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August 25, 2008
Iran to
license a third mobile operator
According to a Reuters article, on August 25, Iran invited bids from operators to become the country's third mobile
operator.
Iran's two existing
operators are state-owned Iran Telecom and Irancell, 49% owned by MTN Group.
"The invitation to take part in the
tender will take place through mass circulation newspapers from August 25 to
September 4. The sale of tender documents will take place on September 6,"
IRNA, Iran's news agency said, quoting Saeed Mahdiyoun, the official responsible for setting up the third mobile
network.
The government's advisor on the licensing
process is Millennium Finance Corporation (MFC), an investment bank created by
a group representing a number of investment banking firms in partnership with
Dubai Islamic Bank.
"The foreign consulting firm will have
responsibilities that include marketing, encouraging investors to participate
in the tender, cooperating in the evaluation and determining the qualification
of participating companies," the report said.
August 1, 2008
Honduras:
Digicel Awarded WiMAX License
According to a report from Cellular-News, Digicel was awarded a 2.5 GHz
spectrum license for WiMAX service in Honduras. Digicel's license is the only one to provide coverage of the top eight
most densely populated areas, representing about 60% of the population.
Digicel won the competitive bidding process
with a bid of US$ 2.0 million. The other bidders for the license were America
Movil (Claro), Autoconsa, Axioma Empresarial, Lumelsa and Millicom (Tigo).
"With WiMAX, we will be able to
contribute further to the economic growth and social development of Honduras by
delivering broadband mobile internet access to customers in the most densely
populated locations across Honduras," said Miguel Garcia, the CEO of
Digicel Honduras.
Digicel already holds a GSM license in Honduras, which it acquired in December
2007.
July 31, 2008
Armenia: ArmenTel Fined US$ 1.0 Million
According to a report from Armenia Liberty, ArmenTel was fined US$ 1.0
million by Armenia's anti-trust regulator for anti-competitive actions against the country's Internet service
providers (ISPs).
The fine comes after the launch of an ArmenTel
service offering broadband access at a reduced cost. Competing ISPs claim that ArmenTel
refuses to allow them to use its facilities to provide a similar service.
The State Commission for the Protection of
Economic Competition (SCPEC) found a complaint filed by the ISPs to be
legitimate and gave ArmenTel 15 days to resolve the situation. The 15 day
period has expired and ArmenTel has failed to comply with the SCPEC's order,
and is now considered to be abusing its significant market power. ArmenTel
denies any wrongdoing and is expected to appeal the SCPEC decision.
ArmenTel voluntarily relinquished its
monopoly on the country's Internet gateway shortly after its September 2006
takeover by Russia's Vimpelcom. However, competing ISPs still rely on ArmenTel's fibre-optic network linking to Georgia and Iran to carry a majority of Armenia's Internet traffic.
July 30, 2008
Uganda:
Hits Telecom Could Have License Revoked
According to a report from The Monitor, HITS Telecom could have its license
revoked by the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) since it has failed to launch
service over a year after it was licensed.
The company was granted a Public
Infrastructure Provider (PIP) license and a Public Service Provider (PSP) license
in March 2007. The licenses enable HITS to operate a wide range of services,
including fixed, mobile and data.
In 2007, HITS' representative Jimmy Kiberu
said that the company's GSM network would be operational in time for the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, in November 2007. However, HITS only completed
its first test call at that time. At the time of the test call, company
representatives said that the company would start operations in the first
quarter of 2008.
Fred Otunnu, of the UCC, said that
operators holding a PSP license are expected to launch operations within a year
of licensing, while PIP license holders have eighteen months to start providing
service. Otunnu added that companies failing to meet the requirements of their
licenses risk losing them if they do not have sufficient reasons for their
failure.
Jimmy Kiberu said, "the company will
make a major announcement mid next week, to update the public about what is
happening. Until then, we cannot comment on anything."
Commenting on the company's expired
license, Mr Kiberu said, "we renewed our PSP license and there were
several costs in the process. So, we are still within our license
requirements."
July 25, 2008
India: Fee
changes for rural telecoms
According to The Hindu, the Telecom Commission, the policy-making body of the
Department of Telecommunications (DoT), decided to waive the license fee on
rural landlines and to reduce the universal service obligation (USO) fund levy.
The Commission decided to waive the license
fee on rural landlines to promote telephone use in rural areas. The decision is
also intended to improve e-governance through the extended provision of broadband
service in villages. The waiver amounts to US$ 46.7 million annually.
The other major decision was to reduce the USO
fund levy from the current 5.0% to 3.0% of adjusted ground revenue (AGR) for
those telecommunications operators who already cover more than 95% of rural
areas. The change requires the operators to dramatically increase rural coverage
to take advantage of the levy reduction. Mobile population coverage in India is estimated at between 65 and 70
percent.
