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21 June 2012Libreville, Gabon

Sofie Maddens-ToscanoITU Expert

Day 2: Country Case StudiesGhana

Legal Mandate and Institutional Framework

Legal Mandate: clear legal mandate in the law to support or address the concept of Universal Access and Service (UAS)

Electronic Communications Act, 2008 (ECA) Art 23. (1) The Authority shall determine the public telecommunications services in

respect of which the requirement of universal service shall apply, taking into account the needs of the public, affordability of the service and advances in technologies.

National Communications Authority Act 769 Act, 2008 (NCA) Art 3 (s) – Functions of the Authority – to support the implementation of the Universal

Access Policy, Art. 29 (e) The Minister may, on the advice of the Board by legislative instrument make

Regulations to provide procedures for the implementation of a system of universal service provision including the quality of service standards;

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Legal Mandate and Institutional Framework

Good Governance: law provides for transparency, independence of UAS Agency, stakeholder consultation concerning definition, periodic review of Universal Access and Service targets and obligations ECA

Art. 31. - There is established a Fund known as the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications

Art. 34. (1) The Fund shall be administered and managed by a Board of Trustees that comprises …a chairperson, the administrator of the Fund, a representative of the National Communications Authority, a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Communications , a representative of the Ministry of Communications , and five representatives elected by the Industry Forum.

Art. 41. The Minister may give directives to the Trustees on matters of policy and the Trustees shall comply.

46. (1) Projects for which moneys from the Fund are disbursed shall satisfy the criteria laid out in the order of priority. (2) The order of priority for support by the Fund is as follows: (a) projects that are established to provide basic telephony service to rural areas; (b) projects for the establishment of access to value-added services including introduction of internet points-of-presence in a district; and (c) other projects that the Minister may designate as priority projects.

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Legal Mandate and Institutional Framework

Policy Co-ordination: law provides for co-ordination of policies at national level (UAS and ICT4D, ICT4E, national poverty reduction strategies, MDGs, cyber strategies, etc.) ECA

Art. 45 (5) Where there are differences between the established procedures of the Trustees and those proposed by a donor or development partner, appropriate measures may be taken to ensure that the primary goals are maintained.

Art. 29. (1) There is established under this Act, an Industry Forum which is a platform that periodically brings the industry together to discuss matters of common interest to the industry.

National Telecommunications Policy, 2004 – need for consistency between telecommunications policy and ICT Policy

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Legal Mandate and Institutional Framework

Range of Services: Internet, broadband and broadcasting services in addition to fixed and mobile voice services ECA

Art. 32. The object of the Fund is to (a) provide financial resources for the establishment of universal service and access for all communities, and (b) facilitate the provision of basic telephony, internet service, multimedia service, broadband and broadcasting services to these communities.

Art. 23. (1) The Authority shall determine the public telecommunications services in respect of which the requirement of universal service shall apply, taking into account the needs of the public, affordability of the service and advances in technologies. ; (2) Universal service includes, at a minimum, a high quality public telephone service, that offers (a) a free telephone directory for subscribers of the service, (b) operator assisted information service, (c) free access to emergency number information, (d) telecommunications services, and (e) provision of services that enable persons with disability to make and receive calls.

Art. 24. (1) Universal access includes (a) access, through broad geographic coverage, to community- based broadband information and communication services that include voice, data services, access to the internet, local relevant content, community radio and Government services, that are affordable and of high quality, (b) signal coverage of mobile and broadcast networks throughout remote regions, and (c) access to the services in paragraphs (a) and (b) by kindergarten, first and second cycle institutions, community colleges, universities, community health facilities, hospitals, telecentres and any other public or private community centres.

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Legal Mandate and Institutional Framework

Consultation: the legal mandate clearly directs the ministry to develop a UAS Policy after consultation with relevant stakeholders ECA

Art. 45 (5) Where there are differences between the established procedures of the Trustees and those proposed by a donor or development partner, appropriate measures may be taken to ensure that the primary goals are maintained.

Art. 29. (1) There is established under this Act, an Industry Forum which is a platform that periodically brings the industry together to discuss matters of common interest to the industry.

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Legal Mandate and Institutional Framework

Accountability: The law clearly mandates the regulator or identifies a designated agency for the implementation of the UAS Policy and clearly specifies its mandate ECA

Art 23 (3) The Authority shall determine (a) the manner in which a public telecommunications service is provided and funded in order to meet the requirements of universal service, and (b) the obligations,' if any, of the providers and users of the service.

Art. 31. - There is established a Fund known as the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications

Art 32 - The object of the Fund is to (a) provide financial resources for the establishment of universal service and access for all communities, and (b) facilitate the provision of basic telephony, internet service, multimedia service, broadband and broadcasting services 'to these communities.

