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.

See Press Release 
Source: Cellular-news 

The European Commission has written to eight EU Member States (Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxemburg) seeking information about their implementation of the Audiovisual Media Services (AVMS) Directive. The Commission has asked the Member States to reply within 10 weeks. The fact-finding letters are part of the Commission's efforts to ensure that the national media laws of all Member States correctly implement all aspects of the AVMS rules. The issues raised vary from one Member State to the other. The requests for information do not imply that the Directive has been incorrectly implemented by the Member States concerned but simply that, at this stage, the Commission has some outstanding questions concerning their implementation of the Directive.

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Source: Europa

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

The Ghanaian government has issued a warning to would-be start-up Globacom, a Nigeria-based telco with operations in Gambia, Senegal, Nigeria, Benin and Cote d’Ivoire, to launch commercial services in the country by 15 September, or face sanctions. Unconfirmed reports from online news journal Peacefmonline say the ultimatum was delivered by the Minister of Communications, Haruna Iddrisu, in his opening address to the 20th anniversary seminar of the Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG) in Accra last week. The minister reportedly delivered a paper titled ‘The telecom industry in perspective: History, overview and contemporary challenges of the media in Ghana’, in which he noted the government’s ire that Globacom, which was licensed about four years ago and planned to launch under the Glo Mobile banner, has yet to offer any full-blown service. Iddrisu is quoted as saying of the newcomer’s heel-dragging ‘it is about time we take the company on because they have the Ghanaian market space waiting for too long.’

See Press Release 
Source: Telegeography

The European Commission has sent requests for information to twenty EU Member States which have not yet notified measures to implement in full new EU telecoms rules into national law. The deadline set by the European Parliament and the EU's Council of Ministers for implementing the new rules was 25th May 2011. The requests for information take the form of letters of formal notice under EU infringement procedures. The new rules give businesses and consumers new rights regarding phones, mobile services and Internet access. These 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 (see IP/11/622 MEMO/11/319, MEMO/11/320 and MEMO/11/321). Swift and consistent implementation of these rules is a priority of the Digital Agenda for Europe (see IP/10/581, MEMO/10/199 and MEMO/10/200). However, while legislative processes are ongoing in all EU Member States and a majority of them have informed the Commission of some implementation measures, only seven Member States (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Malta, Sweden and the UK) have notified the Commission that they have implemented the new rules in full. The twenty other Member States (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain) are due to reply to the 'letters of formal notice' within two months. If they fail to reply or if it is not satisfied with the answer, the Commission can send the Member States concerned a formal request to implement the legislation (in the form of a 'reasoned opinion' under EU infringement procedures), and ultimately refer them to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Digital Agenda website

Neelie Kroes' website

Source: Europa

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.

See Press Release
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

See Press Release
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.

See Press Release
Source: Europa

The UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has referred to the Competition Commission (CC) the price control matters in appeals brought against the telecom's regulator, Ofcom by British Telecom, Everything Everywhere, Hutchison 3G and Vodafone. The reference is about the prices that Ofcom permits communication providers to charge for the termination of a wholesale mobile voice call. The charges, which Ofcom announced in March 2011, cover the period to the end of March 2015. When fixed and mobile operators offer their customers the ability to call UK mobile numbers, they pay mobile communication providers a wholesale charge to complete those calls. The rates that operators pay are called MCT charges or more commonly 'mobile termination rates' (MTRs).

See Press Release
Source: Cellular-news

In response to a request from France Telecom to settle a dispute, through a decision issued on 4 November 2010, ARCEP ordered Numéricâble to comply with the operational terms set by France Telecom for accessing its civil engineering, when upgrading its network. Numéricâble had upgraded a portion of its coaxial networks by deploying optical fibre cable using civil engineering ducts owned by France Telecom, in accordance with the terms of transfer agreements that it had signed with France Telecom in 1999, 2001 and 2004. France Telecom considered that, because several operators have come to use its ducts to deploy their optical fibre networks since 2008, under the terms of its regulated civil engineering access offer, Numéricâble should be required to comply with the same operating modalities as all of the other operators.

See Press Release

Source: ARCEP

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.

See Press Release 
Source: BalancingAct-Africa

A fourth mobile concession in Egypt appears less likely following reports that the government may hold off on licensing a new player in the wake of the country’s political upheaval. According to Bloomberg, Egyptian communications minister Magued Osman noted: ‘There are a lot of changes in Egypt now and we are not sure whether launching a new licence at this moment is the right decision from the economic point of view.’ Such a decision, it is suggested, could prompt the country’s fixed line incumbent, Telecom Egypt (TE), to reconsider bidding for an increased holding in local cellco Vodafone Egypt, in which it already has a 45% stake.

See Press Release
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.

See Press Release
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.

See Press Release 
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.’

See Press Release
Source: Total TeleGeography

The Guinean government has threatened to revoke the mobile network license held by South Africa's MTN if it does not make a payment of EUR15 million by the 2nd May to settle a long running dispute. MTN brought the local mobile network, Areeba in 2007 as part of the US$5.53 billion offer for Investcom, which had mobile phone operations in Africa and the Middle East. Since the transaction, the government has claimed that it is owed EUR15 million from the deal. A spokesman for MTN in South Africa told the Reuters news agency that he could not immediately comment on the issue.

