Post-Visit Report SATRC Workshop Dec 2015 v2 03 May 2016

POST-VISIT REPORT ON
SATRC WORKING GROUP MEETING ON POLICY,

REGULATIONS AND SERVICES, MALDIVES, 2016
SUBMITTED BY:-
ABDUL SAMAD
MEMBER (COMPLIANCE & ENFORCEMENT)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
1. BACKGROUND.......................................................................................................................
2. STRUCTURE OF THE WORKING GROUP.......................................................................
3. WORKING GROUP DETAILS..............................................................................................
3.1 Venue:-..............................................................................................................................4
3.2 Working Group Proceedings:-..........................................................................................5
3.3 Work Plan.........................................................................................................................6
3.4 Questionnaires on Work Items and Pakistan Responses................................................10
3.4.1 Work Item 1.1: PRS-01- Measures to protect interests of consumers of telecom
services, by TRAI-India with Pakistan Response.................................................................10
3.4.2 Questionnaire on Work Item - PRS-02: Policy, Regulatory and Technical Aspect
of OTT Services in SATRC Countries, by NTA, Nepal with Pakistan Response................21
3.4.3 Questionnaire on Work Item PRS-03: Emerging Licensing Framework including

exit and relicensing policy, by TRAI (India), With Pakistan Response................................24
3.4.4 Questionnaire on Work Item - PRS-04: International Connectivity for the

Provision of Providing Broadband Services, by CAM, Maldives, With Pakistan Response28
4. Pakistans Contribution In SATRC Working Group Meeting At Maldives, 23rd 24th,

March, 2016....................................................................................................................................32
4.5 Pakistan Proposal on New Work Items for Future........................................37
5. Conclusions & Way Forward.................................................................................................38

Annexures.......................................................................................................................................40
Annex-A....................................................................................................................................41
Annex-B..................................................................................................................................102
Annex-C....................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
1. BACKGROUND
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1.1 South Asian Telecommunication Regulators Council (SATRC) was formed in 1997 by
an initiative of Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT) and International Telecom Union
(ITU) Regulatory Forum for South Asia. The SATRC is responsible for discussion and
coordination of all the issues relating to regulations in telecommunication and ICT which
are of common interest to the telecommunication regulators in South Asian countries.
These issues include radio frequency coordination, standards, regulatory trends and
issues, strategies for telecommunication development and telecommunication related
international affairs.
1.2 The SATRC council also indentifies and promotes areas of potential cooperation in
telecommunication among South Asian countries; and facilitates the exchange of
information in these areas through activities such as seminars, trainings and workshops.
SATRC activities are conducted by involvement of representations by the South Asian
countries. At present, SATRC is consisted of nine South Asian countries. The countries
are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Islamic Republic of Iran, Maldives, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Affiliate members from those countries are also taking active
participation in the councils activity.
1.3 The SATRC activities are conducted through the SATRC Action Plan at different phases.
The concept of developing SATRC Action Plan was initiated in 2005 from the fact that
the key issues can be addressed in a more focused and harmonized manner by adoption
of an Action Plan. The Action Plan provides a common charter to SATRC members for
deriving the synergy of collaborative wisdom and action. The SATRC Action Plan aims
at addressing the regulatory issues and challenges of common concern to its members
that arise due to market dynamics, technological developments, and innovations in the
field of information and communications so as to harness their full potential for the
benefit of all by utilizing the expertise and financial resources available from within its
member countries.
1.4 The 15th South Asian Telecommunication Regulators Council (SATRC-15) meeting was
held in Paro, Bhutan from 05 to 07 August 2014. The meeting was organized by the Asia
Pacific Telecommunity (APT) and hosted by the Bhutan Infocomm and Media Authority
(BICMA). The objectives of the meeting were to consider and adopt the outcomes of the
implementation of SATRC Action Plan Phase IV, adopt new phase of SATRC Action
Plan (Phase V) and to share experiences among the regulators. The implementation
period for Action Plan V was to be 2014 2016. Action Plan Phase V, SATRC will cover
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a wide variety of issues related to the regulators under two working groups, i.e Working
Group on Policy, Regulation and Services (PRS) and Working Group on Spectrum.
2. STRUCTURE OF THE WORKING GROUP
2.1 As per the Action Plan Phase V adopted by the 15 th SATRC meeting in Paro, Bhutan,
following two Working Groups will continue their activities:
a. Working Group Policy, Regulation and Services: to deal with the issues related to
policy, regulation and service development of Telecommunication and ICT sector in
the region.
b. Working Group on Spectrum: to deal with the issues related to spectrum

management, monitoring, sharing and coordinated efficient use of spectrum for
different service in the region .
2.2 The chairmanship of the Working Groups is as follows:-
c. For Working Group Policy, Regulation and Services: Chairman Mr. Wangay Dorji
(Bhutan) and Vice-Chairman Mr. Abdul Samad (Pakistan)
d. For Working Group Spectrum: Chairman Mr. Sudhir Gupta (India) and Vice-
Chairman from Sri Lanka.
3. WORKING GROUP DETAILS
3.1 Venue:-
The subject SATRC working group on Policy, Regulation and Services was held in
Maldives, from 23rd-24th March 2016. The workshop was organized by the APT and
hosted by the Communication Authority of Maldives (CAM). The objective of the
workshop was to conduct working group activities on the work items assigned by the
council. From Pakistan, Mr. Abdul Samad, Member (Compliance & Enforcement) was
nominated to attend the working group meeting.
3.2 Working Group Proceedings:-

