On June 12, 2008, the Government of Canada introduced long-overdue and much-needed amendments to the Copyright Act that will bring it in line with advances in technology and current international standards. The bill fulfills the government's commitment in the 2007 Speech from the Throne to improve the protection of cultural and intellectual property rights in Canada, including copyright reform.

See Bill C-61

Source: Industry Canada

Ofcom  published a consultation on variations to BT’s Undertakings under the Enterprise Act 2002 in respect of: BT’s consultation principles with respect to the deployment of its Next Generation Network (NGN), and an obligation on BT to publish its NGN plan of record on a regular basis; the processes and products used to manage accommodation within BT’s exchanges; and the requirement to implement physical separation of certain computer network systems. The consultation document can be found here.  

Source: OFCOM
 

The Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry, today announced the opening of the bidding process for the Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum auction. This auction follows a commitment made by this government to enable more competition in the wireless market. A total of 105 megahertz (MHz) of radio spectrum will be open for bidding, which includes 40 MHz of AWS spectrum for new entrants and another 65 MHz of spectrum for all bidders.

See Press Release

Source: Industy Canada

The European Commission  stepped up its efforts to promote the use of the charge-free European emergency number 112 in the EU. As of today, the new website ec.europa.eu/112 will tell citizens how to use 112 and what to expect from it, particularly when they travel within the EU. It also shows how 112 functions in each Member State: how quickly calls are answered and in which languages.

See Press Release and documents
Source: Europa

According to Afrique en ligne, An African Association of Telecommunications Regulators was created by participants in the eighth African forum of telecommunications regulators and operators. In one year, the General assembly of African regulators will be convened  to propose the legal and statutory framework for the organisation.  The Secretariat of the Association will be located in Senegal for a one-year term.

See more
Source: Afriqueenligne

The International Finance Corporation will support the upgrade of the fixed and mobile infrastructure of Onatel, Burkina Faso’s sole telecoms operator. The investment is part of a broader effort to develop a competitive telecoms market, to increase connectivity and improve business opportunities. In December 2006 the government sold a 51%-stake of Onatel to Maroc Telecom and an additional 20% is set to be sold off. 

Source: TeleGeography

For World Telecommunications Day, Research ICT Africa (RIA) released a South Africa Policy Brief based on the preliminary findings of RIA’s 2008 nationally representative household survey on e-access and usage. The brief details covers issues mitigating access and cost, and summarises findings in a number of figures; and concludes with a set of specific recommendations for moving South Africa towards conditions that are more conducive to investment in the sector.

Source: LIRNE.Net

RIA_PolicyBrief_SouthAfrica.pdf (808,77 KB)

Accordind to Cellular News, Algeria's mobile operators were ordered to shut down three million SIM cards following a deadline for the users to register their identity with the network operators. A security official told the Reuters news agency that several recent bombings had been traced to detonations by mobile phones using unregistered SIM cards. Algeria's telecoms regulator, the Algerian Post and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (ARPT) had ordered the clamp-down on the sale of mobile phone connections without proof of identity. The deadline for all SIM cards to be registered was the end of April, but it had been extended to the end of last month at the request of the operators. It had been reported that a raid by Algeria's security services of a terrorist camp had found a cache of hundreds of unregistered SIM cards waiting to be used.

Source: Cellular News

Within the framework of the reform and development of the telecommunications sector in Algeria, the Regulation Authority of Post and Telecommunications (ARPT) is preparing  to launch and application procedure to assign 3rd Generation (3G) mobile communications licenses. The ARPT invites operators wishing to establish and operate a 3G mobile  communications network to let it know by June 30th, 2008. Expressions of interest should  include the name and contact information of the company - telephone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses- and, in case of need, partner companies, the nature of their activities as well as the name and position of a duly entitled representative. 

Source: ARPT

Sollicitation_en.pdf (16,61 KB)

A Decision Notice requires Eircom to meet legally binding quality of service performance targets for the delivery of Universal Service Obligation. ComReg believes the targets are reasonable and proportionate and will lead to a higher quality of service going forward. Achieving these targets will ensure benefits for end-users, promote  greater confidence in the USP and the sector generally, and generate ancillary social  benefits in terms of Irish end-users finding it easier to access communications services.

