred thousand subscribers, respectively. DPC is the cellular subsidiary of Advanced Info Service. Sitthichai said that after the complete examination of the Council of State, a panel comprising representatives of the ministry and Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont would be formed to oversee all the concessions.

Last week Sitthichai told the state concession owners TOT and CAT Telecom to probe all private concession contracts to see if they violate the relevant laws as part of his policy of rectifying the sector. His focus is on whether past amendments of the concession contracts were approved by the Cabinet.

Recently, CAT also consulted with the Council of State over whether its awarding of a joint service marketing deal to Hutchison-CAT complied with the regulations. The Council has yet to make a ruling.

Hutchison-CAT, a joint venture of CAT and Hong Kong's telecom giant Hutchison Telecom, has marketed a cellular service in 25 provinces. It has leased the network from BFKT, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hutchison Telecom, to provide the service.

Source: The Nation, Thailand

In a sweeping set of measures, the Federal Network Agency has ordered more than 80 network operators and service providers not to bill or collect for any phone numbers used illegally. A large number of consumers had complained to the Federal Network Agency about so-called ping calls and other forms of telephone spamming. A ping call is where a call is made to a telephone number and broken off after just one ring. The subscriber’s display shows a “missed call” with an expensive premium-rate number or an 0137 number. In addition to these ping calls, another form of telephone spamming promises prizes where the person called hears a prerecorded message saying that they have won a large amount of money that can be collected by calling an expensive premium-rate number . The Federal Network Agency’s stringent measures are a continuation of the intense battle against telephone spam. Since May 2006 alone, the Federal Network Agency has disconnected 237 call numbers on account of ping calls and prize promises. In addition, a ban has been imposed on billing and collecting for 78 call numbers . These bans protect consumers that have called a spam number back and prevents them having to pay any charges. The spammer does not receive any payment for the calls initiated. “Spamming is not a petty crime, it is illegal harassment that causes huge economic damage. Stopping the flow of money to spammers is, in my opinion, the most effective way of making this illegal use of numbers economically unattractive and consequently putting an end to spam once and for all”, said Matthias Kurth, President of the Federal Network Agency. Interested consumers can obtain information about the numbers affected by the measures on the website of the Federal Network Agency at www.bundesnetzagentur.de. In addition to further information, consumers will also find a complaints form for contacting the Federal Network Agency. Every single complaint submitted helps the Federal Network Agency’s campaign against spam. See http://www.bundesnetzagentur.de/media/archive/7809.pdf

The French consumer group UFC-Que Choisir (UFC) has filed a request for damages at the tribunal of commerce in Paris for alleged price fixing by French mobile phone operators, writes Dow Jones Newswires. The group says it has received 12,530 separate complaints for damages against Bouygues Télécom, Orange France and SFR. It is requesting EUR750,000 in damages, or roughly EUR60 a person. Last year the French competition council found the three cellcos guilty of forming a cartel and freezing mobile phone prices between 2000 and 2002. The operators were ordered to pay a fine of EUR534 million to the government.
Source: Telegeography

ITU held a Global Seminar on Quality of Service and Consumer Protection on 31 August and 1 September 2006, in Geneva, Switzerland. The meeting attracted more than 115 participants from 43 countries worldwide representing Regulatory Authorities, Policy-makers, the ICT private sector and other stakeholders.

The first day focused on quality of service (QoS) and examined issues such as QoS measuring, monitoring, what regulators do in this field and QoS in a NGN environment. The second day was devoted to consumer protection in the digital age. Presentations and discussions focused on the role of regulators and other specialized bodies in providing consumer protection, handling disputes, addressing specific issues such as mobile roaming charges and consumer portection in a NGN environment. These issues generated active discussions among stakeholders from various regions.