See Press Release 
Source: Total Telecom

Cofetel defends decision to penalise operator for imposing high termination rates on rivals. Mexico's antitrust regulator responded Wednesday to comments by America Movil SAB unit Telcel against a $1 billion fine that the competition watchdog imposed on the grounds that the mobile operator uses its market weight and high interconnection fees to displace competitors. Eduardo Perez Motta, president of the Federal Competition Commission, or CFC, said in an emailed statement that, by charging competitors high rates to terminate calls on its network, Telcel pushes their costs up and maintains its ability to charge high rates to its own customers. Telcel said Tuesday that it will appeal the ruling and fine, which it described as "arbitrary, biased, opportunistic and excessive."

See Press Release
Source: Total Telecom 

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.

See Press Release
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.

See Press Release
Source: Total Telecom

Kampala — The Uganda Communications Commission quietly asked Internet service providers to block communication on Facebook and Tweeter messaging platforms for 24 hours during the Walk-to-Work campaign on Thursday last week. However, Internet services carried on without a glitch that day save for subscribers on one network who experienced intermittent interruptions. An April 14 letter signed by Mr Quinto Ojok, who signed in acting capacity for UCC's Executive Director Godfrey Mutabazi, said social networking fora like Tweeter and Facebook, be shut-down for security reasons.

See Press Release
Source: All Africa

Technical rules on how the 900 and 1800 MHz radio frequency bands should be opened up to advanced 4th generation (4G) communication devices have just been adopted by the European Commission. The rules, which are important to avoid interference problems with existing GSM and 3G devices, are an important step to bringing wireless broadband access to more EU citizens and businesses. The Commission Decision, which must be implemented by Member States by the end of 2011, will therefore help to achieve the targets of the Digital Agenda for Europe to give every European access to basic broadband by 2013 and fast and ultra fast broadband by 2020 (see IP/10/581, MEMO/10/199 and MEMO/10/200). Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission for the Digital Agenda, said: "This Decision opens the way for the latest 4G mobile devices to gain access to the radio spectrum they need to operate, and so further stimulate high-speed broadband services and foster more competition."

See Press Release 
Source: Europe

The UAE's telecoms regulator, the TRA has refuted reports that it has ordered a ban on Blackberry email services by private individuals and confirmed that the service would remain available. "The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority confirms the continuation of all Blackberry services in the UAE to both individuals and to business customers, including Blackberry messenger, Blackberry email and Blackberry browsing," the Tra said in a statement." Any confusion to TRA regulations will be clarified by the TRA with the operators concerned this week" The statement was issued after reports suggested that access to the BlackBerry Enterprise Server would to be restricted to companies with 20 or more BlackBerry users - forcing smaller firms to lose the services or purchase unnecessary unused BlackBerry accounts.

See Press Release 
Source: Cellular-News

­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.

See Press Release
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.

See Press Release
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.

See Press Release
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).

See Press Release
Source: Europe's Information Society

­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.

See Press Release
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.

See Press Release
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

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

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

A government-appointed panel in Japan, set up to oversee plans to roll out fibre-optic broadband access to all homes by 2015, has said it will not force the incumbent, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT), to spin off the division responsibility for fibre infrastructure. The Nikkei daily reports that although the fibre-optic networks are primarily owned by the telco’s regional units NTT East Corp and NTT West Corp, rivals such as Softbank Corp are calling for government intervention arguing that NTT’s dominance in the sector makes for an unfair playing field.

See Press Release
Source: Telegeography

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

Italian incumbent receives $100 million in compensation after Bolivian government took back its stake in Entel. Telecom Italia SpA has received $100 million in compensation from Bolivia for its stake in the local telecommunications operator that was expropriated two years ago. It said Monday it reached on Nov. 5 an agreement with the government and Entel Bolivia, the operator, to resolve the dispute over the expropriation of its 50% stake in Entel.

See Press Release
Source Total Telecom

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

Long-delayed legislation designed to enhance competition, force Australian fixed line incumbent Telstra to structurally separate, increase the powers of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), and provide a framework for the country’s upcoming National Broadband Network (NBN) has been reintroduced to parliament, Reuters is reporting. The legislative proposals have been raised in the lower house by Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese, with the politician claiming that the regulations would give Telstra more legislative certainty as the telco looks toward the split of its wholesale and retail operations. ‘This bill is an important step on the road to an improved telecommunications industry structure, with better competitive outcomes and stronger safeguards for consumers,’ Mr. Albanese told parliament. Telstra for its part has said that it supports the legislation although it has called for some amendments, and the telco’s CEO David Thodey said of the matter: ‘We believe the interests of Telstra shareholders would be best served by the bill being passed this year so that a definitive agreement on our involvement in the NBN can be reached quickly.’

See Press Release
Source: Telegeography

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 European Commission has today decided to request France and Spain to abolish specific charges on the turnover of telecoms operators introduced when the Member States concerned decided to end paid advertising on public TV channels. In both cases, the Commission considers these "telecoms taxes" to be incompatible with EU telecoms rules, which require specific charges on telecoms operators to be specifically and directly related to covering the costs of regulating the telecoms sector. The requests take the form of "reasoned opinions" under EU infringement procedures. France and Spain now have two months to inform the Commission of measures taken to comply with EU telecoms rules. If they fail to do so, the Commission may refer them to the EU Court of Justice.

See Press Release
Source: Europa

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

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

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

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

New Zealand's Commerce Commission has reached a NZ$1.6 million (US$1.14 million) settlement with Telecom New Zealand following an investigation into complaints alleging that Telecom Wholesale's 'loyalty offers' breached Telecom's Separation Undertakings. The loyalty offers related to Telecom Wholesale's regulated wholesale broadband service, used by competing service providers to provide broadband service to retail customers. Telecom offered substantial discounts in return for a commitment for the service providers to maintain current and future customers on Telecom Wholesale's service rather than that of a competitor.