July 24, 2008
Rwanda:
Country to License Third Operator
According to a New Vision report, the government of Rwanda plans to license a third telecommunications operator now that the
duopoly period for the existing operators has expired.
Rwandatel and MTN Rwandacel were granted duopoly
licenses in 2003 to provide fixed and mobile communications.
"The duopoly expired in June and the
government has decided to select a third national operator through a public
tender process," Diogene Mudenge, the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Agency's
(RURA) acting director general, said.
Mudenge said the new operator would be issued
with fixed and mobile licenses with 15 year duration. He added that the license
obligations include contributions to the universal access fund.
The government has invited potential
bidders to express interest in becoming the country's third operator. The
bidding process is restricted to telecom operators or groups that have proven
capabilities to advance the Government's objectives in the ICT sector. Bidders
should also have the financial capability to implement a realistic plan to enhance
the telecommunications sector in Rwanda.
July 23, 2008
Malawi:
Regulator Awards Third Mobile License
According to a report from APA-Lilongwe, Malawi's telecommunications
regulator, the Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), has granted a
mobile license to Global Advanced Integrated Networks Limited (GAIN). GAIN is
the third mobile operator, along with Celtel Malawi and Telekom Networks.
Zadziko Mankhambo, a MACRA spokesperson, said
that GAIN is expected to contribute to the promotion of ICT development in both
urban and rural areas.
Mankhambo added that MACRA's Board also
reviewed the process of awarding a Second Fixed Line Operator license and is in
the process of awarding the license to Access Communications Limited (ACL).
July 22, 2008
Nigeria: Telecommunications
and Broadcasting Regulators to Merge
According to a report from Vanguard, the Minister of State for
Communication and Information, Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki-Nakande says that the National
Communications Commission (NCC) and the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC)
will be merged.
"In the telecommunication sector, we
have agreed that there is no need to have two regulatory authorities in the
sector because as a result convergence between information and communication
technologies, a lot of the regulations must come under one umbrella. Presently
we have the National Communications Commission (NCC) and Nigerian Broadcasting
Commission (NBC), so eventually we must merge them to become NCC," the
Minister said.
He continued, "the thinking behind it
is that both of them are doing virtually the same thing even though differently
this one is selling spectrum of frequency for the broadcast sector for radio
and television while the other one is also selling spectrum for telecommunication
and broadband services so we will bring the all of them together."
Nakande also stated that the Federal
Government would soon issue directives to all network operators on
infrastructure sharing.
"In the next two weeks we are issuing
a direction to now enforce issues on call location and sharing of
infrastructures by the GSM operators, due diligence should be made and
submitted to the Ministry...We must insist that they must share their
infrastructure and it will reduce the incidences of cable cut either by
sabotage or by sincere mistakes. It also helps us to reduce cost for those
infrastructures," Nakande said.
July 18, 2008
Chile: Existing
mobile operators allowed to bid for frequency
According to a Reuters article, Chile's anti-trust tribunal is allowing existing mobile operators to bid
for new frequencies, but stipulated that the process should also enable the
entry of new competitors.
The Subsecretary of Telecommunications
(Subtel) asked the tribunal for a ruling on whether existing operators should
be allowed to bid for 45 megahertz of frequency to be used for 3G service.
"According to anti-trust regulations...it
is not necessary to exclude the participation of current concession
holders...which means they may participate if they meet applicable norms,"
the tribunal said.
The tribunal asked that Subtel take steps
to promote the entry of new operators, including allowing mobile number
portability (MNP). The tribunal suggest that said MNP should be instituted as
soon as possible. The government intends to proceed with bidding now that is
has received the tribunal's ruling.
Chile's mobile market is dominated by Telefonica Movistar and Entel PCS. Claro is the third
largest operator. Chile has mobile penetration of around 90% and a population of 16 million.
July 17, 2008
Russia:
Medvedev supports introduction of fees for all radio frequencies
According to a report from BBC Monitoring and Interfax, Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev supports the introduction of radio frequency fees
for the use of the entire spectrum, including unused frequencies.
"I think this is an interesting idea,
but I would like the government to work on this issue. I am sure that special
users (including the military) will not be happy, but, in any case, this is a
possibility to simplify the situation dramatically. If you possess a resource
but do not use it, you should pay money for it", Medvedev said.
"The fees should be reasonable, but
enough to prompt the user to either use it or transfer the relevant
right", he added.
The proposal was originally put forward by Deputy
Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov.
Telecommunications and Mass Communications
Minister Igor Shchegolev said that payment procedures for the use of the radio
frequency spectrum are unchanged since 1998 and he sees a shift to one-time
payments for frequency permits.
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