कानून

यो सामाग्री अंग्रेजीमा मात्रै उपलब्ध छ।

शुल्क स्वीकृती निर्देशिका || अन्तरआवद्दता निर्देशिका || अनुमतीपत्र प्रक्रिया

यो सामाग्री अंग्रेजीमा मात्रै उपलब्ध छ।

Guidelines For Interconnection

Part I: General Interconnection Principles

Part II: Interconnection Negotiations

Part III: Reference Interconnection Offer

Part IV: Register of Interconnection Agreements and Determinations

Part V: Technical Matters

Part VI: Promotion of customer interests

Part VII: Protection of Information

Part VIII: Dispute Resolution

Nepal Telecommuniction Authority (NTA)

  Interconnection Guideline, 2065 (2008)

 Document No.  GI065.01

 Effective from May 1^st, 2008 (Baishakh 19, 2065)
 

Part I: General Interconnection Principles

1.   Introduction

This Interconnection Guideline (GI) sets out the policy objectives for interconnection of facilities and services between Licensees within the telecommunications sector in Nepal pursuant to Section 52 of the Telecommunications Act, 2053 (1997).

This Guideline is intended to:

a.             encourage the orderly development of Telecommunications Systems and Telecommunications Networks that enhances and strengthens the social and economic welfare of Nepal;

b.             promote and maintain any-to-any connectivity and safeguard against any abuse of market power in the provisioning of Telecommunications Services in Nepal;

c.             prevent and abolish discrimination in the provision of Telecommunications Services in Nepal;

d.             promote and maintain co-operation and fair competition between Licensees in the telecommunications sector in Nepal; and

e.             safeguard the interests of consumers by ensuring that Telecommunications Services are reasonably accessible to all citizens of Nepal.

This Guideline is not intended to:

(a)           limit the matters which may be dealt within an Interconnection Agreement but to provide a minimum set of issues which should be addressed; and

(b)           prevent or delay the Licensees from negotiating or entering into bilateral or multilateral agreements which deal with matters other than those addressed in this Guideline.

This Guideline shall apply to the interconnection of facilities and services between Licensees providing Telecommunications Services in Nepal.

2.   Background

The Government of Nepal recognizes that efficient and effective telecommunications networks and services are an essential prerequisite for the continued growth of the Nepalese economy. Telecommunications is also an important public utility for the community. For these reasons, the Government must ensure the commercial activities within the sector are aligned with, and support, national development objectives and priorities. As more and more participants become involved in the sector, a broad regulatory framework needs to be established to govern the operations of the industry in the interest of consumers, fair competition, and the achievement of national goals.

3.   Introduction of Competition

3.1   NTA has already issued licenses to NDCL for the provision of Basic Telephone Service and Mobile Telephone Service in Nepal. Furthermore, NTA has issued one license each for the provision of Basic Telephone Service based on WLL and Cellular Mobile Telephone Service. Apart from the national operator, there is one operator who is providing Rural Telephone Service. And NTA is planning to issue one license each for the provision of Second Rural Telephone service provider and Basic Telephone Service provider.

3.2   In overseeing the implementation of this new competitive regime, the NTA is responsible for maintaining fair competition between network operators, whilst safeguarding the interests of consumers and ensuring that all network operators contribute to universal service objectives and the rapid expansion of telecommunications infrastructure throughout the country. In carrying out this role, the NTA must balance conflicting pressures and interests in order to ensure that the sector delivers the greatest possible benefits for the country.

3.3   The Government's competition policy in Telecommunications Sector, therefore, exposes the sector to market disciplines, whilst implementing safeguards to ensure that healthy competition and national policy priorities are achieved.

3.4   From a national perspective, the Government looks to the entry of new operators and the emergence of a competitive market to deliver substantial benefits including the rapid expansion of service available and the elimination of unsatisfied demand, through increasing the total level of capital investment in the sector.

3.5   Interconnection between telecommunications networks to provide connectivity between any-to-any and safeguards against any abuse of market power, are fundamental concepts of competition.