See Decision
Source: ComReg
 

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

See Press release
Source: OFCOM

The first part of the consultation covers the role of the building operator, who is the player authorised to install and operate fibre in the private property. This operator’s responsibilities have to be defined concerning the installation of the optical fibre to the benefit of residents and the implementation of sharing to allow competition.
The second part of the consultation deals with the agreement practice between operators and building owners or managers. Until now, there has been a real grab bag of practices only partially meet the guarantee expectations of building owners and managers, especially as concerns the quality of work, connection of the building to a very-high-speed network, and the implementation of sharing by operators to allow residents to benefit from competition. By submitting a model agreement to public consultation, ARCEP hopes to encourage a climate of trust between operators and property players, so that operators can deploy fibre as quickly as possible. Until the law and application texts can be adopted, the model agreement includes a commitment to sharing by the operator, as per ARCEP’s recommendations.
The third part of the consultation covers the degree of sharing of the fibre local loop among operators, which raises the question of the location of the sharing point. While sharing of the fibre located on private property is necessary, its provision at the edge of the private property isn’t a sufficient answer in itself. In particular, if sharing were done solely at the building, not all buildings could be connected by all operators at the same tine, so that residents would have less selection, at least initially.

See Press release
Source: ARCEP

According to Telegeography, the overhaul of the Chinese telecoms market has begun. The government revealed that China Telecom is going to buy China Unicom's CDMA network, and that the remainder of Unicom is to be merged with China Netcom. China Mobile Communications Corp announced that it will acquire China Tietong Telecommunications Corp. Finally, China Telecom will assume the basic telecom services unit of China Satcom. Experts estimate the restructuring may take four to six months.

Source: Telegeography

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

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

Para la semana del 3 al 10 de junio de 2008, se tiene previsto realizar pruebas destinadas a la selección del estándar de Televisión Digital que operará en Venezuela, así lo informó Wilfredo Morales, director General de Tecnología de la Información del MPPTI, quien además señaló que se efectuarán en Caracas y contarán con los estándares evaluados el año pasado, Europeo y Japonés, pero además en esta evaluación se incluirá el estándar Chino, con la finalidad de que exista transparencia en la decisión.

See Press Release
Source: Ministerio del Poder Popular para las Telecomunicaciones y la Informática

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

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

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

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

See Press Release
Source: OFTA

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

See Press Release
Source: CRTC

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

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

La República Dominicana a través del Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones (Indotel), abrió una licitación pública internacional para seleccionar la empresa extranjera que administrará la base de datos del sistema central de Portabilidad Numérica en el país. El anuncio lo hizo el director ejecutivo del Indotel, licenciado José Alfredo Rizek, quien dijo que mientras tanto, técnicos del ente regulador implementan las primeras fases de la portabilidad.

Señaló que el Indotel puso en marcha el proceso de implementación de la Portabilidad Numérica la cual está fijada su aplicación para julio del 2009. Explicó que la Portabilidad Numérica consiste en un esquema de servicio telefónico que permitirá a los usuarios de los servicios de telecomunicaciones mantener su número no obstante cambiar de prestadora.

See Press Release
Source: Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones (Indotel)

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

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

See Press Release
Source: Africa - Balancing Act

As at the end of the first quarter of 2008 there were around 1,71 million users in Portugal with mobile Internet access and around 1,58 million fixed internet accesses, of which approximately 1,52 million were broadband. For the first time the number of mobile broadband users surpassed the number of fixed broadband customers.

Mobile broadband saw the highest rate of growth during the period being reported. The number of users increased by 259 thousand over the quarter, representing a rise of almost 18% compared to the previous quarter and of 99% compared to the same quarter of 2007.

See Press Release
Source: Communications National Authority (ANACOM)

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

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

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

Se trata de un incremento sin precedentes que supera 14 veces el PIB.

Durante el primer trimestre del año, el sector de las telecomunicaciones registró un crecimiento sin precedentes de 36.4 por ciento, lo que confirma su fortaleza inclusive, en fases de marcada incertidumbre financiera a nivel global. Este incremento multiplica 14 veces el crecimiento general de la economía, medido por el comportamiento del Producto Interno Bruto (PIB) del país, que fue de 2.6 por ciento en el periodo de referencia.

See Press Release
Source: Comisión Federal de Telecomunicaciones (COFETEL)