Nigeria’s Federal High Court has stopped the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) from re-auctioning spectrum in the 2.3GHz frequency range. The court ruled that the process must be put on hold pending the determination of a lawsuit initiated by the previous winner of the spectrum, Mobitel. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database, Mobitel, Spectranet and fixed-wireless operator Multilinks beat off around 40 other applications for slots in the 2.3GHz band after each of them paid NGN1.368 billion (USD9.33 million) in May 2009 for the frequency used to support to WiMAX technology. Later that month, Minister of Information and Communications, Dora Akunyili, issued a directive for the cancellation of the licensing and the implementation of a new auction, after operators faulted the commission on how the whole process was conducted, especially the one week timeframe given to pay the necessary fees. Mobitel, alleging contractual breach, has challenged the government’s position in court, saying it had fulfilled the requirements. The matter will be heard in court on 17 November 2009.

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Source: TeleGeography

The UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has agreed to issue a ten-year mobile TV licence to the Emirates Mobile Television Corporation consortium, Emirates news agency WAM reports. The concession reportedly includes the exclusive rights to broadcast mobile TV services for five years, ending 31 December 2014, and is thought to be priced at around AED17 million (USD4.63 million). The successful consortium is made up of local telcos Etisalat and Du, as well as Abu Dhabi Media Company, Dubai Media Incorporated, MBC, and Emirates Communications and Technologies Company, a subsidiary of TECOM Investment. The mobile TV service will be based on the DVB-H standard and is slated for launch in the fourth quarter of 2010.

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Source: TeleGeography

The European Commission has called on the Danish telecoms regulator, IT- og Telestyrelsen (NITA), to reconsider its regulatory approach for terminating calls to non-geographic numbers operated by service providers that offer premium rate services to end-users. Unlike national regulators in other EU Member States, NITA regulates the price of these services, setting them at the same level as for "ordinary" termination services. However, terminating calls to service providers are generally characterised by different competitive conditions than terminating calls to end-users and therefore not necessarily subject to regulation.

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Source Europe's Information Society

The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) was declared the winner by the investment communications group, Africa Investor in Cape Town, South Africa. CCK won the award for its role in seeking to develop regulations that are aimed at alleviating poverty and improving the investment climate in partnership with the private sector.

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Source Capital Business

This report is the fourth in a series published by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and is one of the few publications to monitor global trends in information and communication technologies (ICTs) as they affect developing countries. It serves as a valuable reference for policymakers in those nations and gives special attention to the impact of the global financial crisis on ICTs.

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Source UNCTAD

Despite the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority's (NTRA) offer of two triple-play licences, operators will not be able to provide voice services without giving Telecom Egypt access to their network. Egypt’s monopoly fixed line provider, Telecom Egypt, has claimed that it will remain the country’s sole fixed line voice provider.

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Source Reuters

Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko has issued a decree overturning a previous decision to transfer certain radio frequencies suitable for 3G mobile applications from the military to commercial networks, citing national security reasons.

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Source Reuters

The Georgian telecoms regulator, the National Communications Commission has cancelled a planned auction of additional radio spectrum in the GSM1800 and UMTS bands. The regulator said that no bidders had submitted applications by the deadline of 5th October.

The Auction was declared failed at the Session held today by the Georgian National Communications Commission.

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Source: cellular-news

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted unanimously today to begin the process of crafting formal rules for "net neutrality," the principle that all content on the Internet should be equally accessible to all users, and that companies cannot discriminate or block one set of content in favor of another.

The Commission agreed at its monthly open meeting to publish a "Notice of Proposed Rulemaking" that would solicit public comment on how best to create rules for ensuring net neutrality, while enabling Internet service providers and telecom networks to continue policing their systems for spam and illegal content.

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Source: cellular-news

Following the European Parliament and Council of Ministers' agreement, in July to modernise European legislation, new EU measures that allow the re-farming of the radio spectrum in the GSM band for new mobile services will foster stronger competition on Europe's telecoms market. The GSM Directive on the use of the radio spectrum will make it easier for operators to provide faster, pan-European services such as mobile internet alongside today's GSM services. They will also boost the roll-out of wireless broadband services.