3.2.1 The first meeting of the working group was held in Kathmandu, Nepal from 25-
26th February 2015, in which discussions on the four (04) agenda items took
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place. The agenda items/work areas on which the working group was assigned to
work are as follows:-
a. Measures to protect the interests of consumers of telecom services

i. Status of measures of consumer protection in SATRC countries on the
areas of complaint redresal, quality of services, billing accuracy,
unsolicited commercial communications and mobile number portability
ii. Issues and concerns raised by the consumers
iii. Initiative and achievement by the operators to address the consumer
interest
iv. International best practices
b. Policy, regulatory and technical aspect of OTT services in SATRC countries
i. OTT concerns and challenges
ii. Policy issues associated with OTT services
iii. Challenge for the operators and how the operator can change or adopt to
a different business model to deal with OTTs
iv. Recommended policy for OTTs
c. Emerging licensing framework including exit and relicensing policy
i. Key aspects of emerging licensing frameworks
ii. Relicensing, renewal/extension of license and exit policies
iii. Coexistence of licenses and issues concerning the practical
implementation
d. International connectivity for the provision of providing broadband
services
i. Current situation in relation to the cost of providing broadband services in
SATRC countries
ii. Regional initiatives with possible alternatives for lowering cost for the
international connectivity
iii. A way forward for future
3.2.2 The objective of the first working group meeting was to finalize a plan of action
on these work items. Those include, define the scope of work, discuss situations
in SATRC Member countries, assigning lead experts for developing the intended
outcomes etc.
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3.3 Work Plan
3.3.1After conclusion of the 1st meeting, the following plan for each work item was
finalized:-
SAPV-PRS1/OUT-01:-
Workplan For Work Items Of WG PRS During Action Plan Phase V, 25
February 2015
Work Item PRS-01: Measures to protect interests of consumers of telecom

services
Approved
SATRC-15 Meeting
by
Responsible
Working WG on Policy, Regulation and Services
Groups
Output Recommendations/Guidelines/Report
Background The fast growth of mobile subscribers, increasing telecom penetration in

and Purpose rural and remote areas, convergence leading to provisioning of similar
service over different platforms governed by separate regulatory
frameworks and launch of innovative value added services by service
providers underline continued need to protect the interests of consumers.
Consumer protection is one of the focus areas of Regulators. Effective
measures are required to protect the interest of consumers, so as to ensure
availability of telecom services at affordable price and guaranteed Quality
of Service to the consumers by telecom service providers.
Scope The scope of this work item includes but not limited to-
-Status of measures for consumer protection in SATRC countries based on
the areas of complaint redresal, quality of services, billing accuracy ,
unsolicited commercial communications and mobile number portability
- Study and analyse various concerns raised by consumers regarding
telecom services in SATRC countries based on the above issues.
- Study International practices regarding protection of interests of
consumers
-
-Recommendations /guidelines/report on the measures required to protect
the interest of consumers in above mentioned areas.
Time Frame Action Plan Phase V.
Development of Questionnaire by February 2015
Questionnaire Circulation end of first week of March 2015
Response to the Questionnaire by end of March 2015
Drafting of Interim Report by June 2015
Circulate Draft Interim Report by end of June 2015
Reconsider the Interim Report at 2nd WG Meeting
Draft of the Final Outcomes at Q1 of 2016
Utilization For the Government/Regulators/Operators
of Output
Work Item Mr. Shaji Punnose (TRAI),

Coordinator
s
Work Item PRS-02: Policy, Regulatory and Technical Aspect of OTT Services in
SATRC Countries
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Approved
SATRC-15
By
Responsible
Groups
Output Recommendation/Guideline/Report
Background Incumbent telecommunications operators that offer services such as

and Purpose fixed and mobile telephony, broadband and pay TV services, among
others, are being invaded by online content, specifically those known as
over-the-top (OTT) applications,services and content. The best known
examples of OTT are Skype, Whatsapp, online video games and movies
(Netflix, Pandora). A fundamental characteristic of OTTs is that the
Internet Service Provider (ISP) does not profit nor is involved in the
distribution of the OTT applications, services and content. Furthermore, in
general, OTT suppliers, which need the ISP infrastructure to reach the
user, offer products that compete with the services offered by the ISPs
(voice, instant messaging, online TV).
OTT services are enabled by the de-layering of the industry. IP has

separated carriage from content and allowed over-the-top content and
applications providers to deal directly with end users over networks whose
owners and operators are excluded from these transactions. The move to
LTEs all-IP architecture will create a more open environment for these
OTT providers and third party services.
It is not only telecommunications that is affected. Internet television over

