THE TELECOMMUNICATION ORDER (7 Of 2003)

INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AUTHORITY

1^st Floor, Jade House, Remy Ollier & Car Jummah Mosque Streets,

Port Louis, MAURITIUS

ICTA/IUC/TO/07/2003

12 September, 2003

THE TELECOMMUNICATION ORDER (7 Of 2003)

In exercise of the powers conferred upon it under the Information & Communication Technologies Act 2001, the Information & Communication Technologies Authority (hereinafter referred to as Authority) hereby makes the following order in respect of interconnection charges for inter network calls between different operators in Mauritius.

1. Short title, extent and commencement:

i. This Order shall be called “The Telecommunication Order (7 of 2003)”.

ii. Telecommunication Order (7 of 2003) repeals and replaces Telecommunication Order (5 of 2003)

iii. Telecommunication Order (7 of 2003) shall come into force with immediate effect

2. Interconnection Charges for inter network calls

i. The Interconnection Usage Charge (IUC) and other charges payable by each operator for the inter-network calls shall be as specified in Schedule-I hereto.

ii. The above charges shall be implemented as from 15^th September 2003.

iii. The mobile operators and fixed line operators shall enter into an agreement based on the charges mentioned in this order and file the same with the Authority.

iv. The Authority may, from time to time, review and modify Interconnection Usage Charge. The Authority may also at any time, proprio motu, or upon reference by any aggrieved party, and for good and sufficient reasons, review and modify any Interconnection Usage Charge.

3. Explanatory Memorandum

This Order contains at Annexure-A, an explanatory memorandum regarding the tariffs specified in this Order.

BY ORDER

N. Parameswaran

Executive Director

To: All telecommunication service providers

i. M/s Cellplus Mobile communications Limited, 9th Floor, Telecom Tower, Port Louis.

ii. M/s Emtel Limited, 1, Boundary Road, Rose Hill.

iii. M/s Mauritius Telecom Limited, 18^th Floor, Telecom Tower, Port Louis

Telecommunication Order No. 7 of 2003

Schedule-I

1	Date of Implementation	15 September 2003
2	Port charges (covering charges for ports, leased lines, etc)	As currently applicable
3	Pulse Rate for inter operator billing	Per second basis in all cases
4	Inter-connection Usage Charges

Direction of Inter-

Network call

IUC

(Rs. Per minute)

Payable by

I	Calls to / from Mobile Network
(a)	Mobile to Mobile	Bill and Keep	NA
(b)	Mobile to ILD
	(i) through fixed line operator	Rs.1.25	Mobile operator to fixed line operator
	(ii) direct interconnection	Rs 4.00	ILD operator to pay Re 1 to mobile operator and Rs 3 to ICT Authority to be credited to the special account
(c)	ILD to Mobile
	(i) through fixed line operator	Nil	NA
	(ii) direct interconnection	Nil, until such time as any charges may be approved by the Authority	ILD operator to mobile operator
(d)	Mobile to fixed
	(i) Domestic	Rs.1.25	Mobile operator to fixed line operator
	(ii) Inter Island	Rs.1.25	Mobile operator to fixed line operator

II	Calls to / from Fixed Network
(a)	Fixed to Fixed	Rs.0.16	Call originating fixed line operator to the call terminating fixed line operator
(b)	Fixed to ILD	Rs.4.00	ILD operator to pay Re 1 to fixed line operator and Rs 3 to ICT Authority to be credited to the special account
(c)	ILD to fixed	Rs.2.50	ILD operator to fixed line operator
(d)	Fixed to Mobile
	(i) Domestic	Nil	NA
	(ii) Inter island	Nil	NA
(e)	Fixed to Internet	Rs.0.10	ISP to fixed line operator

Note: In case of ILD and inter-island calls, the applicable IDD and inter-island call charges are extra and are payable by the call originating operator to the ILD or inter-island carrier.

Annexure-A

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1 . IUC For Outgoing International Calls

IUC for the outgoing International long distance call is Rs 4 per minute. This is to be paid by all ILD operators including operators who are both domestic (fixed or mobile) and ILD operators.

2. Special Account

(a) The Authority shall open a special account which it shall operate and manage for the next six months. Payments, by all ILD operators, of IUC for outgoing International calls after netting off the cost of originating a call, will be remitted into this special account. The ICT Authority, in the meantime, will conduct an exercise to determine the cost of originating an International long distance call from a mobile network and from a fixed network. The ICT Authority will refund to all operators (fixed and mobile) their cost of originating these calls. The surplus after deduction of these costs will be used to meet the access deficit of MT as calculated by the Authority. Any excess amount over the calculated access deficit will be remitted to Government for ICT development. It is however understood that the whole of the access deficit might not be fully recovered during the next 6 months.

(b) Until such time as the cost of originating a call is determined by the ICT Authority, Re 1 per minute shall be paid out of the IUC of Rs 4 by the ILD operator to the call originating operator (fixed or mobile) and the remaining Rs 3 per minute shall be remitted on a monthly basis, to the special account managed by the Authority. After calculation of the cost for call origination, the necessary adjustments will be made.

Given that in the proposed IUC for calls from mobile to fixed network (Rs 1.25) the margin for leased line and/or port charges has been built in, MT is not allowed to increase the charges currently levied.

For incoming international calls directly terminated on the mobile network by a new ILD operator, the IUC between the new ILD operator and the mobile operator may be submitted to the Authority for approval.

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