| Emergency Preparedness/Accessibility - 31/03/2020 |
| Communications Regulatory Agency (CRA) |
| TELECOM/ICT Policy Makers and Regulators | Europe | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Considering the importance of telecommunication services for citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the time of the declared state of emergency/the state of natural or other disasters in Bosnia and Herzegovina due to the corona virus pandemic, Communications Regulatory Agency (CRA) appealed to the operators of public telecommunications networks and services to comply with the following: - Ensure urgent notification of users through all available advertising channels (SMS, e-mail, system-generated messages, info channels, etc.). -Act jointly and cooperatively concerning technical support, elimination of interference and malfunctions, and capacity sharing if necessary. - Maintain the current level and quality of services and to provide priority in traffic to the competent institutions, bodies, and organizations if requested, or at the request of relevant authorities, i.e., to provide priority access to emergency numbers. -Not to make any changes in general and particular business conditions or regarding prices of their services. -Exceptionally, for the users’ convenience, operators may temporarily offer services of an expanded scope or content over a contractual one, without any additional charge or burden to the users. In such cases, the operators are obliged to notify CRA about any changes. - Operators are obliged to notify CRA immediately on any significant disruption to the networks and services. Regarding activities in the regulation of telecommunications market during the declared state of emergency/state of natural or other disasters, CRA shall, as a matter of priority, conduct procedures concerning requests for allocation of telephone numbers and code resources, as well as radio frequencies, to the extent that the use of these resources relates to solving the new situation. Besides, Communications Regulatory Agency (CRA) invited all TV stations in Bosnia and Herzegovina to broadcast information in format accessible to the persons with hearing impairment, of which there are 70 000 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by providing interpretation into sign language. In particular, Public Service Broadcasters are required to broadcast, without delay or charge, urgent notices issued by the authorities, such as notices of danger to life and health, endangered property, security, and public order and peace inviting them to broadcast prime time news programs in a format accessible to the persons with hearing impairment, that is to provide interpretation into sign language. So far, all recommendations have been implemented. |
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Source Link Keywords: Telecommunications network operators, quality of service, emergency numbers, access to emergency information, persons with disabilities, sign language |