4.   4. Duty to interconnect with other Licensees

4.1   Every Licensee has a duty to provide access to and interconnect with another Licensee on fair and reasonable terms and conditions.

4.2   In providing interconnection, the Licensees shall have regard to the following principles:

a.       the Licensees shall contribute towards the achievement of the national objectives of extending the availability and usage of Telecommunications Services and the provision of quality services;

b.      the Licensees shall deploy high quality and advanced telecommunications infrastructure to serve the diverse needs of different customer groups;

c.       the deployment and usage of the telecommunications sector’s infrastructure and resources should be directed towards the development of an economically efficient telecommunications industry, minimize uneconomic duplication of infrastructure facilities and encourage the shared usage of common infrastructure facilities; and

d.      The interconnection arrangements between the Licensees shall be based on the principles of symmetrical arrangements, transparency and reciprocity as between the Licensees.

5.  Principles of non-discrimination

5.1   Interconnection between the Licensees shall be:

a.           of at least the same technical standard and quality as the technical standard and quality provided on the Licensees’ own facilities and services; and

b.          on an equitable and non-discriminatory basis.

5.2   For the purpose of this Guideline, the term ‘non-discriminatory’ requires comparison of:

a.           the basis on which a thing is provided by one Licensee to another Licensee; with

b.          the basis on which that thing is provided by one Licensee to itself and to other Licensee who are similarly situated.

6.   Charging Principles

6.1   Each Licensee shall be required to make available its Telecommunications Network and Telecommunications Services to any other Licensees wishing to interconnect on an appropriate basis.

6.2   The charges that a Licensee offers for all Interconnection Services must be cost-based and reflect the fact that relationship between Licensees is a carrier-to-carrier relationship. This generally involves the provision of services which are not available to customers or to unlicensed third parties.

6.3   Where feasible, the Licensees must use an established cost methodology.

6.4   In negotiating Interconnection Agreements or developing a Reference Interconnection Offer, the Licensees shall take into consideration the following charging principles:

a.           any charges or rates imposed shall be such that they cover the costs attributable for providing Interconnection incurred by the Licensee to whom the charges are payable;

b.          calculations of Access Charges shall be based on the costs attributable to the interconnection and shall include the cost of capital employed in the assets used;

c.           the charges or rates imposed shall take into account the need for a Licensee to earn a reasonable rate of return on investment.

d.          the charges or rates imposed shall take into account the universal service obligations of the Licensees being connected to (unless other explicit mechanisms are put in place);

e.           where Telecommunications Services generate usage-sensitive costs, the charges shall be usage sensitive; and

f.            the charges will be based on efficient provisioning standards and internationally acceptable practices.

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Part II: Interconnection Negotiations

7.   Options for Entering into Interconnection Agreement

7.1   A Licensee that seeks to interconnect with another Licensee may:

a.           negotiate and establish in good faith, with another Licensee, an Interconnection Agreement; or

b.          enter into an Interconnection Agreement with another Licensee by accepting another Licensee’s Reference Interconnection Offer.

8.   Interconnection Procedures

8.1   Where a Licensee wishes to negotiate and establish an Interconnection Agreement with another Licensee pursuant to Section 7.1 a, the Licensee must comply with the following procedures:

a.           submit a written request to the other Licensee copied to the Authority to negotiate an Interconnection Agreement (“Interconnection Request”);

b.          enter into a confidentiality agreement within seven (7) days of receipt of the Interconnection Request by the other Licensee;

c.           begin negotiations within seven (7) days after the execution of confidentiality agreement; and

d.          subject to sub-section c above, conclude and execute the Interconnection agreement within three (3) months from the date of the Interconnection Request (“Negotiation Period”).

