Electronic Communications Networks and Services (General)

L.N. 298 of 2014

ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS (REGULATION) ACT

(CAP. 399)

Electronic Communications Networks and Services (General)

(Amendment) Regulations, 2014

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by article 47 of the

Electronic Communications (Regulation) Act, the Minister for the

Economy, Investment and Small Business, after consultation with the

Malta Communications Authority, has made the following

regulations:-

(1)

The title of these regulations is the Electronic Citation and

Communications Networks and Services (General) (Amendment) commencement.

Regulations, 2014 and these regulations shall be read and construed

as one with the Electronic Communications Networks and Services S.L. 399.28

(General) Regulations, hereinafter referred to as "the principal

regulations".

(2) Regulations 2, 3 and 6(a) and (b) shall be deemed to have

come into force on 1st July, 2014.

Sub-regulation (1) of regulation 2 of the principal Amends

regulation 2 of

regulations shall amended as follows

the principal

regulations.

(a)

in paragraph (f) thereof the word "and" shall be

deleted;

(b)

paragraph (g) thereof shall be renumbered as

paragraph (h); and

(c)

immediately after paragraph (f) thereof there shall

be added the following new paragraph

"(g) alternative roaming provider services; and".

In sub-regulation (1) of regulation 3 of the principal Amends

regulations, immediately before the definition "application program regulation

the principal

interface" there shall be added the following new definition

regulations.

" "alternative roaming provider services" means roaming

services provided by an alternative service provider in

accordance with Regulation (EU) No 531/2012 of the European

Parliament and Council of 13 June 2012 on roaming on public

mobile communications networks within the Union. This also

includes regulated data roaming services normally referred to as

"local break out services";".

In sub-regulation (3) of regulation 35 of the principal

regulations, for the words "all users" there shall be substituted the

words "all consumers".

Regulation 36 of the principal regulations shall be

amended as follows

(a)

sub-regulation (1) thereof shall be substituted by

the following

"(1) Notwithstanding any provisions of a contract

entered into with an undertaking, subscribers shall have the

right at any time, to terminate the said contract through

simple means subject to any prior notice not exceeding one

month and to any applicable termination charges, which

charges shall be reasonable and justified

Provided that the Authority may require an

undertaking to modify such means if the Authority

considers that these means do not meet the requirements of

this sub-regulation.";

(b)

in sub-regulation (5) thereof, for the words "Except

in cases of fraud, persistent late payment or non-payment, wilful

damage to the network and illegal use of service, any measure

taken in accordance with sub-regulation (4) shall ensure that:"

there shall be substituted the words "Any measure taken in

accordance with sub-regulation (4) shall ensure that:"; and

(c)

immediately after sub-regulation (5) thereof, there

shall be added the following new sub-regulation

"(6) In cases of fraud, wilful damage to the

network, illegal use of service or persistent late payment or

persistent non-payment, the provisions of sub-regulation

(5) shall not apply

Provided that in the case of persistent late payment

or of persistent non-payment the undertaking shall, at least

three working days before suspending or terminating the

service, in writing notify the subscriber that the service

shall be suspended or terminated, giving the reasons

therefor.".

The Eighth Schedule to the principal regulations shall be Amends the

Eighth Schedule

amended as follows

to the principal

regulations.

(a)

immediately after paragraph (f) of Part A thereof,

there shall be added the following new paragraph

"(g) Alternative roaming provider services

€2,325";

(b)

in Part A thereof, for the words "Furthermore,

undertakings providing any of the services under (b), (c), (d), or

(e) above shall also pay to the Authority the following:", there

shall be substituted the words "Furthermore, undertakings

providing any of the services under (b), (c), (d), (e) or (g) above

shall also pay to the Authority the following:"; and

(c)

for Part B thereof there shall be substituted the

following

"Part B.

Usage fees for radio spectrum to be paid on an

annual basis

(a) for each paired 5 MHz channel

in the 900 MHz and, or 1800

MHz bands .................................

€224,000

(b) provisional rights of use for

(i) the testing of innovative

technologies ......................