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Objectives, Principles and Scope

UAS Goals: clear definition in the law or other national policy document

National Telecoms Policy sets goal of available, high quality and affordable access to all citizens

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Objectives, Principles and Scope

Access vs Service: a clear distinction is drawn

ECA clearly differs between both – see Art. 101: "universal access" means any community based services which the Authority, in accordance

with this Act, determines shall be provided; "universal service" means any public electronic communications service which the Authority, in accordance with this Act, determines the requirements of universal service shall apply;

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Objectives, Principles and Scope

Service Targets: a clear definition is given of specific ICT services and ICT applications that must be provided and to whom they must be provided; Art. 23. (1) The Authority shall determine the public telecommunications services in

respect of which the requirement of universal service shall apply, taking into account the needs of the public, affordability of the service and advances in technologies. ; (2) Universal service includes, at a minimum, a high quality public telephone service, that offers (a) a free telephone directory for subscribers of the service, (b) operator assisted information service, (c) free access to emergency number information, (d) telecommunications services, and (e) provision of services that enable persons with disability to make and receive calls.

Art. 24. (1) Universal access includes (a) access, through broad geographic coverage, to community- based broadband information and communication services that include voice, data services, access to the internet, local relevant content, community radio and Government services, that are affordable and of high quality, (b) signal coverage of mobile and broadcast networks throughout remote regions, and (c) access to the services in paragraphs (a) and (b) by kindergarten, first and second cycle institutions, community colleges, universities, community health facilities, hospitals, telecentres and any other public or private community centres.

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Objectives, Principles and Scope

Range of Services: services beyond fixed and mobile voice are included, which could include Internet, broadband and broadcasting – see previous slide

Periodic Review: the periodic review of Universal Access and Service objectives, principles, scope, targets and obligations is provided for

ECA Art. 52 2() The Trustees shall advise the Minister on the most appropriate policy for rural communications development through the Authority. (3) The policy shall be reviewed at two year intervals to take into account technological changes and to ensure that its provisions remain relevant.

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Variety of Strategies and Policies

USOs: coverage and roll-out obligations on designated licenseesn/a although ECA provides that in accordance

with the policy established by the Minister, the Authority shall determine the manner in which universal service/access shall be provided

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Variety of Strategies and Policies

Liberalisation: CPE, paging, ISPs, data communications, VANS, LLU, international gateways and undersea cables, and wholesale fibre The National Telecommunications Policy provides

for further market opening

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Variety of Strategies and Policies

Strong Regulatory Framework: Flexible Spectrum Policy, Effective Competition Law/principles (control of dominance), Access and Interconnection (including local loop unbundling, asymmetric interconnection), Co-location and Infrastructure Sharing NCA Mission – to regulate the communications industry by

setting and enforcing high standards of competence and performance to enable it to contribute significantly and fairly to the nation’s prosperity through the provision of efficient and competitive services

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Variety of Strategies and Policies

Funding: the definition of a range of UAS financing mechanisms, including the establishment of a Universal Service Fund; Universal Service Fund Tariffs for rural communication services – ECA Art 50. (1) The Trustees

may make recommendations to the Authority as regards tariff rebalancing as well as initiation and termination costs in relation to rural communication services.

The Authority shall ensure that the principle of special inter- connect applies to agreements for the provision of rural telecommunications services.

Calls to rural areas shall not be priced higher as a result of a special interconnection agreement.

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Variety of Strategies and Policies

Supply-side Innovation: a mix of complementary and innovative strategies to create incentives for private sector to extend ICT networks, including through community participation Remember Art 23 and 24

Demand-side Innovation: the establishment of a mix of complementary and innovative strategies to stimulate demand for access to ICT networks and services. Remember Art 23 and 24

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Monitoring, Enforcement and Sanctions

Key elementsScope of USOs: whoReview Process: well-defined and

regular process of review;Differentiation: criteria are clearly

provided for in the law (e.g. dominance);Publication of ObligationsMonitoring: agency monitors progress

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Monitoring, Enforcement and Sanctions

Monitoring of subsidised projects ECA - Art. 51.

(1) Projects that are subsidised by the Fund shall be independently monitored and evaluated on an on-going basis to ensure that universal access targets are met.

(2) A project subsidised by the Fund shall have reporting requirements

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Financing of UAS

Range of Mechanisms Funding Criteria

targeted and determinedtransparent, non-discriminatory,

inexpensive, and competitively neutral

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Financing of UAS Disbursement from the Fund

ECA Art. 45. (1) Disbursements from the Fund shall be solely in the form of start-up funds to provide basic communications and internet services in rural areas and shall mainly take the form of non-commercial but competitive grants.

(2) The disbursement of funds (a) for public telephony projects shall be by open tender, (b) for internet point-of-presence and training contracts shall be by open tender, (c) for applications related to rural areas, which do not have services and are seeking amounts less than the cedi equivalent of US$50,OOO shall be by direct disbursements.