The Chairman's report in now available on the event's webpage at: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/treg/Events/Seminars/2006/QoS-consumer/index.html

The Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) kicks off today a Global Seminar on Quality of Service and Consumer Protection in Geneva, Switzerland. The seminar includes distinguised speakers from around the globe representing regulators, operators, and consumers. The focus of the seminar is Quality of Service (QoS) and Consumer Protection that are key components of an enabling environment for ICTs. With the advent and fast roll-out of IP networks paving the way to an all IP (NGN) digital world, the issue of quality of service and consumer protection are not only gaining increased momentum amongst the ICT regulatory community but are of vital interest to all stakeholders worldwide. This seminar provides a unique opportunity to develop a common understanding and provide answers to these timely issues. For more information, and to view the programme and documentation, see: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/treg/Events/Seminars/2006/QoS-consumer/index.html

New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine (D.) has signed into law a bill allowing Verizon New Jersey, Inc., and other wireline video service market entrants to seek a statewide video franchise without having to reach individual agreements with each municipality in the state. The governor also signed an executive order directing the state's public advocate to monitor the buildout of new franchises, and the Board of Public Utilities to issue "strong" regulations that he says will expand the state's ability to oversee network buildout.

Under HB 804/SB 192, within three years of obtaining a statewide franchise, any new wireline entrant serving more than 40% of the state's local exchange phone market must offer cable service in all county seats plus municipalities with a population density greater than 7,111 per square mile of land area but only within the telco's established telephone service area. Then, within six years from the date the company first offers cable service on a commercial basis "directly to multiple subscribers within such a central office area," the company will have to extend service to all residential customers in those localities.

There are no provisions in the bill requiring Verizon to build out its fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) network to the entire state, but consumers affected by redlining could initiate complaint proceedings with the Board of Public Utilities. And, according to a statement issued by Gov. Corzine's office, the state's public advocate, Ron Chen, will be tasked with bringing "appropriate enforcement actions where necessary" to ensure that residents receive appropriate video coverage and service.

"Market-based competition has to be balanced with strong consumer protections so that the benefits of competition are not denied to certain groups. That's why I signed an executive order that will help ensure that no one is left behind," the governor said. "The regulations will impose thorough reporting requirements and provide clear definitions to some of the language in the bill."

The executive order empowers the director of the Office of Cable TV within the BPU to issue regulations requiring a new entrant to promptly provide written notice to both the board and public advocate whenever it invokes an exception to the provision of service to a multiple-dwelling unit as set forth in section 20(a)(2)(a), section 20(a)(2)(b), or section 20(a)(2)(c). The director will now also provide ultimate guidance concerning the meanings of claimed exclusive arrangements, standard technical solutions, commercially reasonable terms and conditions, after good faith negotiation, and reasonable terms and conditions.

Among other conditions outlined in HB 804/SB 192, new cable entrants will have to provide each municipality with (1) two public, educational and governmental (PEG) access channels, (2) free Internet service for all fire stations, public schools, police stations, public libraries, and other municipal buildings, and (3) equipment and training for access users.

Verizon New Jersey President Dennis Bone said the company expects to have FiOS TV available to 3.5 million residents in the state by the end of 2008. The first locations will be opened for sale by the end of this year, and Verizon says it plans to invest $1.5 billion in its state fiber-to-the-premises network.

Source: Telecommunications Reports.