8.2   For the purpose of Section 8.1 a, the Interconnection Request must:

a.           contain the name and contact details of the Licensee requesting interconnection;

b.          specify the type of interconnection required including inter alia:

                                                             i.            information on network configuration;

                                                           ii.            proposed POIs;

                                                          iii.            proposed interfaces;

                                                         iv.            capacity requirements;

                                                           v.            proposed traffic routing;

                                                         vi.            traffic forecasts;

                                                        vii.            traffic types;

                                                      viii.            proposed implementation schedules not earlier than six (6) months from the date of the Interconnection Requests; and

                                                         ix.            details of initial and further network operations relevant to the interconnection requirements.

8.3   The Interconnection Request must be accompanied by the Bank Guarantee equivalent to the annual subscription fee of the requested no of E1 calculated as per Section 16.3 (i) of this Guideline. The Bank Guarantee shall be released immediately after providing E1 or within 3 months from the date of Interconnection Request, whichever is earlier.  

8.4   In the event that the Licensees fail to conclude an Interconnection Agreement within the Negotiation Period, either Licensee may:

a.           make a written request to the Authority to extend the Negotiation Period; or

b.          make a written request for the Authority to determine an Interconnection Agreement between the Licensees in accordance with this Guideline. Such determination by the Authority shall be made in accordance with Section 16 of this Guideline.

8.5   The determination made by the Authority pursuant to Section 8.4 b shall be legally binding on the relevant Licensees.

9.   Exchange of interconnection traffic without Interconnection Agreement

9.1   Any exchange of traffic between the Licensees prior to the conclusion of an Interconnection Agreement pursuant to Section 8 shall be subject to suitable billing mechanisms being put in place, and agreement being reached with regard to the keeping of records by the Licensees concerned.

9.2 Where the Interconnection agreement is concluded pursuant to Section 8 above, the Licensees shall effect payments in accordance with the Interconnection Agreement for the Interim Arrangement unless otherwise agreed by both Licensees.

10. Interconnection Agreements

10.1 An Interconnection Agreement should enable Licensees to provide Telecommunications Services to their respective customers and the customer of other Licensees.

10.2 An Interconnection Agreement shall cover at least the following matters:

a.           scope and definition of Telecommunications Services including transit services (if offered);

b.          interconnection and POI requirements and principles;

c.           provision of information including notice of changes in the configuration of its network, numbering, routing and signalling;

d.          interconnection provisioning procedures and cost of interconnection;

e.           network and transmission capacity requirements;

f.            technical service level commitments;

g.           technical specifications and standards;

h.           transmission and performance standards;

i.             fault reporting and resolution procedures

j.            network management, maintenance and measurement, including traffic record on incoming and outgoing call communications;

k.          network safety, protection and related matters;

l.             call handling and operations procedures;

m.         access to interconnection facilities and sharing of infrastructure;

n.           charging mechanisms, billing and settlement procedures;

o.          transmission of calling line identification information;

p.          operator assisted services, directory information and assistance;

q.          commercial terms and conditions;

r.            the universal service contribution of Licensees (if required);

s.           network numbering;

t.            confidentiality of information;

u.           liability and indemnities;

v.           force majeure;

w.         intellectual property rights;

x.           provision for an interconnection agreement liaison committee; and

y.           review periods and terms for review.

10.3 Each Interconnection Agreement shall incorporate:

a.           a technical and implementations manual;

b.          an operations and maintenance manual;

c.           a provision committing each Licensee to the Dispute Resolution Procedures; and

d.          any other necessary manuals to facilitate the implementation of the provisions of the Interconnection Agreement.

11. Renegotiation of Interconnection Agreements

11.1 Subject to Section 11.2 below, any Licensee may at any time after the Interconnection Agreement comes into force, request in writing and agree to negotiate in good faith any proposal to replace, revise or amend the Interconnection Agreement in accordance with this Guideline and the review provisions of the Interconnection Agreement.

11.2 The terms and conditions of the current Interconnection Agreement shall remain in force and effect during any negotiations until commencement of the replaced, revised or amended Interconnection Agreement.

11.3 If the Licensees fail to reach an agreement on any such proposal pursuant to Section 11.1 above within one month, either Licensee may make a written request to the Authority to make a determination on any proposal necessary to give effect to a workable and equitable Interconnection Agreement in accordance with Section16.