See Press Release
Source: Cellular-news

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

Vodacom Group Ltd., the African cellphone network operator majority owned by Vodafone Group,  said it would begin arbitration  after failing to resolve a dispute with the minority shareholder in its Congo operation. The shareholders failed to reach agreement  on a number of issues, including capital restructuring to support the continued growth of the business.
Vodacom Congo, which began operations in 2002, is 51% owned by Vodacom and the remainder by Congo Wireless Networks. Vodacom said its relationship with CWN remained "dysfunctional," and that it would defend a threatened legal action by CWN to force Vodacom to invest further in the Congo operation.

See Press Release
Source :  Total Telecom

The European Commission has informed the Lithuanian national telecoms authority, Rysiu reguliavimo tarnyba (RRT), that it has serious doubts about its definition of the markets for access services used by alternative operators to connect final consumers to telecoms services like telephone and internet. RRT has defined two separate markets for access to copper and fibre networks close to the final customer, called the "last mile" or "local loop". RRT makes a distinction between unbundled copper loops and unbundled optical fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) loops.

See Press Release
Source: Europa - Information Society

The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) tonight (4 March 2010) mounted an enforcement operation against the suspected use of unlicensed radio transmitter for broadcasting at 101 MHz.

"Under the authority of a court warrant, OFTA officers entered the premises at Kwun Tong and seized one radio transmitter set. During the operation, one person was requested to assist further investigation," a spokesperson of OFTA said.

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

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.

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

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.

See Press Release

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

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

 

Europe's telecoms rules aim to progressively reduce sector specific regulation as competition develops in the market. The roll-out of next generation access networks which brings high speed broadband services to consumers poses new challenges for regulators to prevent new market monopolies. The Commission will issue a Recommendation on the regulation of next generation access networks in spring 2010 to ensure a consistent approach for regulating these new services.

See Press Release

Source: Europa

"Termination rates in Poland still vary highly between mobile phone operators. UKE must do more to reduce this asymmetry and to apply the same price regulation to all four mobile operators. Allowing P4 to charge termination rates that do not reflect true costs does not give the company the right incentive to become an efficient operator and does not allow Polish consumers to benefit from lower prices for mobile calls," said Viviane Reding, the EU Telecoms Commissioner.

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said, "Lower termination rates will decrease retail prices for mobile voice calls to the immediate benefit of consumers. New entrants may be exceptionally allowed to charge higher rates to reach a minimum efficient scale. However, to limit distortions of competition, such exemptions may only be granted for a limited period of time and should not exceed four years from the date of market entry, as provided by our Termination Rates Recommendation."

See Press Release
Source: Europe's Information Society

Nigeria’s Federal High Court has stopped the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) from re-auctioning spectrum in the 2.3GHz frequency range. The court ruled that the process must be put on hold pending the determination of a lawsuit initiated by the previous winner of the spectrum, Mobitel. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database, Mobitel, Spectranet and fixed-wireless operator Multilinks beat off around 40 other applications for slots in the 2.3GHz band after each of them paid NGN1.368 billion (USD9.33 million) in May 2009 for the frequency used to support to WiMAX technology. Later that month, Minister of Information and Communications, Dora Akunyili, issued a directive for the cancellation of the licensing and the implementation of a new auction, after operators faulted the commission on how the whole process was conducted, especially the one week timeframe given to pay the necessary fees. Mobitel, alleging contractual breach, has challenged the government’s position in court, saying it had fulfilled the requirements. The matter will be heard in court on 17 November 2009.

See Press Release
Source: TeleGeography

The European Commission decided to close infringement proceedings against Italy and Estonia as both countries now fully comply with EU TV advertising rules. For Italy, the Commission had concerns over: 3 minute teleshopping messages not being counted in advertising limits and confusing viewers; TV stations' own promotional spots were not covered by Italy's legal definition of advertising; inefficient sanctions for breaches of advertising rules.

The Commission also launched infringement proceedings against Estonia as TV channels were regularly breaking the EU's limit of 12 minutes of advertising per hour. The two countries were in breach of the EU's Television without Frontiers Directive, but have meanwhile adjusted their national legislation and practice to comply with European audiovisual rules.

See Press Release
Source: Europe's Information Society

The European Commission has called on the Austrian telecoms regulator, Rundfunk und Telekom Regulierungs GmbH (RTR), to suspend the adoption of regulatory measures regarding the definition of the Austrian broadband access market, the so call bitstream access market. The Commission has serious doubts as to the compatibility of the provisions defining the Austrian wholesale broadband access market with EU law. In the notification submitted one month ago, RTR has provided insufficient evidence to support its finding that mobile broadband connections can be considered as substitutes to fixed line DSL and cable connections. The Commission also has doubts regarding the scope of RTR's wholesale market definition for bitstream access. The Commission has therefore asked RTR not to adopt the measure until the Commission has taken a final decision on RTR's proposal.

See Press Release
Source: Europe's Information Society

The Czech telecoms regulator, CTU, has notified regulatory measures for fixed call termination in the Czech Republic. Fixed call termination rates are the wholesale prices that fixed operators charge each other and other networks, such as mobile phone networks, for terminating calls to their own customers.

See Press Release
Source: Europe's Information Society

Canada's Supreme Court  dismissed an appeal by two main phone companies asking to reject an order by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission for BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. to distribute  funds to residential subscribers through a one-time tax credit or by lowering phone rates.