FCC Commissioner Robert M. McDowell believes in a "wait-and-see" approach that allows for market resolutions when it comes to the net neutrality debate or proposed a la carte mandates for video service providers, he told reporters during an Aug. 8 briefing at his Washington office. The wait-and-see approach is one he also favors for issues where Congress might shortly weigh in, such as video franchising reform or universal service support for broadband deployment. Commissioner McDowell said his overall regulatory approach could be distilled down to one word: freedom. "As far as the role of government goes, first of all clear out any unnecessary regulatory underbrush. Let's let free markets and free people team up together as best they can. "But should there be market failure, the government should act in a narrow fashion, [providing a] narrowly tailored cure to any perceived illness in that free market that's preferably if possible sunsetted or at least [put on] a glide path to a sunset provision [so] that once that market failure is cured then we can revert back to having a more deregulatory framework in place," he added. He predicted another major theme during his FCC tenure - his term expires June 30, 2009 - would be the "incredibly powerful consumer demand that has developed just in the past few years of consumers' wanting to pull the content of their choice through the pipe of their choice at the time and place of their choosing and manipulate that content or perhaps create their own and post it and have others pull it. I want to make sure the FCC helps facilitate that demand and ... remove any barriers to entry and any unnecessary regulatory underbrush." His own residential video and broadband communications service options are limited. His five-acre farm in the rapidly congesting Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., is too far from the local telco's central office for digital subscriber line service, and there are too many trees in the southern sky for direct broadcast satellite service, Mr. McDowell said, so he subscribes to analog, expanded basic cable service with cable modem Internet service from Cox Communications, Inc. Regarding the debate over net neutrality, Mr. McDowell said, "Net neutrality is a Rorschach term - it depends on where you sit what it means to you, so it's really not yet defined. At this point it's difficult for government to prophylactically try to address an illness that has not yet occurred. ... Let's wait and see. Let's continue to be vigilant." He added, "Where do you draw the line between legitimate network management issues and what may be determined as discriminatory anticompetitive conduct against your competitors? We'll watch and wait and be vigilant." Asked about concerns expressed by third-party content providers that broadband Internet service providers might "cut them out," the Commissioner said, "They're worried it's going to happen? Let's see if it happens and then we could go from there. Would we have the authority? Yeah, we would. But if it hasn't happened yet, let's see if it happens and go from there." He said that consumer demand "is a terrifically powerful check and balance. If a network owner is going to start restricting folks from either plugging in on the content side or a consumer from plugging in on the consumer side, [it will] eventually go out of business." In that same vein, in response to a reporter's questions about concerns that broadband Internet service subscribers might block or provide inferior service to content and application providers that don't pay extra, he said, "Don't you think if you couldn't get to Google - you and millions of others in this country - [that] there would be pitchforks and torches in the streets and government policy would change overnight - and/or private sector policy?" Asked whether the lack of FCC response to consumer concerns about wireless early termination fees (ETFs) was because consumers had failed to take to the streets with pitchforks, Mr. McDowell said, "That's certainly not the standard. ... We certainly wouldn't want any issues to rise to that level. ... We've had a few meetings on ETFs. It's a very interesting issue to me. I'm still looking into it," he added, citing his wireline focus before joining the Commission and his short time in office thus far.

Regarding video franchising - an area in which the FCC has a pending proceeding to consider whether to intervene to speed the local franchising process - Mr. McDowell said, "Let's see first what Congress does. ... It's Aug. 8 and I don't necessarily want to count out [the possibility that Congress may yet enact communications legislation this year]. ... I don't want to underestimate Sen. [Ted] Stevens [(R., Alaska), the chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee]," who is working to gather enough supporters to force a vote on legislation in the Senate. He added, however, that "should Congress not be able to address that issue this year, I think the Commission does have the authority, under section 621 [of the 1934 Communications Act, as amended] in particular and other parts, and I think there is something the Commission can do to help clear out unnecessary regulatory underbrush. I also want to be sure we don't go too far. If there's a cable coax line down in your backyard and you live in Wyoming, should you be calling Washington or writing Washington to get that fixed?" He said he was still "thinking through" whether there should be a "shot clock" imposed on local franchise negotiations. As for the possibility of using universal service mechanisms to support broadband deployment, the Commissioner said that section 254(b)(3) of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which calls for advanced information and telecommunications services in rural areas "reasonably comparable" to those available in urban areas, addresses that possibility. However, he said the FCC "will wait for Congress to act." One provision of the Senate's version of HR 5252, known as the Advanced Telecommunications and Opportunities Reform Act, calls for a separate rural broadband support fund. He said there were four principles he would like to see implemented with respect to universal service: "(1) Slow the growth of expenditures in the fund - and that does not mean a cap per se; (2) in that there is waste, fraud, and abuse, let's take a look and ferret that out; (3) expand the contribution base - right now we're under this system where we take a lot from a few, the pool of the few, the shrinking, evaporating before our eyes actually; (4) everybody pays less." With respect to proposals for requiring or encouraging cable TV operators to offer video service programming on an a la carte basis, Mr. McDowell said, "It may be that consumer demand forces a private sector resolution to that question, so let's wait and see how that resolves."

