World Dialogue on Regulation

According to a report by SAPA (the South African Press Association), today, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) granted four licenses for under-served areas.

According to a Prime-Tass report, Russia’s IT and Communications Ministry does not intend IP telephony providers to have special licenses, based on a draft of a list of communication services subject to mandatory licensing that the ministry plans to submit to the government this week.

According to an item reported by the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies, India’s tele-density is now over 8% as of the end of September. Tele-density rose to 8.03% from 7% in March this year.

According to a report from The Statesman, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) issued a consultation paper on “Growth of Telecom Services in Rural India”. The paper is intended to aid in the formulation of policies to increase improve rural telecommunications and make them more affordable.

According to a report from Business News Americas, Brazil's universal access agenda will present opportunities for European providers of satellite data communication services based on Digital Video Broadcasting –  Return Channel via Satellite (DVB-RCS) standard.

According to a report by The Times of India, TRAI, the telecom regulator, ruled that a new telecom policy is not required, but noted that some issues affecting sector growth were being assessed.

According to a report by The Financial Times, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman Pradip Baijal, said that telecom providers in rural areas should be granted free spectrum in order to increase teledensity in rural areas, which currently stands at 1.55%.

According to a Prime-Tass report, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) for the Novosibirsk Region concluded that regional operator Sibirtelecom violated anti-monopoly law when it dramatically increased tariffs it charges other operators for E-1 ports.

According to a Reuters report, Telmex is preparing to route voice traffic over the Internet, using technology that could reduce its long-distance revenues. Mexico's government has not yet created regulations for voice over IP (VoIP) telephone service and probably won’t until next year.

According to a report by Xinhua News Agency, the government is making efforts to establish a fund for telecom development. China is expected to connect all households to the telecommunications network, including those in rural areas, by 2020, the Ministry of Information Industry said.