€100

(ii) the carriage of trials of

innovative technologies, on

a non-commercial and non-

profit basis for a period not

exceeding two years

(a) for the first year of

the licence term .........

€600

(b) for the second year of

the licence term .........

€800

Provided that the fees under sub-

paragraphs (i) and (ii) shall be

charged on a pro rata basis

subject to a minimum fee of

€100;

(c) broadband

wireless

access

services in the 3400 - 3800 MHz

band

(i)

for the rights of use issued

before 1 March 2012 for

Id-Disa’ Skeda li tinsab mar-regolamenti prinċipali Jemenda d-

Disa’ Skeda li

għandha tiġi emendata kif ġej

tinsab mar-

regolamenti

prinċipali.

(a)

is-subparagrafu 13.2 tas-Sezzjoni B tagħha għandu

jiġi sostitwit b’dan li ġej

"13.2

L-intrapriżi

awtorizzati

għandhom

jikkonformaw ruħhom ma’ kull standard ta’ emissjoni tar-

radjazzjoni adottat u pubblikat mill-International

Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection

(ICNIRP) jew minn xi awtorità pubblika li skont il-liġi hi

responsabbli għall-adozzjoni ta’ kull standard ta’ din ix-

xorta, jew ma’ kull standard ieħor adatt hekk kif jista’ jiġi

speċifikat bil-liġi;"; u

(b)

il-paragrafu 2 tas-Sezzjoni Ċ tat-Taqsima 2 tagħha

għandu jiġi sostitwit b’dan li ġej

"2

Regoli dwar "Must Carry"

2.1 Intrapriża awtorizzata għandha tqassam dawk

is-servizzi ta’ xandir bit-televiżjoni terrestri hekk kif jista’

jiġi stabbilit mill-Awtorità bi qbil mas-setgħat lilha

mogħtija bil-liġi.".

5 MHz paired spectrum

in the 3400 - 3600 MHz

band ...................................

€46,587.47

(ii) for the rights of use issued

after 1 March 2012, for

each paired 3.5 MHz

channel in the 3400 - 3600

MHz band ..........................

€7,000

(iii) for the rights of use issued

after 1 March 2012, for

each paired 3.5 MHz

channel in the 3600 - 3800

MHz band

(a) for the first five years

from the issue of the

rights of use ..............

€3,500

(b) for the remaining

period of the rights of

use ............................

€7,000

(d) for each 7 MHz channel in the

VHF band and, or 8 MHz

channel in the UHF band, for the

provision of digital terrestrial

television services ......................

€5,823.43

(e) for each 1.536 MHz channel in

the band 174 - 230 MHz, for the

provision of terrestrial digital

audio broadcasting services ........

€2,329.37

(f) for the rights of use issued for a

term of 15 years, for 5 MHz

unpaired channel in the 1900 -

1920 MHz band and for 19.8

MHz paired spectrum in the

1920 - 1980 MHz band paired

with 2110 - 2170 MHz bands,

either of the following fees

apply

(i) one-time upfront fee .......... €5,823,433.50 or

(ii) staggered annual payments

as defined in the rights of

use, which in total amount

to .......................................

€8,618,681.57

(g)

for each paired 5 MHz channel

in the 800 MHz band ..................

€224,000

(h) for each paired 5 MHz channel

in the 2500 MHz band ................

€24,000

(i) for each unpaired 5 MHz channel

in the 2500 MHz band ................

€5,500".

7. The Ninth Schedule to the principal regulations shall be Amends the

Ninth Schedule

amended as follows

to the principal

regulations.

(a)

sub-paragraph 13.2 of Section B of Part 2 thereof

shall be substituted by the following

"13.2 The authorised undertakings shall comply

with any radiation emission standards adopted and

published by the International Commission for Non-

Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) or by a public

authority which at law is responsible for the adoption of

any such standards, or with any other appropriate standard

as may be specified at law;"; and

(b)

paragraph 2 of Section C of Part 2 thereof shall be

substituted by the following

"2

"Must Carry" Rules

2.1 An authorised undertaking shall distribute

those terrestrial television broadcasting services as may be

established by the Authority in accordance with its powers

at law.".

€0.54