ICC, Wireless Issues Discussed

As for the pending intercarrier compensation "Missoula proposal" developed under the auspices of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, Mr. McDowell said, "I certainly welcome that proposal if for nothing else than to kick off a discussion. There's certainly some meritorious arguments made in that proposal. Certainly I think intercarrier compensation is something that needs to be addressed. You know it's again very complex, some argue arcane, and I will look forward to a refreshed record and rolling up my sleeves and looking at it as we go forward." Regarding the ongoing advanced wireless service spectrum auction and the upcoming 700 megahertz auction, the Commissioner said he expected them to lead to "the construction of new delivery platforms that will help spur new technologies, [and] hopefully offer more affordable services with more powerful technologies, so I'm very, very excited." In general, he said, "The wireless industry has been a terrific model of competition for the most part creating a self-regulating atmosphere. ... We want to continue to regulate with the lightest touch possible. Competition in the wireless industry has been a good example of how we can have competition with other technologies." Asked when the FCC would act on wireless carriers' requests for waivers of enhanced "911" rules with respects to handset compliance, which have been pending since last year, Mr. McDowell said, "Certainly I'd like to see some closure on that. ... It's always fair to give industry some certainty, and we'll be following up on that."

Recusal in Mergers Undecided

Asked whether he would be recusing himself from consideration of applications for approval of license and authorization transfers associated with the proposed merger of AT&T, Inc., and BellSouth Corp. the Commissioner said that under law recusal decisions are made by the FCC's general counsel. "In an adjudicatory proceeding such as a merger review or a petition for forbearance or petition for declaratory ruling where there are specific parties involved, should CompTel, my former employer, file in any of those kinds of proceedings for one year from June 1 of this year to June 1 of next year I would be automatically recused. So for that particular merger it remains to be seen," he said. "The recusal period ... actually lasts for a lifetime on rulemakings, if I was substantially involved in a rulemaking - not if CompTel filed, but if I was substantially involved in CompTel filings, which I haven't been for years," because his professional activity has been focused on Congress and the White House, he said. "The way I'm approaching it is if I'm recused, I'm not even looking at the filings," he said, adding that so far he hasn't been reading the filings and parties have not been coming in to make ex parte presentations about the proposed merger to him. He said that he didn't think parties were making such presentations to other Commissioners either right now, suggesting that the focus is still on the antitrust review at the Justice Department.

Source: Lynn Stanton, Telecommunications Reports.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will hear oral argument Sept. 12 in Nuvio Corp. v. FCC (case 05-1248), which involves a challenge to the FCC's May 2005 order requiring fully interconnected voice-over-Internet-protocol (VoIP) service providers to supply enhanced "911" (E911) functionality to subscribers. Petitioners have complained that the Wireline Competition docket 05-196 order set an implementation schedule that was too short, represented an "unexplained departure from long-standing precedent," and arbitrarily and capriciously required VoIP providers to "establish direct connections with the dedicated wireline E911 network, without any corresponding duty on the part of carriers operating that network to permit such connections."

Source: Telecommunications Reports.