broadband fixed and mobile networks is de-stabilizing existing
broadcasting industries.
Internet telephony, or Voice over the Internet Protocol (VoIP), is the first
over-the-top (OTT) service with major implications for the business
models of both fixed and mobile network operators. More recently, text
messages (SMS) have also been delivered OTT affecting the revenues of
fixed and mobile operators.
The purpose of this work item is to study the policy, regulatory and
technical aspect of the OTTs in the SATRC member countries and come
out with recommendation/guideline/report on what the policy makers,
regulators and the operators need to do to deal with such technologies.
Scope Identify the different types of OTT services currently being

offered in the international as well as SATRC countries
Investigate the policy issues associated with the OTTs
Investigate the regulatory issues associated with the provisioning
of OTTs
Recommend how the operators can change or adapt to a different
business models to deal with OTTs
Recommend to Policy maker, regulators on issues pertaining to
OTTs
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Questionnaire Circulation by end of first week of March 2015
Utilization This report would be utilized by the governments, regulators and the
of Output operators as well as the OTT players.
Work Item NTA, Nepal (Mr. Bijay Kumar Roy)

Rapporteur
Work Item PRS-03: Emerging Licensing Framework including exit and

relicensing policy
Responsible WG Policy, Regulation and Services

Working
Groups
Approved SATRC-15
By
Output Report/Guideline/Recommendation
Background SATRC members are keen on adapting and utilising new technologies and
and Purpose on promoting their application. With the experience gained in the previous
years and with the development in business climate it is important to
understand the merging licensing framework which will be easier to
implement and will be beneficial to all stakeholders.
Issues of re licensing, co-existence of licenses and exit of licenses are

coming up quite frequently. It is proposed to study these issues for
identifying solutions to the practical difficulties involved and to facilitate
introduction of new technologies and services. It is also important to
suggest a transition procedure wherever necessary.
Scope The suggested scope of study is:

Key aspects of emerging licensing frameworks
Relicensing, renewal/extension of license and exit policies
Coexistence of licenses and issues concerning their practical
implementation.
Time Frame Action Plan Phase V. To be finalized by the 1st Meeting of the WG
Utilization Policy makers, Regulators, Service providers

of Output Input to ITU SG and relevant APT fora
Work Item Mr. Anil Dhingra, TRAI ( India) Lead Expert

Rapporteur Mr. Abbas Khan, PTA ( Pakistan) Co-Rapporteur
Work Item PRS-04: International Connectivity for the Provision of Providing

Broadband Services
Approved SATRC-15 Meeting
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by
Responsible
Groups
Output Recommendation/Guildeline/Report
Background In order to promote broadband services within the SATRC region, it is

and Purpose understood that international internet connectivity cost is one of the major
factor hindering such initiatives.
Due to the diversified demographic/geographic, land-locked and sea-

locked countries in the region lands up paying huge cost for getting
connected to the international connectivity. This hampers the ISPs in
providing quality broadband services and might lead to creating
"broadband divide" within the countries as well as region and world.
In order to bridge this divide, an analyses to be carried out to explore the

possibility of bringing down the cost of international internet connectivity
through regional initiatives and ensure universal broadband services at an
affordable price within the region.
Scope To assess the current situation in relation to the cost of providing

broadband services available in the SATRC countries.
Review the current cost of international internet connectivity in

the region.
Explore other regional initiatives with possible alternatives for
lowering cost for the international connectivity.
Explore alternative options of getting connected to international

internet besides submarine cable on a competitive rates.

Questionnaire Circulation by end of first week of March 2015
Utilization For the Government/Regulators
of Output
Work Item Mr. Abdulla Nafeeg Pasha, CAM, Maldives

Rapporteur
3.3.2 After conclusion of the 1st meeting of the working group, the lead experts on
above work items from India, Maldives and Nepal prepared questionnaires for
response by SATRC members. And a report was to be drafted by these experts
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based on the responses. The questionnaires alongwith with its responses by
Pakistan are given in next section.
3.4 Questionnaires on Work Items and Pakistan Responses
3.4.1 Questionnaire on Work Item 1.1: PRS-01- Measures to

protect interests of consumers of telecom services, by
TRAI-India with Pakistan Response
Questionnaire: Consumer protection measures in the Telecom sector of the region
1. Name of the Country/Administration

