Nepru slams draft Telecoms Bill

Namibia’s draft Telecommunications Bill 2008 has come under fire from the Namibia Economic Policy Research Unit.

The draft does “all that is required to make operators compete fairly but is impractical for Namibia”, the economic think-tank says. The Bill, which should be to create a legal “framework that promotes investment in the information communication and technology sector”, contains sections from the South African Electronics Communications Act of 2005 that “will lead to difficulties in implementing the act,” according to Nepru’s September Policy Brief.The research unit states that while competition will take care of service quality, prices and consumer protection issues, an independent regulator should ensure that operators compete fairly.The regulator should ensure that a dominant player does not abuse its market power in determining interconnection rates; should determine the terms under which firms operate in market segments; and should prevent “predatory pricing and harmful cross-subsidisation”, says Nepru.The Bill has the “potential to cross the line between policy and regulation by allowing the Minister to direct the regulator to charge an extraordinary fee for a licence”, according to Nepru.This “interference” impacts directly on the independence of the regulator.In addition, by charging extraordinary fees for licensing will discourage new entrants and “adds a level of political risk to licensing”.- Na-iem DollieThe Bill, which should be to create a legal “framework that promotes investment in the information communication and technology sector”, contains sections from the South African Electronics Communications Act of 2005 that “will lead to difficulties in implementing the act,” according to Nepru’s September Policy Brief.The research unit states that while competition will take care of service quality, prices and consumer protection issues, an independent regulator should ensure that operators compete fairly.The regulator should ensure that a dominant player does not abuse its market power in determining interconnection rates; should determine the terms under which firms operate in market segments; and should prevent “predatory pricing and harmful cross-subsidisation”, says Nepru.The Bill has the “potential to cross the line between policy and regulation by allowing the Minister to direct the regulator to charge an extraordinary fee for a licence”, according to Nepru.This “interference” impacts directly on the independence of the regulator.In addition, by charging extraordinary fees for licensing will discourage new entrants and “adds a level of political risk to licensing”.- Na-iem Dollie