NEWS RELEASE

ICT Authority launches Consultation Paper on Quality of Service (QoS) Framework to improve ICT Service Standards in Mauritius

Port Louis: The Information and Communication Technologies Authority today released a Consultation Paper aimed at defining a Quality of Service (QoS) framework for ICT services in Mauritius. The paper is available on the Authority’s website http://www.icta.mu

For the ICT Authority, this public consultation constitutes an important step towards a more effective industry monitoring and protection of end-users of ICT services and it coincides with the World Telecommunications and Information Society Day, for which the theme this year is: ‘Better cities, Better life with ICTs’. This exercise is in line with international regulatory trends to improve standards in ICT service performance via measurable and rigorous indicators.

Quality of Service (QoS) as defined in ITU-T Recommendation E.800 is “the collective effect of service performances which determine the degree of satisfaction of a user of the service”.

QoS provides an indication of what the customers experience when using the network. Examples of such experience could be with regard to the time taken for service providers to install or restore services, the reliability of services, network coverage, billing inaccuracy and complaints handling.

In many countries, ICT regulatory bodies have adopted a policy of enforcing quality of service through regulation and directives. These usually require operators who provide ICT services to measure and report the quality of the services they provide. In turn the regulators publish these reports to enable the industry to use these indicators to set performance targets for improved standards.

In Mauritius, ICT service providers obtained licences from the ICT Authority to operate their services.  Under these licence conditions, the ICT Authority obliges its licensees “to maintain quality of service in accordance with international best-practices”.

As we have more and more service providers offering a wider range of services, the need for a comprehensive QoS framework to measure, monitor and improve service performance become important. The QoS framework proposed by the ICT Authority has taken into account best international practices.

Members of the  public are invited to submit their views and comments in writing on the issues raised in this document to the Executive Director, ICT Authority, 12th Floor The Celicourt, Celicourt Antelme Street, Port Louis, or by email to icta@intnet.mu  by 16h00 on 16  July 2010 at the latest.

17 May 2010