Pakistan/Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)
2. Is your administration responsible for protecting consumers interests in the Telecom
sector? Yes
a. If no, please specify details of the concerned administration
3. What are the following key Telecom Services Performance Indicators for your
country?
a. Number of telecom operators - for both wireless and wired services. Please
classify them further into private and public operators
5x Cellular (2G/3G/4G/LTE) (All private)
14x Long Distance & International (LDI) (All private)
17x Fixed Local Loop (FLL) (All private)
12x Wireless Local Loop (WLL) (All private)
2x Integrated (Long Distance & LL)
1. PTCL (Semi Public), 2. NTC (Govt)
596x VAS (95% Private)
10x Infrastructure Provider, 8x Tower Provider Licenses (all
private).
b. Number of subscribers - for both wireless and wired services ?
Ans: Cellular: 116,431,523
Fixed: 3,172,214
c. Teledensity - for both wireless and wired services for rural and urban areas.
63.6%
d. Monthly Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for Access Services
Ans: For cellular: Around 200 PKR.
e. HHI (Herfindal-Hirschman index) - for both wireless and wired services
Not available.
4. Does your country have Consumers Handbook on Telecommunications?
a. If yes, then please specify the languages in which it is available.
Not specifically a handbook, but Consumer Protection Regulations accessible to
public placed on PTA Website, www.pta.gov.pk
5. Does your country have registered consumer protection organizations in telecom
sector? If yes, then (NO)
a. How many of them exist?
b. What is the method of interaction between consumer organizations and
telecom regulator?
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6. Do you conduct regional consumer education workshops?
a. If yes, then what is their frequency?
No, but could be planned.
7. Are there any Regulations, Direction and Orders on consumer protection in telecom
sector? Yes
a. If yes, then please specify the areas it covers.
Ans: Consumer Protection Regulations 2009.
b. If not, then
i. Is there any roadmap prepared for protection of consumers in the
telecom sector? Please provide details.
ii. What are the major barriers being faced to implement a robust
consumer protection mechanism?
8. Describe the most common complaints made by the customers of telecom sector in
your country?
Ans: Obnoxious Calls/SMS, Quality of services, disconnection, suspension,
billing errors, coverage etc.
COMPLAINT REDRESSAL
9. Are there any Regulations, Direction and Orders on complaint redressal system? If
yes, please provide details.
Ans:- For complaint redressal, a procedure exists, i.e the consumer first
approach the operator, if he is not satisfied, then regulator can be
approached. Upon receipt of complaint the regulator takes up the matter
with concerned operator and necessary action as per prevailing regulations
is taken.
Establishment of Consumer Protection Directorate in 2008
10. Is the Telecom Service Provider (TSP) in your country mandated to have an
established Complaint Centre? If yes, then
a. What are timings and days of operation of Complaint Centre?
Ans: 24 /7
b. Do the TSPs have a Consumer Care Number? Is it toll-free?
Ans: Toll free and direct numbers are available. In some instances a very nominal
charge for complaint registration is also in place.
c. Can the consumer use a connection from any other service provider to contact
the Complaint Centre, if his telephone/ mobile is faulty?
Ans: Yes.
d. Which all languages does the customer care executive speak? (English/Local
language etc)
Ans: Local languages and English
Handling of complaints at the Complaint Centre
11. Is a unique docket number allotted while registering the complaint? Yes
12. Is there any time limit for resolution of the complaint? Yes, as per license conditions,
fault clearance, billing errors, service connection etc each have different KPIs, i.e.
24 hrs, 48 hrs, 2-3days etc.
a. If it is same for all service parameters, then please specify.
b. If it is not same for all service parameters, then please specify it for the
following:
i. Basic Telephone Service (wireline):
a. Faults Incidence Ratio: 3.083/100 lines/month.
b. Faults Clearance Ratio:
i. Within 24 hrs = 95%
ii. Within 48 hrs = 100%
c. Call Failure rate:
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d. Billing Error Ratio: 0.05/100 bills/month.
ii. Cellular Mobile Telephone Service:
Indicators Minimum Target

Service Activation Time
Post-Paid 1hr.
Pre-paid 30 min.
Key Performance Indicator Benchmark
Network Down-time <1%
Network Accessibility > 99%
Grade of Service (end to
<= 2 %
end blocking)
Service Accessibility > 98%
Call Connection Time <= 5 sec
Response to Assistance Requested. The response to the requested assistance

