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Argentina: Telecommunications ministry issues USF regulations |
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Friday, 15 June 2007 |
SeCom, Argentina’s telecommunications ministry, issued a resolution ordering operators to start contributing 1.0% of their revenues to a universal service fund.
Resolution 80/2007, published on June 14 in the country's official gazette, states that the requirement to contribute to the fund commences in July 2007. Mobile operators, ISPs and fixed line companies are required to deposit their contributions in Banco Nacion until the universal service fiduciary fund is established.
The Fondo Fiduciaro del Servcio Universal (FFSU) was approved in 2000 as part of the Decree 764/00 (Reglamento General de Servicio Universal). The fund was supposed to be implemented by January 1, 2001. After a long delay, in August 2006, Argentina's ombudsman Eduardo Mondino filed a lawsuit to force the government to create and regulate the fund.
According to resolution 80/2007, SeCom and telecommunications regulator CNC will form a commission that will administer the universal service fund.
Source: Business News Americas - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Iran: Privatising state telecoms firm |
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Thursday, 14 June 2007 |
Iran intends to privatise the government-owned telecommunications operator by the end of the year.
In February, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged the government to accelerate its efforts to reduce the state's control of the economy in an attempt to bolster the privatisation programme.
Iran tried to shake up its economy in 2004 by overturning Article 44 of the constitution which decreed core infrastructure should remain state-run. However, since 2004 private business has shown little interest in investing in privatisations.
"The telecommunications company will be given to the private sector by the end of the year," state television quoted the company's managing director, identified only as Ghaffarian, as saying. Ghaffarian was talking about the Iranian year which runs until March 19.
Last year, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a plan to sell heavily discounted shares in state firms to the poor as part of his promise to spread the state’s wealth more evenly. Economists said the so-called "shares of justice" may change the shareholders but do not lead to the required restructuring.
"Shares of the telecommunications company will be presented in the form of shares of justice, workers' shares and shares in the bourse," Ghaffarian was quoted saying.
Source: Reuters - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Colombia: Universal access program expands |
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Wednesday, 13 June 2007 |
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Mobile operator Avantel and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) have extended the universal access program Oportunet to the department of Huila.
Avantel plans to offer basic telephony and broadband connectivity services, in part through the use of WiMax. The company won seven WiMax licenses in December 2006. When it won the licenses, Avantel promised to contribute to the universal access program. The goals of Oportunet are to provide connectivity and to offer small businesses training and access to tools that would make them more competitive.
Oportunet was launched with the help of the communications, education and culture ministries, and with the cooperation of Intel, Microsoft and Google. Oportunet is operating in Colombia, Paraguay and Guatemala. Source: Business News Americas - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Nepal: CDMA and Full Mobility |
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Friday, 08 June 2007 |
The government of Nepal granted state-owned Nepal Telecom a permit to offer full mobility to its CDMA customers. However, full mobility was denied to United Telecom Ltd (UTL), a joint venture between three Indian telecom companies - VSNL, MTNL and TCIL - and Nepal Venture.
"The Indian joint venture holds a license that is identical to Nepal Telecom and should have been allowed full mobility," Editor of local daily Sri Commander Yug Nath Sharma said.
The permit gives Nepal Telecom an advantage over UTL in increasing its customer-base.
"This means unfair competition between the two companies which provide the same services," an industry expert said.
Government officials said that Nepal Telecom applied for a full mobility permit and made a deposit to guarantee that they would provide the service. Based on this, the permit was granted. The government does not intend to grant full mobility to other telecom service providers.
Source: Asia Pulse - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Africa: ICT policies need to meet regional requirements |
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Wednesday, 06 June 2007 |
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The African Union (AU) is calling on member states to adopt ICT policies that meet regional needs and not just the needs of individual countries.
Esam Abulkhirat, at the AU’s Human Resources Science and Technology Department said that inter-country ICT projects will be successful only if member countries harmonise their policies. Most African countries have already adopted, or are in the process of developing ICT policies.
Differences in the pace of ICT adoption are hindering implementation of regional projects, Abulkhirat said. Examples of countries out of step with the region include Ethiopia, which bans text messages, and a number of other countries that prohibit VoIP. Eastern and southern African countries are investing in undersea fibre optic cables that are expected to increase ICT capacity and usage in the region. According to Mark Matunga of Microsoft, the lack of basic infrastructure - including electricity and telecom network access - has been a hindrance to the effective use of ICTs in education.
Source: SciDev.Net - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Wednesday, 30 May 2007 |
The Act will update the Ministry of Post & Telecommunications Act of 1978 and redefine the Ministry as the policy-making agency of the government. The Ministry will provide guidance on policy issues relating to national budgetary and financial issues.
The Act ensures that revenues for government would increase as proper taxation and licensing regimes are implemented. It also ensures that investment incentives are renegotiated and re-evaluated to reflect proper duty free privileges and tax holidays.