Source:  Total Telecom

See the decision Bell Canada v. Bell Aliant Regional Communications, 2009 SCC 40

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)  previously embraced four open Internet principles affirming that consumers must be able to access the lawful Internet content, applications, and services of their choice, and attach non-harmful devices to the network. Chairman Genachowski proposed the addition of two new principles. The first would prevent Internet access providers from discriminating against particular Internet content or applications, while allowing for reasonable network management. The second principle would ensure that Internet access providers are transparent about the network management practices they implement.

The FCC has created a new section on Open Internet.

Source: FCC

The Australian Communications and Media Authority today announced a substantial reduction in charges for number applications by telecommunications carriage service providers. The lower charges reflect a considerable reduction in the time and effort to process these applications, following enhancements to the ACMA’s online system for managing numbers.

‘The reduction in charges for number applications is one outcome of an ongoing transformation process the ACMA is undertaking, which involves overhauling many of its legacy IT systems. This particular enhancement has significantly reduced the time required to complete and process applications for numbers,’ said Chris Chapman, Chairman of the ACMA.

See Press Release
Source: Australian Communications and Media Authority - ACMA

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

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

Orange, the sole bidder for Jordan's forthcoming 3G license auction has had its application rejected by the regulator, allegedly due to failure to comply with the tender rules.

The TRC spokeswoman said that Orange Jordan’s bid did not comply with the financial or technical aspects of the process. “They did not present their financial bond, which is JD10 million,” a spokeswoman told ITP news.

The 3G license tender has been delayed several times, and the TRC had intended to release the Tender document last December, but it was postponed due to requests submitted by Zain, Orange and XPress, in order to have more time to complete studying their business plans, and due to the public holidays in December which prevented them from completing the needed procedures.

See Press Release
Source: Cellular-news

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

All three reports on the reform have been voted  by the Parliament with overwhelming majorities: 565 votes in favour of the establishment of the new European Telecoms Body BEREC, 493 votes in favour of the new Directives on e-Privacy and Universal Service and 605 votes in favour of a modern set of rules for ensuring efficient management of radio spectrum and helping to remove regulatory obstacles and inconsistencies in the single telecoms market. The Parliament also voted with 578 votes for the reform of the GSM Directive, which would allow industry savings of up to EUR 1.6 billion. Now the ball is in the court of the Council of Telecoms Ministers to decide whether or not to accept this package of reforms. There was one amendment voted by the Parliament today that was not included in the initial deal agreed between the three EU institutions. This amendment is an important restatement of the fundamental rights of EU citizens. For many, it is of very high symbolic and political value. I call on the Council of Ministers to assess the situation very carefully, also in the light of the importance of the telecoms reform for the sector and for the recovery of our European economy. The Telecoms Council on 12 June should be used for a political discussion on whether agreement on the package is still possible or whether the discussion will have to start again with the new European Parliament in autumn. I will work closely with the Czech Presidency to help ensuring that an agreement on this important reform can still be found in the next weeks."

See press release

Source: Europa

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

The Egyptian authorities have announced plans to loosen the restrictions on the use of GPS devices within the country. The National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has lifted a ban on civilian use of GPS which had blocked the (official) import of most mid to high end mobile and smartphones.

However, the NTRA will still need to authorise each type of GPS device imported into the country and will control any local manufacturing of the devices, it announced on its website at the weekend.

While GPS devices will be authorised for sale, the use of GPS for vehicle location services, as used in most mapping applications will still be tightly controlled by the regulator.

See Press Release
Source: cellular-news

Today, the European Commission has opened an infringement case against Italy because several aspects of the PSI Directive have either been incorrectly transposed into Italian law, or have not been transposed at all. One concern is the exclusion of cadastral and mortgage data which includes land register information with details on the ownership, tenure, precise location and boundaries of each parcel of land, as well as the use of real estate as collateral to secure loans. Other missing provisions in Italian law include the scope and definition of re-use, procedural requirements for processing requests for re-use, specific conditions of re-use including available formats and charging, and non-discrimination.

See Press Release

Source: Europa

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

Millicom International Cellular S.A. (Millicom) MIC last week announced that its subsidiaries Millicom International Operations, B.V. (MIO B.V.) and Sentel GSM S.A (Sentel), have instituted arbitration proceedings with the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) against the Republic of Senegal under provisions of Sentel’s license and international law.

See Press Release
Source: Balancingact Africa

The lack of effective competition and high tariffs in the Belgian markets for fixed voice calls could result from an ineffective implementation of telecoms regulation. Measures taken by the Belgian telecoms regulator, the 'Institut Belge des services postaux et des télécommunications' (BIPT), have not yet led to competitive prices for fixed line calls. In a letter made public today, the European Commission invites BIPT to ensure that wholesale remedies are properly enforced and asks for a new market analysis to be carried out within one year. BIPT should also revise its price control obligation imposed on Belgacom, the telecoms incumbent, to allow Belgian customers to make cheaper calls as soon as possible.

See Press Release
Source: Europa

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)

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

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

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

In a new round of infringement proceedings for EU Telecoms Rules, the European Commission has decided to send a reasoned opinion (the second and final stage before the case is referred to the European Court of Justice) to Belgium on “must-carry” rules imposed on broadcasters in the bilingual region of Brussels-Capital. "Must-carry rules" require network operators such as cable companies or telecom operators to carry specified radio and TV broadcast channels and services where a significant number of consumers use them as their principal means to receive radio or TV broadcasts.