should be available 98% of the time. Complaint shall be recorded within 2
minutes. The response to Requested Assistance shall be as follows:-
95% of the complaints, not related to billing or service provisioning,
shall be solved within 24 hrs.
c. Billing Complaints. The resolution time for billing complaint shall be as
follows:-
90% of the billing complaints shall be solved within 24 hrs.
100% of the billing complaints shall be resolved within 7 working
days.
d. Service Provisioning Complaints. The resolution time for service
provisioning complaints shall be as follows (Provided that these, are for regions
from within the announced coverage area, does not involve ROW issues not
within the control of the service provider, are not created as a result of
devastating natural or man-made calamities):-
90% Service provisioning shall be solved within 24 hrs.
13. Does the Complaint Centre communicate the unique docket number along with date
and time of registration and the time limit for resolution of the complaint through
SMS to the consumer?
Yes
14. Is the consumer informed of the action taken to address the complaint through SMS?
YES
15. For how long the details of complaint will remain in the system against each docket
number?
6 months upto a year, depending on severity of the complaint.
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Handling of queries
16. Is General Information Number established by all the service providers if in case a
consumer needs certain information from the service provider?
YES
Operation of IVRS on Customer Care Number
17. Does the Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) at the Consumer Care
Number operate in the prescribed multi step manner? If yes, then please specify the
steps.
Yes,
1ST step: Language selection
2nd step is IVR instructions/Menu,
3rd step technical assistance
18. In how many steps does the consumer gets to speak to a customer care executive in
the IVRS system?
Usually by 2nd Step, usually after language selection step, consumer can dil
0 or 1 in some case to talk to a representative.
Appeal to Appellate Authority
19. Is there any Appellate Authority which can be approached by a consumer for the
redressal of complaint, if he is not satisfied? If yes, then
Ans:- No. Apellate authority is PTA. If consumer is not satisfied, the courts
may be approached.
a. Are the contact details of the Appellate Authority available in :
i. the start-up kit
ii. web site of the service providers and their sales outlets. YES
b. Is there any fee or charge for filing an appeal? If yes, then what is the
amount? No
c. Can the appeal be filed through :
i. e-mail Yes
ii. fax Yes
iii. post Yes
iv. in person Yes
d. What is the time limit prescribed for redressal of complaint by the appellate
authority?
Ans: Maximum 3 days or depending on severity of the complaint.
e. Can an appellant appear in person to present his case before the Appellate
Authority? Yes.
f. Is there any Advisory Committee to the Appellate authority of the service
provider in every service area? If yes, then who all are the constituent
members of such advisory committees?
No
g. Is a unique appeal number assigned by the secretariat of the Appellate
Authority during the registration of an appeal?
No
h. Is the acknowledgement of the appeal communicated to the consumer made
through SMS or e-mail? What is the time limit for it?
Ans: Acknowledged through the medium from which appeal was made
i. Is a copy of the appeal forwarded to the service provider concerned for filing
a reply? What is the time limit in which the service provider can file a reply?
Ans:- Yes /according to the nature of complaint
j. Is the reply of the service provider along with the appeal, placed before the
Advisory Committee for its consideration?
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Ans: Not applicable.
k. What is the time limit in which an Advisory Committee has to render its
advice on every appeal placed before it?
l. What is the time limit in which the secretariat has to place the advice of the
Advisory Committee before the Appellate Authority?
m. Whose responsibility is it to intimate the decision on the appeal to the
appellant and the service provider? (For eg In India, this is the responsibility
of secretariat of the Appellate Authority)
Web based Complaint Monitoring System

20. Are there any regulations that require the setting up of a Web based complaint
monitoring system by the service provider through which the consumers can track
their complaints? If yes, provide details of such application in your country.
Ans:- No.
21. Does your country have a Telecom Consumers Complaint Monitoring System to help
the customer in processing their complaints? Each Service provider has its own
mechanism. Yes
Telecom Consumers Charter
22. Does your country have a telecom consumers charter? If yes, are all service providers
required to publish a Telecom Consumers Charter in English and the local language
of the service area? If yes, then does it have the following information? No
a. Inter-alia terms and conditions of service
b. Information about complaint redressal mechanism, complaint
redressal procedure
c. Different time frames specified by the authority for various
complaints under QoS regulations
d. QoS parameters specified by the authority in respect of each of the
service
e. Quality of service promised by the service providers
f. Amount to be deducted as administrative expenses or otherwise
g. Consumer care number
h. General information number
i. Various procedures related to services like mobile number portability,
procedure for termination or disconnection of each service offered by
the service provider
j. Right of the consumers under different regulations, orders issued by
the authority
k. Duties and obligations of service providers under different
regulations, orders and directions issued by the authority
Ans:
In Pakistan, PTA has issued Telecom consumer Protection Regulations 2009

wherein, detailed mechanism for handling consumer complaint has been
provided. Regulation 11, of the said regulations, specified nature of
complaints, like, misuse of service, Quality of Service, Poor Service etc. At
first stance, complaints are required to be filed with the concerned operator.
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i. Time frame for redressal of consumer grievances by the operator: 3
working days.
ii. In case of non satisfactory redressal of the complaint, or non response,

the matter can be referred to the Authority, which will be decided by the
Authority in accordance with applicable procedures (please see
Regulation 15 of the consumer protection regulations).
iii. In addition, PTA also promulgated regulations namely, Protection from

Spam, Unsolicited, Fradulent and Obnoxious Regulations 2009, with
the purpose to ensure and protect the interests of telecom consumers by
preventing them from Spam, Fraudulent, Unsolicited and Obnoxious
communications. Under these regulations, various SOPs have been
issued, including complaint handling procedure (please see Regulation
4, 5, 6, 10 and 11 of the said regulations.
iv. For the purpose of proper documentation and issuance of SIMs,

Subscriber Antecedents Verification Regulations, 2015 have also been
promulgated.
v. In Pakistan, there are consumer laws for each province and the
consumers including telecom users may also file case before the
consumer courts on various issues with regard to seeking damages,
compensations etc.
vi. Moreover, consumers may also approach Ombudsman (Wafaqi