 

Sprint Nextel Corp. has asked the FCC for a waiver of the Commission's rules requiring Internet protocol (IP) relay service providers to answer 85% of calls on any given day within 10 seconds. The waiver for the company's Sprint Communications Co. L.P. subsidiary would cover the period from May 2005 through April 2006. Sprint Nextel said it had been instructed by the FCC's Consumer & Government Affairs Bureau to seek the waiver if it wished to avoid forfeiture of all interstate telecommunications relay service (TRS) compensation for that year. However, the company said in its petition that it didn't believe the FCC has the authority to impose a forfeiture for such a cause without first issuing a notice of apparent liability.

Source: Telecommunications Reports.

Ofcom today announced the launch of TopComm, a scheme designed to provide consumers with a comparison of quality of service levels among fixed-line telecoms providers in the UK. The TopComm website address is www.topcomm.org.uk.

Independent research commissioned by Ofcom showed that quality of service is consistently identified by consumers as an important factor in deciding whether to switch to another fixed-line provider.

Cost continues to be the most important determining factor for consumers choosing between fixed-line providers. Various price comparison services are available online. To date the only such service accredited by Ofcom’s PASS scheme is uSwitch at www.uswitch.com.

The TopComm service will provide comparable information on:
 - the percentage of orders that are completed on or before the agreed date;
-  faults reported per 100 lines on a quarterly basis;
- the percentage of faults repaired within the agreed service time; and
-  the percentage of complaints processed within 28 calendar days.

TopComm will also measure the level of billing accuracy by tracking the numbers of complaints that are upheld per 1000 bills issued.

Ofcom requires that all fixed-line providers with at least £4 million net revenues and 100 million minutes of voice calls handled to end users per quarter participate in the scheme.

Ofcom will use its powers under Sections 94 to 96 of the Communications Act 2003 to enforce compliance. The first publication comprises 12 residential brands and 16 business brands. The data must be approved by Topcomm’s independent auditor before it is published who will ensure that the results are comparable. More information
Source: Ofcom, United Kingdom.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority intends to adopt a new multi-strand approach to its consumer consultation framework. The new approach will consist of: - a revised and reconstituted Consumer Consultative Forum (CCF) which will bring together representatives of consumer groups, industry groups and regulatory agencies to discuss issues affecting consumers; - the CCF will be supplemented by a list of specialist experts with particular interest and expertise in specific matters affecting consumers; and - ACMA’s usual public consultative processes, which will continue to seek specific input and advice on issues being considered by the Authority. (More>>)

Source: ACMA.

The Ministry of Posts and Telematics on Tuesday issued a VND15 million fine to a Hanoi man accused of hacking into the MobiFone network and stealing six "lucky" telephone numbers. Nguyen Van Nhuan, who previously worked as a MobiFone sales agent, had access to passwords used to log into network and the numbers. He is accused of unlawfully logging in and taking control of the company's 0902000000, 0905522222, 0905588888, 0905599999, 0905688888, and 090559999 telephone numbers, the ministry said. Nhuan was accused of using the passwords to enter the MobiFone network on several occasions over a number of months. MobiFone said it was aware of the security breach, and commented on its advanced security system using firewalls which hackers have been unable to bypass. The ministry ordered Nhuan to pay the fine no later than June 2.

Source: Thai News Service.

The Anti-Spam Toolkit developed by the Information Sharing Forum under the coordination of the MCMC contains the policy and regulatory framework for curbing spam in Malaysia and includes best practices and technical guidelines for organizations and users to take preventive and precautionary measures against spamming.

Full Document. Source: Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Comission.

The Filipino telecoms watchdog, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), says it will revoke the mobile licence of any operator found guilty of breaking its guidelines on unsolicited broadcast messaging via SMS. The amended rules and regulations also require content providers – alleged to have sent out spam promos to subscribers – to register with the NTC. This will serve as the basis of an application with the Department of Trade and Industry that grants permits to allow companies to advertise promos. Mobile phone operators and content providers risk being blacklisted if found guilty of violating the agency’s rules. Source: TeleGeography. Regulatory proposal (May 3, 2006).