The Act puts forward the creation of the LTA and LIBTELCO to provide employment opportunities and promote capacity building for Liberians. The Act also ensures employment benefits, to include social security, training, and the opportunity for career development and growth outside of Monrovia.
The New Telecommunication Act also guarantees universal access by ensuring that all communities have access to communication networks and participate in the socio-economic growth of the country. The act also promotes affordable prices by relating price levels to the cost of living. For consumer protection, the act ensures that prices are affordable and fair based on the cost of living and other economic indicators.
The Act enforces the Consumers' Privacy Act currently established in law, and provides avenues for consumers to complain and have problems resolved.
Source: The Inquirer - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Thailand: Regulator removes CAT’s monopoly on international gateway |
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Monday, 28 May 2007 |
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Thailand’s National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) has ended CAT Telecom's monopoly on international Internet gateway (IIG) services by allowing other licensees to connect directly with foreign carriers.
The old IIG regulations required licensees to connect with foreign carriers only through CAT's facilities. Now, holders of type-2 IIG licenses are allow to connect directly with foreign carriers to provide service to local Internet service providers (ISPs). True Corp is one of the major holders of the type-2 IIG license, which is for ISPs without their own network.
In response to the regulatory changes, CAT said it planned to ask the NTC to revise its draft regulations controlling the pricing of IIG services, as they currently apply only to CAT. This means that True, as a type-II licence holder, could offer prices that CAT would be unable to match.
Source Thai News Service and The Nation - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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India: Trai hopes to capitalise on EU roaming rate reductions |
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Thursday, 24 May 2007 |
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India’s telecommunications regulator, Trai, has asked the EU to allow Indian mobile operators to negotiate with their European counterparts to cut roaming costs. The move comes after members of the European parliament approved a plan to reduce roaming tariffs throughout the EU.
Trai hopes that Indians travelling in Europe would pay the new roaming tariffs. It has requested that the EU facilitate a process so that Indian operators can negotiate with European operators. In return, Europeans travelling to India would pay reduced roaming charges.
"This is just a request. Trai does not have jurisdiction with regard to international roaming, which involves mutual commercial agreements between operators. We have only written to the European Telcoms Commission that Indian interests should also be kept in mind," Trai chairman Nripendra Misra said.
The European Parliament voted to cap roaming tariffs at EUR 0.49 per minute for outgoing calls and EUR 0.24 per minute for incoming calls. According to the new legislation, these tariffs will be lowered to EUR 0.46 and 0.22 for outgoing and incoming calls respectively, in the second year following its introduction, and then to EUR 0.43 and 0.19 by 2009.
Indian mobile operators, on average, charge European customers in India over 1.83 Euros per minute for an outgoing call and EUR 1.37 per minute for an incoming call. Indian mobile users travelling in Europe are charged between EUR 1.65 - 2.20 per minute for an outgoing call and EUR 0.73 - 1.10 per minute for an incoming call. Source: The Economic Times - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Belarus: Tender to select universal service providers |
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Tuesday, 22 May 2007 |
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Belarus is holding a tender to select universal service providers for 2007-2008.
The tender includes two categories of services: provision of access to local telephone networks via individual line service or payphone service in unserved areas; and provision of Internet access in public telecom offices.
The key criteria for selecting providers are capital investment in universal telecom services and date when the provider will be able to grant access to public telecommunications networks. Bids will be accepted until June 25, 2007.
“It will take a couple of days to draw the results. The winner will have to develop communications networks in 2007-2008, and both telephone services and Internet access must be provided in the areas where they remain unavailable now,” a government representative said. There may be two or more winners, the representative added.
Belarus’ operators appear interested in the tender. A Beltelecom representative said the company plans to bid. The press service of the Belarusian-Russian mobile operator Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), said it would study the conditions first and then decide whether or not to bid. The administration of the third GSM operator of the country, ZAO BeST, is undecided.
On February 20, 2007, President Alexander Lukashenko signed ordinance #96 that approved the establishment of the targeted budget telecom services fund, which will be financed by a telecom operator levy of 1.5% of revenues. Belarus’ universal service fund will receive an estimated US$ 13.6 million this year.
As of January 1, 2007, there were 490 telecommunication operators in Belarus. The largest operators are Beltelecom, mobile operators MDC, MTS, BeST, BelCel and postal monopoly Belpochta.
Source: Prime-Tass - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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Bolivia: Potential for subsidized service in rural areas |
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Friday, 18 May 2007 |
The Bolivian government and the incumbent operator Entel could cooperate to offer subsidized telecommunications services in remote regions.
Waldo López, president of the local association of economists, Colegio Nacional de Economistas (CNE), said Entel could offer a special rate, subsidized by the state, for internet and telephony services in rural and low-income areas that are traditionally not profitable.
The government owns 47% of Entel while 50% is owned by Telecom Italia subsidiary Euro Telecom Internacional. The government is currently negotiating the nationalization of Entel.
Source: Cellular-News - WDR/Intelecon Regulatory News. |
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