Mohtasib) with regard to non implementation of regulations in true
letter and spirit.
23. Does the Start-up Kit, which a mobile customer gets at the time of his enrolment,
contain an abridged version of the Telecom Consumers Charter containing salient
features? NO/ but Start/up Kit contains the salient feature of Telecom Regulations
Publication of information in Newspapers and website
24. Are the service providers required to publish the following information in leading
newspapers:
i. Customer Care Number
ii. General Information Number
iii. Contact details of the Appellate Authority
iv. Procedure for monitoring of complaints on the web based complaint monitoring
system No
a. Is this information published in
i. English
ii. local language
b. What is the frequency of publishing this information?
At beginning of operation or launching services and routine updating.
c. Do the service providers need to make the same information available on
their web site also? Yes
25. In your opinion, what additional measures can be incorporated for addressing the
issue of Complaint Redressal? provide details
Ans: NIL.
QUALITY OF SERVICE
26. Have you issued any Quality of Service regulations? If yes, then yes
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a. Have you laid down the Quality of Service standards for
i. Basic and Cellular Mobile Telephone Services yes
ii. Broadband service yes
b. Have you specified parameters on quality of service related to network outages
and the benchmarks for meeting these parameters by the service providers? If
yes, then are these any of the following (Please specify the benchmarks laid down
by you for the corresponding parameters on quality of service ):
i. BTS accumulated downtime
ii. Call set-up success rate
iii. SDCCH/ Paging Chl. Congestion
iv. TCH Congestion
v. Please specify any other parameters that can be incorporated
Ans:-
QoS KPIs have been specified in the licenses as well as comprehensive
regulations are also in place. Major KPIs are reproduced as under:-
Indicators Minimum Target Remarks
Service Quality
Key Performance Indicator Benchmark Remarks
Network Down-time <1%
Network Accessibility > 99%

Grade of Service (end to end
<= 2 %
blocking)
Service Accessibility > 98%
Call Connection Time <= 5 sec
Call Completion Ratio > 98 %

As recommended by ITU-T in
Mean Opinion Score recommendation number P.862.2
(Average of, Average A2B >3 ( PESQ), P.862.3 (POLQA) or latest
plus Average B2A) ITU/Relevant forum
recommendation
SMS Success Rate > 99%
End to End SMS Delivery < 8 seconds
c. To ensure quality of service and to monitor the performance of service providers

against the QoS parameters prescribed in the regulations, do you adopt any of the
following strategies:
i. Performance Monitoring report from service providers. If yes, then what
is their frequency? Yes each quarter ( 3 months )
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ii. Audit of QoS by third party agency. If yes, what is the frequency of audit
of the network for quality of service for No
1) mobile telephone service
2) basic service
3) broadband service
iii. Survey of Customer satisfaction through third party agency. If yes, what is
the frequency of this survey? No
iv. Please specify if any other strategies are adopted?
d. Do you obtain Point of Interconnection (POI) congestion reports on monthly
basis from the service providers? No
27. In your opinion, what additional measures can be incorporated for addressing the
issue of Quality of Service? please describe briefly. QoE may be surveyed.
BILLING ACCURACY
28. Have you prescribed a uniform code of practice for metering and billing accuracy in
order to protect the interest of subscribers from inaccurate billing and charging?
Uniform in terms of service.
29. Do the service providers have to arrange audit of their Metering and Billing System?
If yes, then No.
a. What is the frequency of such audit?
b. Are the auditors empanelled by your organization?
c. Do the service providers need to furnish an audit certificate to your
organization?
d. If yes, then what is the frequency and last date for its submission?
e. Is an Action Taken Report on inadequacies, if any, pointed out by the auditor
in the audit report, submitted to your organization?
f. If yes, then what is the frequency and last date for its submission?
g. Is there any threshold for the tariff plans that are to be audited? (for eg in
India, Tariff plans with 10% or more subscriber base are audited and it is
mandatory to audit atleast three pre paid and post paid plans each which has
maximum subscriber base).
i. If yes, then please specify it.
ii. Are they audited on sample basis? If not, then please specify the
method employed.
h. Has your organization issued a detailed checklist of audit for the
implementation of metering and billing regulation which includes every item
of the Code of Practice and the Terms of reference?
i. Does this audit cover the following :
i. checking of overbilling
ii. checking of roaming charges levied on customers vis--vis the
published tariff
iii. checking of charging for value added services
iv. verification of bill delivery process
v. verification of redressal of billing complaints and complaint
handling process
vi. activation time for recharges
j. Are the billing complaints received in your organization referred to the
auditor for verification?
k. Are the systemic deficiencies observed during audit to be corrected in a time
bound manner?
l. Has the audit of the metering and billing system helped in the reduction of
incidences of billing complaints?
Page 17 of 133
30. In your opinion, what additional measures should be incorporated for addressing the
issue of Billing Accuracy? Please provide brief details.
MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY (MNP)