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)

La Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones (SITTEL) dispuso la intervención preventiva de la Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones Sociedad Anónima (ENTEL S.A.), el 1 de mayo del año en curso, con el propósito de garantizar la prestación de todos los servicios de telecomunicaciones que presta esta empresa.

Para efectivizar esta tarea regulatoria, SITTEL designó al Lic. Joel Flores Carpio como Interventor, a través de la Resolución Administrativa Regulatoria N° 2008/1056, por el plazo de 90 días hábiles administrativos. Flores Carpio es Administrador de Empresa y tiene amplia experiencia en el sector de telecomunicaciones.

See Press Release
Source: Superintendencia de Telecomunicaciones de Bolivia

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

The TRA published in the Official Gazette on Thursday, April 24th, four major decisions ensuring an improved structure of the Lebanese telecommunications market. These decisions entering into effect as of their publication date in the Official Gazette are related to the IPTV trial project, to the licenses authorizing the usage of VSAT within certain technical specifications, to the issuance of the SMP regulation and to the GSM frequencies granted to Ogero as part of a pilot project.

See Press Release and decisions
Source: TRA

The European Commission has withdrawn from the European Court of Justice the case against Poland concerning the lack of a comprehensive directory and a directory enquiry service covering all fixed and mobile subscribers. Having been assured by Poland of its full compliance with the provisions of the Directive concerning the comprehensive directory and directory enquiry services, on 28 February 2008,  the European Commission made a decision to withdraw the case from the European Court of Justice. Poland was officially notified thereof on 14 March 2008.

See Press Release

Source: UKE

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) today approved, subject to certain conditions, the purchase of BCE Inc.'s (BCE) broadcasting assets by a group that includes the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Teachers') and three American private-equity firms, Providence Equity Partners L.P., Madison Dearborn Capital Partners L.P. and Merrill Lynch Global Partners Inc.

See Press Release
Source: CRTC

In performing its general duties under Section 3 of the Communications Act (the Act), Ofcom is required to promote and facilitate the development and use of effective forms of self-regulation according to Section 6(2) of the Act. Shortly after Ofcom came into existence, a consultation was held seeking views on the criteria which Ofcom will use in promoting effective co- and self-regulation. This resulted in the publication of statement in 2004 establishing 13 different criteria to be applied by Ofcom in discharging its duties to promote and facilitate co- and self-regulation.

Since 2004, there has been a increasing body of knowledge in relation to the application of co- and self- outside of the communications sector and internationally. Ofcom therefore considers that it is timely to review its approach to discharging its duties in relation to promoting and facilitating appropriate forms of co- and self-regulation. This consultation document proposes that a new approach be adopted by Ofcom when making initial assessments of when it might be appropriate to facilitate self- or co-regulation. Ofcom believes that such an approach should be done in a straightforward, consistent and objective manner in order to further the interests of the citizen and consumer. Stakeholders are asked to respond to this consultation, answering the specific questions at Annex A and providing any additional comments that they may have. Ofcom welcomes suggestions for possible co- and self regulatory schemes within the UK communications sector.

See Press release

Source: OFCOM

condoc.pdf (245,35 KB)

The European Commission has imposed a penalty payment of € 899 million on Microsoft for non-compliance with its obligations under the Commission’s March 2004 Decision prior to 22 October 2007. Today’s Decision, adopted under Article 24(2) of Regulation 1/2003, finds that, prior to 22 October 2007, Microsoft had charged unreasonable prices for access to interface documentation for work group servers. The 2004 Decision, which was upheld by the Court of First Instance in September 2007, found that Microsoft had abused its dominant position under Article 82 of the EC Treaty, and required Microsoft to disclose interface documentation which would allow non-Microsoft work group servers to achieve full interoperability with Windows PCs and servers at a reasonable price.

See Press Release
Source: Europa

Ofcom's Chief Executive, Ed Richards, today spoke at the European Parliament's Industry Research and Energy Committee Hearing on proposed changes to the European regulatory framework.
 
The full text
 
Source: OFCOM
 

Two mediation requests concerning the compliance of cable agreements were brought before ARCEP: one by the city of Hayange on 16 January 2008, and another by the combined district council of Freyming-Merlebach on 23 January. In both cases, the difficulties encountered by the communities concern the issue of provision by Numéricâble, the cable operator and party in the agreements, of documents and information on the cable network, in particular the location and availability of network infrastructures. In the Freyming-Merlebach case, they also concern the provision of information regarding the use of the service.

See Press release
Source: ARCEP

According to Reuters,  the European Commission is set to take Poland to the European Union's top court concerning national telecoms regulator's independance. Luxembourg will be sent an initial warning for not ensuring its domestic telecoms regulator is independent. Under EU rules, national telecoms watchdogs must be independent of governments to enforce competition and face down pressure from  incumbents or former state-owned national monopoly operators.

Source: Reuters

Commission initiates formal investigations against Microsoft in two cases of suspected abuse of dominant market position
The European Commission has decided to initiate two formal antitrust investigations against Microsoft Corp concerning two separate categories of alleged infringements of EC Treaty rules on abuse of a dominant market position (Article 82). The first case where proceedings have been opened is in the field of interoperability in relation to a complaint by the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS). The second area where proceedings have been opened is in the field of tying of separate software products following inter alia a complaint by Opera.

