Lance Hinds
And so it came to pass that in the highest, decision making assembly in the land, on the 18th of July in the year of Our Lord two thousand and sixteen, after two years of Select Committee hearings which generated close to 500 pages of related minutes and notes, The Telecommunications Bill 2016 (Bill No. 15 of 2016) and The Public Utilities Commission Bill 2016 (Bill of No. 16 of 2016) was passed.
This of course, was cause for great joy and celebration throughout the land. There was talk of the removal of the tyranny of 26 years of monopoly and a new era of blazing speeds, and cheaper internet. While eating my pepperpot earlier, I also noticed in one of this today’s newspapers a vision proposed of completely free telecommunications environment in the future (dis one hay gat teet, but anyhow…).
In this era of joyous celebration far be it from me to throw a wet blanket on the proceedings. I do wish to caution however that there is still a fair amount to be done. The bills need presidential assent and also a ministerial order to bring it into effect. There are some specific activities that must be completed before this can be done.
Successful negotiations with GT&T/ATN are critical to the liberalisation process. The company is being asked to surrender 9 years of a 15 year exclusive license. The company has already indicated their support for a liberalised environment but contractual and related issues will have to be resolved.
The regulations that will provide the policy and technical directions for the operation and management of the sector have to be developed. These regulations will be based on the following pillars:
Licensing and Frequency Authorisation – Regulates the application and issuance of telecommunication licenses
Interconnection and Access – Regulation for the level and method of connectivity between telecommunication networks
Pricing – Regulation of the pricing regimes for telecommunication services
Universal Access and Services – Regulations to ensure that all citizens have access to telecommunications services in a non-discriminatory manner.
Competition – Regulations to promote and encourage competition and economic efficiency in the telecommunications sector.
Consumer Protection – Regulation of the principles governing the obligation of services providers to consumers.
Spectrum Management – Regulations governing the issuance of licences, exemptions, frequency authorisations, and other certifications and permits for the use of frequencies.
The Act also requires the creation of a new Telecommunication Authority to manage the sector. This means that the NFMU will have to be subsumed into the new agency with all assets therein. The agency will have be staffed with people equipped to deal with a constantly evolving sector with all its policy related challenges.
This is going to be a brave new world. The Act came out of long discussions and negotiations over three years. It may have a clause here and there that some sectors might not be happy with but those issues can possibly be addressed in the regulations.
Expect a bit of a tussle over net neutrality. This concept is based on the notion that internet service providers may not discriminate between different kinds of content and applications online. In support of this, the new Telecommunication Act describes net neutrality in strict observance of the concept. This may not find favour with the telecom providers, who argue among other things that the strict interpretation of net neutrality affects their ability to provide effective traffic management and therefore competitive prices. This is a precursor to a looming battle over whether the Over The Top (OTT) services should continue to be free. Stay tuned.
Clauses 41 and 42 of the Bill speaks to joint use of facilities and installations. The bill addresses matters of use of public utility facilities by telecommunications operators and vice versa. The conversation down the road however is going to become far more complex when operators may be required to share each other’s communication infrastructure. This matter will be become critical in municipalities where there are issues of space.
Anyway boys and girls, we will continue this conversation soon. Off to lunch. Rumour has it that there is a serious cook-up waiting.
Wanderings of a Beautful Mind 