31. Is Full Number Portability implemented in your country? If yes, then please describe
the the process in brief. YES
32. Describe the type of MNP implemented in your country
a. Is it allowed irrespective of the mobile technology (GSM/CDMA)?
Yes.
b. Is it allowed only within in a licensed service area or across the licence
areas as well?
Within the licensed region.
33. Does a subscriber desirous of porting his mobile number needs to
a. Contact Recipient Operator (RO) to whom he wants to port his mobile
number?
Yes.
b. Obtain Customer Acquisition Form (CAF) & Porting Form from the
R.O.?
Yes.
c. Read the eligibility, permissible grounds for rejection of porting requests
and other conditions carefully?
Yes.
d. Obtain Unique Porting Code (UPC) by sending SMS from the mobile
number to be ported? If yes, then please specify
i. procedure for obtaining UPC
ii. the validity of UPC
Yes, once forms are filled, the customer receives a code, Number
Portability Request (NPR) No. which is used for the porting.
e. Submit the duly filled Porting Form and CAF along with documentary
proof to the Recipient Operator.
Yes.
f. A post paid subscriber should also submit a paid copy of the last bill along
with Porting Form and CAF.
Yes.
g. Obtain new SIM card from the Recipient Operator
Yes.
34. What amount is charged in your country as porting charges to the consumer?
Ans: Only the SIM cost.
35. What is the eligibility to make a porting request?
Ans: No default.
36. After how many days of activation of a mobile connection, can MNP be allowed?
Ans: 2 months.
37. If a mobile number is already ported once, can the number again be ported?
a. If yes, then after how many days from the date of the previous porting, is it
allowed?
Yes, MNP can be multiple; however, 2 months is the minimum period to
stay with one operator.
38. At the time of porting request, is a post paid subscriber required to submit an
undertaking that he has already paid all the dues as per the last bill to the Donor
Page 18 of 133
Operator and that he/she would be bound to pay all the dues to the Donor Operator
till its eventual porting?
YES but no undertaking required, porting is not completed unless dues are
cleared from the donor operator.
39. Is a pre-paid subscriber, given an undertaking that he understands that at the time of
porting the balance amount of talk time, if any, would lapse?
Ans: Yes
40. Are there any conditions under which a Porting request can be rejected?
a. If yes, then are these any of the following:
i. If the outstanding payment is certain amount of money.
1) If yes, then please specify the amount of money.
Any amount.
ii. If it has been made before the expiry of a period of certain days
from the date of activation of a new connection.
1) If yes, then please specify the period of days. 2 months.
iii. If change of ownership of the mobile number is under process. Yes.
iv. If the case related to the mobile number sought to be ported, is sub-
judice. Yes.
v. If the mobile number sought to be ported has been prohibited by a
Court of Law. Yes.
vi. If the subscriber has applied for inter-service area porting. NO.
vii. If the unique porting code mentioned in the porting request does not
match with the unique porting code allocated by the Donor Operator
for the mobile number sought to be ported or validity of UPC has
expired. Yes.
viii. On the ground of subsisting contractual obligations, with some
exceptions.
1) Please specify the exceptions, if any. Not known.
ix. Any other ground for rejection for porting?
Withdrawal of a porting request
41. Is there a provision for withdrawing the porting request? If yes, then
a. What is the time limit in which a subscriber may withdraw his porting
request? Within 24 hrs.
b. How is the recipient operator informed about it?
Through contact number.
c. Is there any obligation on the service provider to refund the porting charges
paid?
Once the porting is executed, the payment is non refundable. Because
the new SIM is issued instantaneously and is activated as soon as the
donor operators de-activates the old SIM.
Porting time
42. What is the maximum time period for the completion of porting process? 3 days.
a. Are there any exceptions? If yes, please specify them.
Activation of ported number
43. Does the Recipient Operator intimate the date & time of porting to subscriber?
Yes.
44. Is there any service disruption time?
a. If yes, please specify its duration?
No
issue of Mobile Number Portability? NIL
Page 19 of 133
CURBING UNWANTED COMMERCIAL COMMUNICATIONS (UCC)
46. Is there any regulations/framework to curb menace of unsolicited commercial
communications/telemarketing calls? Yes Regulations on Anti-Spam, Obnoxious and
Fraudulent activities exist.
47. Is there a provision to complaint against a scam call/SMS? If yes, please provide
details. Yes. The calling number needs to be provided for investigation by operator.
Once established the number is blocked.
48. Is there a provision to notify the caller that you no longer wish to receive live
marketing or sales calls? If yes, please provide details. No
49. Is there any National Do Not Call Registry (NDNC)? If yes, then No.
a. Can a customer opt to block all commercial communication through this
Register?
b. Can a customer opt to selectively block SMS from specified categories?
1) If yes, then are these categories, any of the ones listed below:
Banking/insurance/financial products/credit cards
2) Real Estate
3) Education
4) Health
5) Consumer goods and automobiles
6) Communication/ Broadcasting / Entertainment/IT and
7) Tourism and leisure
i. If in case you have some more categories, please specify them.
50. Is it mandatory for the telemarketers to register with the regulator/ or any other
organisation? In case of other organization, please specify. No, however for bulk
SMS such persons need to identify and whitelist their numbers.
a. If yes, then do they have to deposit certain security deposit with the operator
before taking telecom resources? NO. But they have to get registered with
PTA.
i. If yes, then please specify the amount of security deposit?
51. Are there any penalty provisions for violation of the regulations? If violation is by a
licensee, then legal action, i.e. Show Cause and legal proceeding is initiated.
a. If yes, then does it have a provision for recovery of penalty from the security
deposit?
b. Does the penalty amount increase with the increase in violations?
i. If yes, then does the telemarketer have to deposit additional
security deposit on consequent violations?
1) If yes, then specify the amount.
c. Is there any provision for disconnecting the telecom resources after certain
violations? If yes, then
i. Specify the number of violations
ii. Is there subsequent blacklisting that takes place for the telemarketer?
1) If yes, then what is the duration for which the telemarketer
is blacklisted?
52. Do you have separate number series for telemarketers for voice calls? No
a. If yes, please specify.
53. Are there any separate headers for transactional and promotional messages to
facilitate identification by consumers? No
54. Are there any restrictions for sending of SMS in excess of certain number to ensure
that normal telephone connections are not misused to send promotional messages? If
yes, then
Please specify it for both postpaid and prepaid connections. Yes, 200 SMS /15
min for both.
Page 20 of 133
55. Is there any promotional SMS charge to be paid by the originating operator to the
terminating operator? As per agreement between the two. The regulator does not
bind.
56. Is there any time period during which any commercial communication including
SMS, other than transactional messages can be sent? No
Registration by consumers in to the Do Not Disturb Register
57. Can a subscriber register his preference or change of preference by making a
call/SMS? No.
a. If yes, then is it a toll free number?
b. Is it IVRS based or customer care executive based or SMS based or both?
c. Does the IVRS or customer care executive confirm exercise of preference of
the customer?
d. Is the customer informed of his registration of preference and the unique
registration number?
i. If yes, then is it through SMS or by other means? Please
specify, if it is by other means?
e. After how many days would a customer cease to receive commercial
communications from the date of registration or change preference?
In case customer gets commercial communications even after registration
58. Can a subscriber make a complaint to the service provider in case a subscriber
receives unsolicited commercial communication after registration? If yes, then
a. Can the customer make the complaint through voice call or SMS or both?
Yes, Both.
b. Is it a toll free number?
Yes, also the consumer can approach regulator on toll free and normal telephones.
c. Is there any time limit in which this complaint needs to be made, after receipt
of such UCC?
i. If yes, then please specify. Not defined.
d. Is a unique complaint number communicated to the complainant by the
operator on registration of complaint? Not defined.
e. Is the time limit in which the action taken on the complaint will be informed
to the complainant?
i. If yes, then please specify. Not defined.
issue of Curbing Unwanted Commercial Communications (UCC)? Please provide
a brief write up on proposed measures.
All numbers may be blocked and only registered numbers be allowed to do
marketing, business SMS.
3.4.2 Questionnaire on Work Item - PRS-02: Policy, Regulatory