See Press Release
Source : Europa

The National Communications Authority (NCAH) has published its market surveillance plan for 2008, with focus areas such as the protection of the assertion of consumer rights and the monitoring of compliance with the provisions of communications laws and the obligations prescribed by the Board of the NCAH. According to its market surveillance plan, the NCAH will place great emphasis on the protection of consumer interests in the communications sector in 2008, an issue specifically addressed at several points in the plan. A key role will be assigned to the assessment of the lawfulness of residential subscriber contracts, as surveys conducted both this year and last year showed that the subscriber contracts of service providers were often in breach of the law, including but not limited to deficiencies such as the frequent absence of service providers’ obligations.

See Press release
Source: NCAH

The Commission is sending today Bulgaria a letter of formal notice, as a result of the reported lack of resources and problems in the decision making process within the Bulgarian national telecoms regulator, resulting from the long delay in appointing a Chairperson.

Core tasks of the regulator under existing telecoms rules, such as conducting market analyses, have not yet been undertaken. Regulatory decisions have therefore been significantly delayed or postponed. In addition, the incumbent telecoms operator's board has amongst its members, the Chairperson of another authority with some regulatory competences - the State Agency for Information Technology and Communications. This raises a conflict of interest that may jeopardise the independence of the national regulator.

Neither meetings with the Bulgarian authorities nor several letters from the Commission have resolved these problems.

This is the second infringement proceeding recently opened against Bulgaria in the telecom sector. Last month, the Commission opened a case against Bulgaria over the lack of availability of the European emergency number 112 (see IP/07/1530).

Infringement proceedings for lack of independence of the national telecoms regulator are ongoing with regard to Poland (IP/07/888) and Slovakia (IP/06/1798).

Strengthening and safeguarding the independence of national regulators, notably from national governments, is a key feature of the proposed reform of the EU Telecoms Rules (see IP/07/1677).

See Press Release

Source: Europa

The EU Telecoms rules require Member States to ensure that it is possible to call the emergency services free of charge by using the single European emergency number 112. They also have to ensure that telecoms operators provide emergency authorities with the caller location information for calls to 112 from fixed and mobile phones.

Today, the Commission is referring Poland and Latvia to the European Court of Justice since they have failed to ensure the availability of caller location information to emergency services for mobile calls to 112. The preparations to ensure the provision of caller location information are under way in both Member States but the implementation of the necessary systems is still not complete.

Furthermore, the Commission is opening an infringement proceeding against Romania by sending it a letter of formal notice on the same issue.

See Press Release

Source: Europa

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

As part of its package of telecom reform proposals presented today (see IP/07/1677), the European Commission has adopted a new Recommendation on the markets where telecom-specific regulation should take place. The original 2003 version of this Recommendation listed 18 retail and wholesale markets where the Commission considers that specific ex ante regulation is required by national telecoms regulators to deal with competition problems. To reflect the progress made in the past years in most EU Member States in terms of competition and consumer choice, the Commission concluded that in principle there is no need for regulators to intervene in half of these markets. At the same time, this move will allow regulation to better focus on the main bottlenecks in the telecoms sector.

See Press Release and Ten Background Factsheets

Source: Europa

Broadcom Corporation (Nasdaq: BRCM), a global leader in semiconductors for wired and wireless communications, announced that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit today reversed a lower court's dismissal of antitrust claims Broadcom brought against Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, allowing the antitrust case against Qualcomm to go forward.

See press release

Source: Broadcom

Senegal has upheld a fine of USD6.7 million on one of the country’s mobile operators, Orange Senegal (formerly Sonatel Mobile), for its repeated failure to provide an adequate service on its cellular network. The State Council has endorsed an  fine imposed this year by the Telecommunication and Postal Regulation Agency (ARTP), after repeated interruptions on its network.

Source : Telegeography

ANRCTI decided to sanction RCS & RDS with a fine of RON 100,000 since, as of August 30, 2007, the company has not published, including on its website, complete information regarding the number and addresses of all switches where the interconnection with the public telephony network it operates can be realized, for the purpose of call termination at fixed locations, thus breaching the obligation provided under art.4 of the ANRCTI President’s Decision no.2849/2007 on the interconnection with the public fixed telephone network operated by S.C. “RCS & RDS” – S.A., for the purpose of call termination at fixed locations, as well as committing the contravention stipulated in art.18 paragraph (1)  letter f) of the Government Ordinance no.34/2002. Moreover, ANRCTI obliged RCS & RDS to take all the necessary measures in order to publish, including on its website, the information mentioned above, by September 7, 2007.

Press release

Source : ANRCTI

Bulgaria's telecom regulator gave the country's three mobile operators (M-Tel, owned by Austria Telekom, Globul, owned by Greek Cosmote, and Vivatel, the mobile arm of Bulgarian dominant fixed-line telecom BTC) until September 20 to agree on a plan for number transference.
The operators have conflicting interpretations of Bulgaria's new telecommunications law, which went into force in January.

See more

Source: Novonite

Algeria’s Post and Telecommunications Regulation Authority (ARPT) denies that it contributed to financial losses at Lacom, the country’s second national fixed line operator. The ARPT has released a statement responding to Egypt Telecom officials who accused the authority of being responsible for the US$ 45 million losses incurred by Lacom.

See article

Source: WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News.

Sonatel failed to have the regulator's penalty cancelled.

See press release

Source: ARTP

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

After long negotiations for more than six months with the three mobile operators in Egypt, and after resorting to NTRA in search for a decisive and fair solution for the problem of national roaming, the efforts were finally realized and NTRA successfully managed to devise a fair commercial agreement that works for the benefit of all the stakeholders and that is in alignment with the fair competition concept sought after by the NTRA.

