Transcript Telecommunications Regulatory Authority

TRA Roadmap for the Liberalization of
Telecommunications
Broadband Workshop
In cooperation with the Partnership for Lebanon
January 17, 2008
Beirut, Lebanon
TRA Vision for Broadband
Market Objective
Introduce competition in 2008 in all the markets for telecommunications services except
basic telephony services
Promoting Competition
 Introduce various forms of competition to the market:
 Facilities-based competition
 Service-based competition
 Encourage competition between different technologies
Focus
 Liberalize national data services to promote broadband services
 Open market for mobile telecommunications and international (voice and data)
services
 Liberalization of basic telephony services planned for January 1, 2010
2
Broad View of Market Situation
Current Situation

ADSL Recap
 Signing of MoU in January 2006 between private and MoT
 Unbundling the local loop
 Stating principles of fair competition
 Project launch delayed till Q2 2007

Bit Stream and Line Sharing Guidelines drafted by MoT
 Line-sharing, and retail prices are set by MoT and issued by decree
 Key elements are missing

ADSL Market Overview
 Market share unevenly split between private and MoT
 No clear and publicly announced timetable for further CO preparations
 Limited service offering
 Recent price reductions by private companies have introduced some competition
 Severely limited international bandwidth leading to high contention ratios
 International bandwidth allocation regime not transparent and favors one of the providers MoT
3
TRA Actions to Promote Broadband
L
Market Structure
& Licensing
R
Regulatory
Framework
 Issue 3 Metro / Core / International
licenses
 Interconnection and Access
regulations
 Regularize existing ISP/DSP licenses
(duration, scope of services, etc)
 Infrastructure Sharing
 Open licensing for access
 Unbundling Regulations (and MoT
Reference Offer for Data Access)
 Accounting separation for Liban
Telecom
 Efficient spectrum use
 Optimum spectrum pricing
4
Proposed Liberalization Roadmap
2008
Mobile
Fixed
2010
2011
*
Network Operator
Virtual Network
Operator
2009
L
3
Network Operator
?
Reseller
Broadband
Access
Metro / Core
International
Access
Facilities Service
Provider
3
**
4
Reseller
Broadcasting Transmission
Value Added Service Provider
*
Assuming that Liban Telecom will be formed in 2008
** Two licenses for the mobile operators and two
others for the core broadband providers
License
Award
Open
licensing
Market
Review
5
New Broadband Licenses
Liban Telecom License
L
Two Metro / Core / International Licenses
 Core/metro/access
 Core/metro/access
 Nationwide coverage
 Nationwide service
 International gateway
 International gateway
 10-15 year license
 Awarded through auction if competing applications
 TRA is considering whether and how to award one of these
licenses to a consortium of DSPs
 TRA is considering how to license geographicallyrestricted metro licenses (including municipalities)
 New metro/core licensees have access to international gateway at fair, reasonable rates
 Licensees obligated to provide interconnection to other licensed operators
 Allowed interconnection at international gateway, national nodes, IXPs
 Open Access obligation to metro/core and international gateway
6
Regularization of DSP Licenses
L
Current Situation
 TRA is preparing draft DSP licenses
Pending Issues
 Status of revenue sharing (and percentage)
 Frequency pricing
 Frequency assignment
 International capacity (voice excluded)
Licensing Roadmap
TRA Vision
Policy / Broad Vision
Revenue Sharing
Draft Licenses
International
Bandwidth
Radio Frequency
Assignment
Consultation
(Limited to DSPs)
Issue / Publish Licenses
Frequency Pricing
7
Broad View of TRA Regulations
Drafting
Stage
Draft Ready
Stage
Consultation
Stage
TRA Review
Stage
Spectrum
Management
Regulation
Price
Regulation
Type Approval
Regulation
Interconnection
Regulation
National
Frequency
Plan
Spectrum
Pricing
Regulation
Consumer
Affairs
Regulation
Accounting
Separation
Regulation
Interconnection
Interim Pricing
Decision
Quality of
Service
Regulation
R
Issued
Significant
Market Power
Regulation
Unbundling
Regulation
8
Infrastructure Sharing: Benefits and Risks
Infrastructure
Deployment
R
Benefits
Risks
Shared Infrastructure Costs – Capex
reduced
Investment may be discouraged if cost
of building network far greater than
cost of sharing
Competition
and Prices
Reduces barriers to entry, increases
competition and lowers prices to endusers
Resource
Maximization
Reduces waste caused by infrastructure
redundancy and duplication
Reduces backup infrastructure in case
of high usage, security risks, or
environmental crises
Environment
Reduces impact on landscape
No significant risks
Price collusion – though mitigated by
appropriate regulation
9
Infrastructure Sharing: TRA Policy
R
TRA wants to promote infrastructure-sharing especially regarding:
 Civil engineering and non-active elements of a network (e.g. ducts, towers,
and masts)
 Geographical areas where it is not economic for multiple operators to build
infrastructure
 Geographical areas where environmental concerns are particularly important
(e.g. proliferation of mobile network masts)
10
Radio Frequency Assignment & Pricing
R
Objective
 Freeing up much of the spectrum for commercial activity
 Optimal use of frequency
TRA Policy
 Appropriate frequency pricing
 Technology neutral Licenses
 Frequency assignment regime tailored to scarcity of, and demand for, spectrum
Efficient Pricing will…
Allocation Methods
 Encourage efficient use of frequency
 Auction
 Encourage investment in wired
infrastructure
 Beauty Contest
 Free up unused frequencies and open room
for newcomers
 First Come First Serve
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Long Term Goals
 Widen public access to telecom services
Consumer
Telecom
 Increase consumer choice and improve customer
experience
 Provide state-of-the-art telecom services and
infrastructure
 Attract investments
 Increase competition in the Lebanese telecom market
Economy
 Develop capital markets
 Create high value-added jobs
12