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Source Europe's Information Society

Although the European Commission withdrew the regulatory intervention of transit services from the list of markets recommended for regulation, British regulator Ofcom have found that transit services provided at a lower network level still warrant ex-ante regulation. The lack of competitive conditions for the provision of such services, especially on routes with low volumes of traffic, therefore, will continue to be regulated.

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Source Europe's Information Society

The Ministry of Transport and Communications in Helsinki has pushed through a law that will force telecommunications providers to offer high speed internet connections to all of the country's 5.3 million citizens, making broadband internet access a legal right.

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Source Guardian

The High Court has found that Telecom (Telecom Corporation of New Zealand and Telecom New Zealand Limited) used its substantial market power to prevent and deter competition in markets involving high-speed data transmission. The Commerce Commission claimed that Telecom contravened section 36 of the Commerce Act, which prohibits firms with a substantial degree of market power from taking advantage of that power for an anti-competitive purpose.

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Source: Commerce Commission New Zealand

The Dominican Republic’s telecoms regulator, Instituto Dominicano de las Telecomunicaciones (Indotel), has said it has plans to roll out fixed line telecoms services to an additional 1,000 rural communities as part of an initiative aimed at providing broadband and home voice services to all towns with more than 300 inhabitants. According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms database, the announcement comes just over a year after fixed line incumbent Codetel inked a deal with Indotel to undertake a rural connectivity project that will see investment of USD100 million.

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Source: TeleGeography

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is planning on changing the way the current mobile phone industry bills its customers. While the notion of per second billing is welcome by the country's 450 million mobile subscribers, it is a jarring note for the operators who may see their revenues falling by 15% as a result.

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Source The Economic Times

The European Commission has called on the Austrian telecoms regulator, Rundfunk und Telekom Regulierungs GmbH (RTR), to suspend the adoption of regulatory measures regarding the definition of the Austrian broadband access market. The Commission has doubts as to the compatibility of the provisions defining the Austrian wholesale broadband access market with EU law.

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Source Europe's Information Society

The European Commission decided to close infringement proceedings against Italy and Estonia as both countries now fully comply with EU TV advertising rules. For Italy, the Commission had concerns over: 3 minute teleshopping messages not being counted in advertising limits and confusing viewers; TV stations' own promotional spots were not covered by Italy's legal definition of advertising; inefficient sanctions for breaches of advertising rules.

The Commission also launched infringement proceedings against Estonia as TV channels were regularly breaking the EU's limit of 12 minutes of advertising per hour. The two countries were in breach of the EU's Television without Frontiers Directive, but have meanwhile adjusted their national legislation and practice to comply with European audiovisual rules.

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Source: Europe's Information Society

The European Commission decided to take Belgium to the European Court of Justice on "must-carry" rules (imposed on broadcasters in the bilingual region of Brussels-Capital) after it failed to address a final warning issued by the Commission in November 2008 (IP/08/699  ). In the Commission's view, the rules, which require cable and other network operators to carry radio and TV channels in the Brussels region, are not proportionate. At the same time, the Commission ended legal action taken against Germany on "must carry" rules. It also closed action against Sweden and the Netherlands on other telecoms issues.

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Source: Europe's Information Society

The European Commission has called on the Austrian telecoms regulator, Rundfunk und Telekom Regulierungs GmbH (RTR), to suspend the adoption of regulatory measures regarding the definition of the Austrian broadband access market, the so call bitstream access market. The Commission has serious doubts as to the compatibility of the provisions defining the Austrian wholesale broadband access market with EU law. In the notification submitted one month ago, RTR has provided insufficient evidence to support its finding that mobile broadband connections can be considered as substitutes to fixed line DSL and cable connections. The Commission also has doubts regarding the scope of RTR's wholesale market definition for bitstream access. The Commission has therefore asked RTR not to adopt the measure until the Commission has taken a final decision on RTR's proposal.

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Source: Europe's Information Society