The signing of the agreement and the launch of the national roaming service has been finally realized on Wednesday 6/6/2007, in the NTRA premises in the Smart Village.

According to this agreement the two operating mobile operators are required to supply the national roaming service to the third operator in the areas that are not covered by its network. As well as the responsibility of the third operator to do exactly the same for the other two companies in areas which their networks are not covered.
The national roaming agreement has been already included in the three operators’ licenses, which was one of the reasons behind the increase to almost the double of the expected value of the third license.

The importance of such and agreement is basically because it manages to solve a huge dilemma, as it is increasingly hard to find a middle ground agreement that works for the benefit of both the consumer as well as service provider. Therefore this agreement serves in covering a wider geographical area covered by the networks of the companies, without interfering with the quality of service, which on another hand generates higher profits for the service providers.

What is National Roaming:

It is one of the new telecommunications technologies that allows for providing telephone services for subscribers of a certain service network provider by using the networks of the other company, which has a geographical coverage of this specific area. Needless to say is that this service is provided for the first time in Egypt.

Most important advantages of national roaming:

1. Achieving the concept of free & fair competition in the telecommunications market, as it allows the new service provider to generate a greater geographical coverage area from the starting date of operation until it completely assembles its network, hence achieving the complete network coverage of Egypt.
2. Allowing for increased coverage of rural and deprived areas in Egypt
3. Increasing the quality of service provided to the consumer as a direct effect of the increase in the levels of competition between the operators
4. Creating a positive cooperative environment between the three operators in a framework of transparency and discipline.

Source : NTRA

DS285: US — Measures affecting the cross-border supply of gambling and betting services: recourse to article 21.5 of the DSU by Antigua and Barbuda

The DSB adopted the compliance panel report.

While welcoming the results of the report, Antigua expressed concerns on recent developments overshadowing the report conclusions Antigua referred to the announcement made by the US on 4 May 2007 about its intention to modify its services concessions and exclude gambling and betting from its initial agreement (see GATS article XXI and S/L/80). Antigua argued this was not a suitable tactic in dispute resolution. Antigua encouraged other WTO members to press claims for compensation to make the process as difficult as possible for the US.

The US confirmed it initiated a procedure to bring the US GATS obligations into conformity with its public policy on gambling. The US explained that gambling was viewed as a public order and public morals issue and was therefore regulated. The US said this was the reason it never intended to cover gambling in its schedule which was insufficiently clear.

Brazil and India expressed systemic concerns about the implications for the dispute settlement system of the GATS Article XXI process as initiated by the US. They did not question the right of the US under this provision, but emphasised that the solution preferred by the DSU was the removal of the measure which had been found to be WTO-inconsistent. A successful result of the Article XXI process, according to Brazil and India, would depend on the US ability to contemplate other members' right to compensation.

The EC stated that given the US was not willing to bring its legislation in line with its GATS commitments, the use of GATS article XXI was the right procedure.

Source : WTO

In the dispute about Germany's new telecom law, the Commission sent today a reasoned opinion, the second stage of infringement proceedings. So far, Germany failed to remove new provisions in German law that could grant Deutsche Telekom a 'regulatory holiday' in spite of its dominant position in the broadband market. The Commission's reasoned opinion is the last step before referring the case to the European Court of Justice. Germany will only have one month to reply. The infringement procedure launched at the end of February (see IP/07/237) concerns amendments to the German telecoms law that entered into force that month. These amendments could lead to an effective exemption of Deutsche Telekom AG’s fast internet access network (VDSL) from competition. Such ‘regulatory holidays’ would be granted without consulting the Commission and regulatory authorities in other Member States, as is mandatory under EU telecom rules to ensure transparency and a better functioning internal market. Germany adopted the rules in question despite the Commission's early warnings that they were incompatible with EU rules. When launching the infringement proceedings the Commission reiterated its well-known view that the new German law jeopardises the competitive position of Deutsche Telekom's existing competitors and makes it much harder for new competitors to enter German markets. The Commission emphasised that the new provisions also attempt to limit the discretion granted to the German telecoms regulator (the 'Bundesnetzagentur') under EU rules which allows it to decide, on the basis of an in-depth market analysis, whether or not to allow competitors access the new VDSL-network currently being built by Deutsche Telekom. Germany replied to this letter only after the Commission ultimately agreed to prolong the deadline given to Germany by a further 15 days. However, Germany was still not willing to amend the telecoms law to take account of the Commission's concerns but continues to defend the controversial provisions. In today's reasoned opinion, the Commission rebuts Germany's arguments and exposes them as unfounded. The Commission has again chosen a shortened deadline for Germany to reply given the urgency of the matter, as the new law creates a lot of uncertainty in the market and could deter competition. If Germany does not amend the law to accommodate the Commission's concerns, the case could be referred to the Court in June. Further information on infringement proceedings in the telecom sector: http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/ecomm/implementation_enforcement/

According to INQ7.net, the country’s incumbent fixed line operator Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT) has ‘temporarily barred’ incoming calls from its rival Innove Communications' voice-over-internet protocol (VoIP) service, while the pair work out an interconnection agreement. PLDT has reportedly filed a complaint with the regulator, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), alleging that Innove, a subsidiary of Globe Telecom, has been routing international calls to PLDT’s network without an interconnect agreement. Globe has countered that there is no case to answer as the matter was resolved several months ago, and says its GlobeQuest Webphone service is only available for domestic use. However, PLDT says that some Globe subscribers have used the service abroad. A spokesman for Globe says the company aims to resolve the problem by the end of 2006.