12. Existing interconnection agreements and arrangements

12.1 Any Interconnection Agreement or arrangement related to interconnection issues (including a Memorandum of Understanding) entered into between the Licensees before this Guideline shall be enforceable unless in contradiction to this guideline  .

12.2 However, the Licensees shall renegotiate such agreements and arrangements to ensure that the agreements and arrangements comply with this Guideline.

12.3 Where the Licensees renegotiate the existing Interconnection Agreements or arrangements:

a.       the Licensees shall use their best endeavours to conclude the revised Interconnection Agreement or arrangement within ninety (90) days from the date of coming into force of this Guideline (“Revision Period”);

b.      if renegotiations are not complete within the Revision Period, either Licensee may:

                                                     i.        make a written request to the Authority to extend the Revision Period; or

                                                   ii.        make a written request for the Authority to determine a revised Interconnection Agreement (or part thereof) between the Licensees in accordance with this Guideline.

c.       The determination made by the Authority pursuant to Section 12.3 b. ii above shall be legally binding on the relevant Licensees.

12.4 Where it becomes necessary for the Authority to determine a revised Interconnection Agreement (or part thereof) between the Licensees, the Authority will have regard to the matters set out in Section 16 of this Guideline.

 12.5Any exchange of traffic between the Licensees during the period of renegotiation of a revised interconnection agreement shall be subject to suitable metering and charging mechanisms being put in place, and agreement being reached with regard to the keeping of records by the Licensees concerned (“Interim Arrangement”).

12.6 Where the Interconnection agreement is revised and concluded pursuant to Section 12.3 above, the Licensees shall effect payments in accordance with the revised Interconnection Agreement for the Interim Arrangement unless otherwise agreed by both Licensees.

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Part III: Reference Interconnection Offer

13. Duty to Develop a Reference Interconnection Offer

13.1 Each Licensee is required to develop a Reference Interconnection Offer, setting out the terms and conditions for interconnection of its Telecommunications Networks and Telecommunications Services.

13.2 The Reference Interconnection Offer must be submitted to the Authority for approval within one hundred and twenty (120) days from the effective date of this Guideline.

14. Contents of the Reference Interconnection Offer

The Reference Interconnection Offer shall:

a.           be in writing (including legible electronic format);

b.be accurate;

c.           be organised in a logical and consistent manner

d.          be modular, allowing the Licensee to purchase only those Interconnection Services that it wishes to obtain;

e.           be consistent with:

i.        the Act; and

ii.      the Regulations;

f.            as a minimum, cover the matters set out in Section 10 of this Guideline;

g.           be sufficiently detailed such that another Licensee is able to accept the prices, terms and conditions to obtain Interconnection Services without having to engage in negotiations with the Licensee; and

h.           be made available to a Licensee on request in paper form at the Licensee’s principal place of business and on a publicly accessible website.

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Part IV: Register of Interconnection Agreements and Determinations

15. Lodgement of all Interconnection Agreements to Authority

15.1 The Licensees must lodge with the Authority a copy of all Interconnection Agreements into which they enter within seven (7) days from the date of execution of the Interconnection Agreements.

15.2 Upon lodgement, the Interconnection Agreements only becomes effective and are enforceable in law after the Authority approves in writing the terms and conditions of Interconnection Agreement.

15.3 Within thirty (30) days from lodgement of the Interconnection agreement in accordance with Section 15.2, the Authority shall:

a.           approve the Interconnection Agreement with or without amendment ; or

b.          reject the Interconnection Agreement and direct the Licensee to file a revised Interconnection Agreement.

15.4 Where the Authority rejects the Interconnection Agreement pursuant to Section 15.3 b, the Authority shall state the reasons for its rejection.

15.5 The Interconnection Agreements approved pursuant to Section 15.3 shall be kept in a register of Interconnection Agreements which shall be maintained by the Authority.