(3) The Trustees shall ensure that disbursement are in accordance with approved programmes and order of priority of the Fund.

(4) The operational expenses including administrative expenses, salaries and other expenses incidental to the operation of the Fund shall be charged to the Fund.

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Funds

USF: the law provides for the establishment of a Fund, where one is required, and this decision is linked to a process of analysis of the market realities and consultation of stakeholders;

Accountability: the law clearly identifies who is responsible and ensures independenceSee previous Slides – ECA creates Fund and

clearly establishes management mechanism

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Funds Financing of USF: all operators, paid at reasonable

intervals, supplemented by alternative and collateral contributions; ECA Art. 23 - (4) The Authority may require providers of private electronic

communications services, closed user group services and value added services, and the users of these services and of any other electronic communications services to contribute to the funding of universal service with the approval of the Minister.

ECA Art. 33. - The sources of money for the Fund are (a) contributions from operators and service providers as stipulated in their respective licences, or authorisations, (b) moneys provided by Parliament to the Fund, (c) moneys that may accrue to the Fund from investments made by the Trustees of the Fund, (d) donations, grants and gifts, and (e) any other money that may become lawfully payable to the Fund.

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Funds Project identification: the expenditure of funds

prioritises public access points, telecentres, SMMEs, co-operatives or other projects – subject to a carefully-researched needs analysis; ECA Art 45 - 45. (1) Disbursements from the Fund shall be

solely in the form of start-up funds to provide basic communications and internet services in rural areas and shall mainly take the form of non-commercial but competitive grants.

Art. 46. (2) The order of priority for support by the Fund is as follows:

(a) projects that are established to provide basic telephony service to rural areas;

(b) projects for the establishment of access to value-added services including introduction of internet points-of-presence in a district; and

(c) other projects that the Minister may designate as priority projects.

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Funds

Project Selection: Competitive least subsidy bidding is used as the basis for selecting individual projects.ECA Art. 45 - (2) The disbursement of funds (a) for

public telephony projects shall be by open tender, (b) for internet point-of-presence and training contracts shall be by open tender, (c) for applications related to rural areas, which do not have services and are seeking amounts less than the cedi equivalent of US$50,OOO shall be by direct disbursements

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QoS

QoS requirements: include clearly specified QoS components (supply of services, customer complaints and redress, faults, service quality, provision of designated USO services including free emergency calls, billing)n/a

QoS Monitoring: regular and independent assessment, and the results made publicly available;n/a

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QoS Range of Services: QoS benchmarks are

established in respect of all relevant services n/a

QoS Review: QoS components and benchmarks are regularly reviewed through a process of public stakeholder consultationn/a

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Consumer Policy Charters: consumer protection

requirements (e.g. customer service charters) are specified, publicised and binding;

Channels: channels for consumer complaints are clearly specified, rest with the operator in the first instance, and include escalation procedures;

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Consumer Policy (2) Information: operators are required to

inform their customers of the rights as customers and consumers and of channels for complaints and escalation;

Surveys: consumers are regularly surveyed in relation to QoS and complaints issues and level of satisfaction with operators and their services, and the results made publicly available;

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Consumer Policy (3) Scope: consumer protection requirements

exist in respect of all relevant services (fixed, mobile, Internet, broadband, broadcasting);

Review: consumer protection criteria and requirements are subject to regular review with stakeholder participation.

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Consumer Policy ECA

Art. 26 (1) The Authority shall periodically ascertain public opinion on the performance of service

providers and network operators. (2) The Authority shall (a) publish the results of research that it carriers out or that is

carried out on its behalf on its website and in any other manner that it considers appropriate to bring the results to the attention of the public, and (b) take account of the results of the research in performing its functions.

Art. 27 (1) The Authority shall establish and maintain effective arrangements for consultation with

consumers on the performance of its functions. (2) The Authority shall create a mechanism for dealing with com-plaints or concerns of

consumers of telecommunication services and shall bring the complaints or concerns to the attention of network operators and service providers.

Art. 28 (1) The Authority shall, prepare a Consumer Code on its own or in conjunction with the

Industry Forum which shall include procedures for (a) reasonably meeting consumer requirements, (b) the handling of customer complaints and disputes and for the compensation of customers in case of a breach of the Consumer Code, and (c) the protection of consumer information.

(2) The Consumer Code may provide for (a) the provision of information to customers on services, rates and performance, (b) the provision of technical support to customers and repair of faults, (c) advertisement of services, and (d) customer charging, billing, collection and credit practices.

(3) The Consumer Code shall be published on the website of the Authority. 30

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Thank You!

Sofie Maddens-Toscano

Managing DirectorPygma Consulting International LLC

Email: smaddens@pygmaconsulting.comWeb: www.pygmaconsulting.com