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 senior judge at the European Court of Justice has provisionally ruled that 3G mobile auctions which took place in the UK and Austria in 2000 were not liable for value-added tax (VAT). A number of winners in the auctions, including Hutchison Whampoa, which has licences in both countries, had argued that the auctioning of concessions should be liable for VAT, meaning they could attempt to claim back up to 17.5% of the price paid from the country’s regulators. Whilst the decision does not constitute a binding ruling by the European Court of Justice, provisional opinions are usually upheld in around four out of five cases, according to ZDNet. The operators reportedly stood to win up to EUR5 billion (USD6.5 billion) from the claim.

Source: Telegeography

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

The Swedish Supreme Administrative Court decided yesterday that TeliaSonera does not have to begin offering wholesale bitstream internet access to competitors until further notice. Instead, it granted leave to appeal against previous rulings made by the County Administrative Court and decisions of the Swedish Post and Telecom Agency (PTS). Earlier this month a court rejected an appeal by TeliaSonera against an earlier judgement by the Swedish Post and Telecom agency (PTS) that ordered the telco to offer wholesale bitstream access. TeliaSonera opposed the PTS requirement claiming it was 'unreasonable' to force it to invest in another regulated copper line-based internet product for the benefit of competitors. However, the judge disagreed, siding instead with the regulator. In accordance with the decision, TeliaSonera announced that it was launching a wholesale offering, named Skanova Bitsröm, but the most recent ruling means that it will not be taking orders until further notice.
Source: Telegeography

BATELCO HITS BACK By TARIQ KHONJI MANAMA:

Batelco plans to take legal action against the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) after it ordered the company to stop pre-registering customers for a BD10 Internet package and ordered it to refund those who had already paid.

In a statement issued yesterday, the company said it was forced to pursue all legal means to defend itself against "such an unprecedented and arbitrary approach by the TRA".

Batelco also said that it was not holding any payments for the BD10 package in response to the TRA's order to refund customers who have registered.

"Batelco has been requesting approval from the TRA for this service since January 2006," the company said. "The BD10 package has met all the criteria about offering a service above cost to consumers and thus, Batelco believes, complies with the Telecommunications Law."

The TRA has insisted that Batelco offer a similar service, at wholesale rates, to its competitors.

Despite Batelco's repeated protests to the TRA that it is 'unfair and unreasonable' under the Telecommunications Law to link a retail service with a wholesale one, Batelco has since offered its competitors such a service at significantly more competitive rates than those applying to its retail customers.

Batelco said that since companies had signed up for the service, it must mean that they considered the rates to be fair, equitable and non-discriminatory. "Thus, Batelco is of the opinion that it has met the TRA conditions for the BD10 package," said the statement. "Furthermore, Batelco's offer to its competitors will stimulate strong competition and consumers will significantly benefit compared to current Internet packages.

"Batelco, as part of its submission to the TRA, did receive approval for a number of higher priced Internet packages than the BD10.

"Batelco continues to be concerned as to why the TRA now will not approve this lower priced Internet package, which will benefit consumers in Bahrain.

"Batelco can only conclude that while the BD10 retail offer meets the cost criteria under the Telecommunications Law, the TRA's action is primarily aimed at preventing Batelco from offering this product and from effectively competing in the market."

The "emergency order" issued by the TRA to stop offering customers a BD10 Internet package also asked Batelco to issue a Press release by yesterday explaining that the company wrongfully launched the package as it had not obtained the required approval and was taking steps to rectify the situation and comply with its obligations and the law. It gave Batelco 10 days to refund money to customers who it said had paid in advance for the service.

Source: Gulf Daily News

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has reported that unpaid spectrum user fees and supervisory regulatory fees are increasing, prompting commissioner Ronald O. Solis to brand the offending telcos as ‘delinquent’. The news comes days after the country’s Department of Finance proposed a crackdown on tax perks enjoyed by telcos. Unsurprisingly, the companies themselves have opposed the move, with Smart and Globe in particular warning that the tax breaks act as an incentive to encourage investment, and their removal may stall the rollout of 3G services. Source: TeleGeography.

In this issue:

• RRU Hosts a Virtual Conference on Regulatory Cooperation on Spam-Regulators Agree International Cooperation Is Needed
• The Arab ICT Regulators Network Meeting
• ITU/ANATEL Seminar on Enforcing Telecommunications Law, Policy and Regulations, Current Issues
• 10th anniversary of the ITU/BDT Telecommunication Regulatory Survey!
• Trends Theme for 2004
• The News Corner! New feature on TREG website Upcoming

http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/treg/Newsletters/RRUNews2004/RRUNews04Q2.html

In this issue:

• World's Regulators Agree to Best Practice Guidelines
• Test Yourself On Interconnection Regulation!
• G-REX Interconnection Emergency Room Open for Business!
• Call For Comments on Dispute Resolution Paper
• Other regulatory events

http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/treg/Newsletters/RRUNews2004/RRUNews04Q1.html

Regulators map ‘Universal Access’ route to Information and Communication Technology

Telecommunication regulators from around the world delivered a powerful message to world leaders convening in Geneva for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The regulators identified a series of steps nations can take to bridge the digital divide. They called upon countries to open their information and communications technology (ICT) sectors to greater competition. They further identified the kinds of regulations and practices needed to promote universal access to ICT services. Full article

• 4th Global Symposium for Regulators
• Best practice guidelines