16. Determinations by the Authority

16.1 Any determination by the Authority under this Guideline shall to the extent possible:

a.           be taken only after Licensees have had any opportunity to come to a commercial agreement;

b.          take into account of international best practices and lessons from relevant experiences;

c.           involve consultation with the relevant parties;

d.          avoid distorting industry economics;

e.           discourage uncommercial or anti-competitive behaviour; and

f.            take account of operational realities and the objectives detailed in the Act.

16.2 In determining the terms and conditions of an Interconnection Agreement, the Authority shall have regard to:

a.           the Act;

b.          submissions made to the Authority by the involved parties (who shall be given at least fourteen (14) days to prepare such submissions);

c.           the Authority’s objectives in the Act including but not limited improving the competitive scenario;

d.          The rights and obligations of the Licensees in terms of their Licences;

e.           The promotion of economic and technical efficiency;

f.            The interests of consumers and the public interest;

g.           The overall reasonableness and stated requirement of each Licensee including but not limited to its justification of charges in terms of costs for Interconnection Services.

16.3 While determining the terms and conditions of an Interconnection pursuant to Section 8.4 b of this Guideline, the following Interconnection Usage Charge (IUC) shall be fixed by the Authority.

                                             i.            Port Charge: It is the charge payable by the Interconnection Seeker to the Interconnection Provider.

ii.           Transmission Lease Charge for STM-4: Rs. 6, 00,000 per year per kilometer on pro-rata per E1 basis.

iii.          Set Up Charge: Rs 200,000/per location

iv.         Interconnection Usage Charge

a. National Call:

b. International

Incoming:

1.          International termination up to PoI (for circuit switch): NRs. 1.80 per minute.

Outgoing: The international gateway operator will receive 75% of the retail tariff.

v. Short Message Service: NRs. 0.27 per SMS.

Legend:

FS:        Fixed Subscriber

LMS:    Subscriber with Local Mobility

MS:       Mobile Subscriber

Cat. A:   Calls terminated in Kathmandu Valley (Area Code 01), Morang (Area Code 021), Kaski (Area Code 061) and Parsa (Area Code 051) districts.

Cat B:    Calls terminated in other districts apart from mentioned in Cat. A.

16.4 The operators may fix their own mutually agreed Interconnection Charges. However, the Interconnections Charges shall not exceed the rates mentioned in Section 16.3 of this Guideline.

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Part V: Technical Matters

17. Technical considerations

17.1 A Licensee who interconnects with other Licensees shall take reasonable measures to ensure that the interconnection does not cause physical or technical harm to the other Licensees’ Telecommunications Systems and Telecommunications Networks. 

17.2 In negotiating Interconnection Agreements, the Licensees shall take into consideration the following technical matters:

a.           ensure compliance with international standards and recommendations where feasible;

b.          ensure the offering of technical and operational interconnection facilities on the basis of suitably unbundled system components, in accordance with general practice in the industry;

c.           ensure that the Licensees’ switching and transmission facilities have the capacity to interconnect with other Telecommunications Systems and Telecommunications Networks;

d.          ensure the preservation of network integrity and network security;

e.           consider the reasonableness of lead times for network provisioning;

f.            comply with the provisions and requirements of the national numbering plan;

g.           allow for differences in the interconnecting Telecommunications Systems and Telecommunications Networks;

h.           apply good engineering principles and practices; and

i.             ensure timely and efficient deployment of sufficient numbers and capacity of links to support the required grade of service for customers.

18. Infrastructure Sharing

18.1 A Licensee who controls Telecommunications Systems and Telecommunications Networks used to support the provision of Telecommunications Services shall allow other Licensees to jointly use the same Telecommunications Systems and Telecommunications Networks, at cost based prices and on non-discriminatory terms and conditions to be mutually agreed by the Licensees involved, provided it has the capacity to do so.

18.2 A Licensee may include as part of the Interconnection Agreement access to and shared use of physical space at the premises and facilities of the Licensees including but not limited to buildings, land, ducts, pipelines, equipment, installations and wires.