Communications Act, 2009
Regulations Prescribing Sharing of Infrastructure, 2016
General Notice 400 of 2016
- Published in Government Gazette 6141 on 4 October 2016
- Commenced on 4 October 2016
- [This is the version of this document at 15 November 2017.]
- [Note: The version of this legislation as at 15 November 2017 was revised and consolidated by the Legal Assistance Centre and the Government of the Republic of Namibia. All subsequent amendments have been researched and applied by Laws.Africa for NamibLII.]
1. Definitions
In these regulations, any word or expression to which a meaning is assigned in the Act, shall have the same meaning and-“Act” means the Communications Act, 2009 (Act No. 8 of 2009);“active infrastructure-sharing” means sharing of infrastructure contained in the active layer of the network;“active layer of the network” means the active electronic network elements as defined in section 48(9) of the Act;“Authority” means the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia as established in terms of Section 4 of the Communications Act, 2009 (Act No. 8 of 2009);“carrier” means a carrier contemplated in section 47(3) of the Act;“carrier infrastructure” means poles, ducts and conduits belonging to a carrier;“carrier infrastructure access agreement” means an agreement contemplated by section 48(1)(a) of the Act entered into between a carrier infrastructure acquirer and a carrier infrastructure provider to enable such acquirer to have access to any carrier infrastructure of such provider;“carrier infrastructure acquirer” means a carrier who seeks access to the carrier infrastructure of a carrier infrastructure provider;“carrier infrastructure provider” means a carrier who has a duty to provide carrier infrastructure in accordance with section 48(1) of the Act;“conduits” means any protective tube, pipe, or tunnel through which wires, fibres, cables or similar items can pass;“dominant carrier” means a carrier which the Authority has determined in accordance with section 78 of the Act to hold a dominant position in the market for telecommunications services;“ducts” means a system of distribution and feeder ducts or a network of raceways embedded in concrete;“equipment” in relation to a network element includes any thing or apparatus used in connection with telecommunication services;“facility” in relation to a network element means any facility, any apparatus or other thing that is used or is capable of being used for telecommunications or for any operation connected with telecommunications and without limitation includes-(a)tangible facilities such as poles, ducts, conduits, apparatus, antennas, antenna feeders, access nodes, towers, masts tunnels, buildings, landing stations or other similar equipment; and(b)intangible facilities such as sharing agreements, software applications, central databases, network content, wireless transmission services and other similar intangible assets designed to facilitate the termination and transport of telecommunication services;“infrastructure-sharing agreement” means an agreement contemplated by section 50(1) of the Act between a dominant carrier and a requesting carrier to enable the requesting carrier to-(a)lease infrastructure of the dominant carrier;(b)to install telecommunications equipment on such infrastructure; or(c)otherwise utilise such infrastructure.“infrastructure-sharing request” means a written request from a requesting carrier to a dominant carrier to provide active or passive infrastructure sharing of facilities.“interconnection point” means the technically feasible point of interconnection between carriers’ respective networks where an originating carrier’s traffic is deemed to be handed off to the terminating carrier’s network for the purpose of determining reciprocal compensation;“network element” means a network element referred to in section 48(9) of the Act;“network element access agreement” means an agreement contemplated by section 48(2) of the Act entered into between a requesting carrier and a dominant carrier to enable the requesting carrier to have access to any network element equipment or facility of the dominant carrier;“passive structure-sharing” means sharing of infrastructure contained in the physical layer of the network;“physical co-location” means a type of co-location where a carrier in control of a building, tower or other structure in or on which that carrier’s switches, antennas or other equipment are accommodated, allows another carrier to also operate those switches, antennas or equipment;“poles” means structures designed to support antennas or aerials to enable telecommunications services and includes towers, masts or similar structures;“reciprocal compensation agreement” means an agreement between two carriers in accordance with section 48(1)(b) of the Act in which each carrier receives compensation from the other for the transport and termination on each carrier’s infrastructure of telecommunications that originate on any portion of the telecommunications network of the other carrier, regardless of the network technology utilised by the carrier to transport or terminate the telecommunications;“requesting carrier” means a carrier requesting from a dominant carrier access to its network elements on an unbundled basis at any technically feasible point;“spare capacity” means capacity exceeding the capacity necessary to meet normal demands that a utility could objectively justify in operational or economic terms;“telecommunications”, for purposes of a reciprocal compensation agreement, means the conveyance by electromagnetic means from one device to another of any encrypted or non-encrypted sign, signal, impulse, writing, image, sound, instruction, information, or intelligence of any nature, whether for the information of any person using the device or not;“termination” means the switching of telecommunications at the terminating carrier’s efice switch, or equivalent facility, and delivery of such traffic to the called party;“transport” means the transmission, and any necessary tandem switching of telecommunications from the interconnection point between carriers to the terminating carrier’s efice switch that directly serves the called party, or equivalent facility provided by a carrier;“utility” means a utility referred to in section 50(11) of the Act;“virtual co-location” means co-location where equipment is placed in the equipment line-up of a carrier and is maintained by that carrier.2. Submission of documents to the Authority
In these regulations, when persons are permitted or called upon to submit information to the Authority in writing, they may do so either physically or electronically -3. Application and purpose
4. Duty to negotiate agreements in good faith
5. Just, reasonable and non-discriminatory rates, terms and conditions of agreements
6. Carrier disputes
7. Publication of information on infrastructure and network elements
8. Carrier infrastructure access agreement
9. Reciprocal compensation agreements
10. Network element access agreements
11. Infrastructure-sharing agreements
12. Utility agreements
13. Duty to lodge agreements with Authority
14. Combining agreements
Nothing in these regulations may be construed as preventing carriers, dominant carriers or utilities from entering into agreements comprising a combination of any of the agreements contemplated by these regulations.15. Penalties
16. Offences
17. Transitional arrangements
History of this document
15 November 2017 this version
Consolidation
04 October 2016
Commenced