ACT No. XIX of 1998 AN ACT to amend various laws relating to wireless telegraphy and telecommunicati6ms.

I assent.

Doo MIFSUD BONNIeI

(L.8.)

President

21st July, 1998

ACT No. XIX of 1998

AN ACT to amend various laws relating to wireless telegraphy and

telecommunicati6ms.

BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and

consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parliament

assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows

(l) This Act may be cited as the Various Laws (Tele-

communications) (Amendment) Act, 1998.

(2) This Act shall be deemed to have come into force on

the 31 st December, 1997.

For subsection (2) of section 6 of the Wireless Telegraphy

Ordinance, there shall be substituted the following

"(2) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this

section, no action shall be taken against any person who, having

been in possession of a wireless telegraphy licence and having

failed to pay the prescribed fee for the renewal thereof, shall pay,

within thirty days from the expiration of the licence, or such longer

period as the Minister may allow, the licence fee due for the renewal

of the licence, nor shall any action be taken if, after the expiration

ofthe said period of thirty days or such longer period as the Minister

may allow, any person as aforesaid shall pay within seven days

from an intimation in writing so to pay, into an office indicated in

the intimation, a penalty equal to twice the licence fee in the case

of licence fees up to twelve liri, and twenty-five liri in the case of

licence fees over twelve liri, in addition to the fee due for the

renewal of the licence.".

The Telecommunications (Regulation) Act, 1997, shall be Amendment of the

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ows. .

amen e d as J.O

(a) for the definition of "frequency" in section 2 thereof

. there shall be substituted the following

" "frequency" means the number of complete cycles per

second of a wave of electromagnetic energy;";

(b) in the English text ofsubsection (2) of section 5 thereof,

for the words "of from any obligation" there shall be substituted

the words "or from any obligation";

.

(c) immediately after section 14 thereof there shall be

inserted the following new section:-

(1) No person shall use or permit the use or

"Prohibition

of calI-back

suffer to be used any public telecommunications infrastructure

or apparatus in connection with the provision of a call-back

service or do anything so as to facilitate or promote the use of

any public telecommunications infrastructure or apparatus in

connection with the provision, operation or use of a call-back

service.

(2) For the purpose of this section, "call-back

service" means a service offered by any person who is not an

authorised provider which secures for any person in Malta

access to that service, by means of conveyance over a public

telecommunications infrastructure, to the equivalent of the

public telecommunications infrastructure or a public

telecommunications service in another country or territory,

by whatever technical means, and which enables that person

to make use of that infrastructure or service as if established

in that country or territory; and includes any service, whether

automated or not, by which the access aforesaid is obtained.

(3) Subsection (1) ofthis section shall not apply

to anything done by an authorised provider permitted by or

in accordance with an authorisation or regulation under this

Act.";

(d)

section 15 thereof shall be amended as follows:-

(i) for subsection (1) thereof there shall be substituted

the following

(1) There shall be rate mechanisms allowing for

changes in the charges to be made in respect of

telecommunications services and such rate mechanisms

shall be such as may be established by the Regulator

and published in the Gazette. Rate mechanisms may be

established for such period as may be determined by the

Regulator.";

(ii) for the words "An authorised provider" in.

subsection (2) thereof, there shall be substituted the words

"Where a rate has not yet been established, or where an

authorised provider wishes to make a change in an existing

rate not provided for in an existing rate mechanism, an

authorised prOVider"; and

(iii) for the words "thirty days" in the proviso to

subsection (4) of section 15 thereof, there shall be substituted

the words "sixty days";

(e) in section 20 thereof, immediately after subsection (3)

thereof, there shall be added the following new subsection:-

"(4) The guidelines established by subsection (3) of

this section shall subject to any provision contained in any

such agreement apply also to any agreement entered into

before the coming into force of this Act providing for

interconnection whenever such agreement is due to be

reviewed in accordance with the provision thereof and to any

dispute arising with respect to the review of such an agreement

concerning the tenns and conditions thereof: and if any such

dispute is not resolved by agreement between the parties

within ninety days from which the dispute arises, either party

may refer the matter to the Regulator under section 22 of this

Act, and the Regulator, in determining any such dispute, shall

follow the guidelines aforesaid.";

(t) in paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section 30 thereof,

for the words "section 18" there shall be substituted the words

"section 17";

(g) in section 33 thereof, for subsection (3) thereof there

shall be substituted the following subsections:-

"(3) Regulations made under this section may authorise

the Regulator to designate the services which are to be

provided as universal service obligations, and to require-any

one or more authorised providers to provide such services.

(4) Where regulations are made under subsection (3)

of this section, the Regulator shall have power to issue

directives designating the universal service obligations and

requiring anyone or more authorised providers to provide

such services, or anyone or more of them, in accordance

with such tenns and conditions as"may be therein specified,

including tenns and conditions under which anyone or more

of such services are to be provided at no profit or at a

reasonable loss to the authorised provider.

(5) Where the Regulator issues a directive under

subsection (4) of this section, he shall either in the same

directive or by a further directive, make provision for such

funding mechanism as he may deem necessary and appropriate

to ensure that, where the additional cost for the provision of

universal service obligations by anyone or more authorised

providers is higher than the additional revenue derived

therefrom by such provider or providers, the burdens resulting

from the obligations aforesaid are shared fairly by all

authorised providers specified as contributories in the

regulations."; and

(h) in section 36 thereof, immediately after subsection (4)

there shall be added the following new subsection:-

"(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1)

of this section, the provisions of sections 29 to 34 (both

inclusive) of the Act repealed by that subsection shall remain

in force and continue to have effect, and shall be deemed

always to have remained in force and continued to have effect,

with respect to the public officers therein mentioned; and as

from the date of-the repeal of the said Act, the provisions

aforesaid shall have effect as ifreferences in them to Telemalta

were references to the designated company." .

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 242 of the 15th July, 1998.

MYRIAM SPITERI DEBONO

Speaker

RICHARD J. CAucm

Clerk to the House ofRepresentatives