The acting board of commissioners at the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA) has signed its first regulations with the aim of opening the telecoms market.
The board has signed off numbering plan rules as well as regulations for wholesale telecoms network access for the provision of value-added services.
Chairman Ambullah L Kamara said the rules will enhance the opportunities for members of the public and entrepreneurs, as well as improve service quality and government revenue.
Kamara said that the application fee for a short code is USD 25.00, with a USD 150.00 per year authorisation fee. The exception is the three digit, limited-in-number short code which has an authorisation fee of USD 1,500. Transparency will enhance competition and open up business opportunities for smaller entrepreneurs, especially Liberians.
Kamara said the numbering regulations provides a framework for the efficient allocation, assignment, utilisation and management of all telecommunication numbers, including short codes, in a fair and non-discriminatory manner.
Prior to the regulation, all short codes were assigned through the mobile network operators with no regulation. They had absolutely full control over who they assigned numbers to. Applicants were charged a lot of money to use of short codes and there were additional fees.
Anyone seeking to enter the mobile money market would not be given a fair market price for a short code, as they would be in direct competition with the very mobile network operators in the same business.
The new numbering regulation will change the market because short codes will now become a national resource, fully controlled in some respects like spectrum, under the LTA.
He said that the LTA alone will allocate, assign and manage the delegation of all short codes, providing equal access to all applicants on a first come, first served basis. There are specific categories for three-digit to six-digit short codes with provisions for toll free, premium and other specially assigned numbers. The regulation clearly states there will be no exclusive perpetual rights to numbers that the revised numbering plan sets forth.
The chairman said the regulations on wholesale network access to provide VAS set forth the criteria for fair market cost-based access for short code businesses to reach customers through mobile network operators (MNOs). Kamara said VAS rules facilitate the development of the telecom sector and provide guidelines for aggregators who are brokers for smaller short code users.
Kamara said the LTA has set a period for transitional arrangement requiring all numbering resources active or reserved to transition to the LTA, after which the LTA will determine the numbering authorisation fee.
- TELECOMPAPAER