and Technical Aspect of OTT Services in SATRC Countries,
by NTA, Nepal with Pakistan Response
1. Name of Country and Administration:
Ans: Pakistan, Ministry of IT & Telecom
2. Is OTT defined or classified by your administration?

2.1 If Yes, how is it defined and classified by your administration?
Ans: No. The same will be consulted in line with Telecom Policy review by the
Ministry of IT & Telecom keeping in view ITU definitions.
Page 21 of 133
2.2 If No, give reasons and is there any future plan?
3. Is it necessary to formulate regulatory framework for OTT services at present?

3.1 If Yes, what type of framework is developed or in the process of formulation by
your administration?
Ans: As per the goal of Telecom Policy 2015 Review, PTA, in consultation with
Federal Government and stakeholders, will develop appropriate regulatory
framework to treat VoIP and other Over-The-Top (OTT) services by taking into
account the globally emerging revenue sharing arrangements between local
licensees and OTT players for offering better than normal best-effort or
differentiated version of services, licensed access providers will be free to enter
into mutual agreements with those service providers enabling them to monetize
OTT service delivery on mutually agreed terms.
3.2 If No, could you please give reasons and is there any future plan?
4. Is there any impact of OTT services on data traffic and associated demands on
network infrastructure?
4.1 If Yes, could you please justify/elaborate this with relevant data?
Ans: The Internet Bandwidth capacity of the country which was around 220
G by end of 2013 has increased to around 500 G by end of 2015. The
increase in bandwidth signify the rise in data traffic for which OTT services
also play a major factor. After the launch of 3G and 4G services in 2014/15,
such services have gained popularity and currently over 23 million users are
utilizing such services, keeping this in view, there would be a significant
demand for more infrastructure in future.
4.2 If No, what could be the reasons?
5. Is the growth of OTT affecting negatively the traditional revenue stream of telecom
operators/mobile operators i.e. voice and SMS revenue?
5.1 If Yes, how much is the loss (in percentage of gross income of operators)?
Ans: The growth of OTT means more traffic on OTT while reduced traffic on
traditional voice/data stream of operators. The affect in terms of cost,
however, could not be calculated.
5.2 If No, what could be the reasons? Can increase in revenue due to increase in data
traffic is sufficient to compensate for the loss?
6. What is the network architecture of OTT applications/services and how it is

implemented?
Ans: The OTT applications/services in Pakistan are delivered through using
existing internet/data layer of mobile & fixed operators/bandwidth providers.
Majority of the OTT services are foreign based, i.e. Whatsapp, Viber, Skype etc.
Some of the operators are considering inclusion. PTCL has recently launched
one app called Smart link which offers app to app call, IM, app to PSTN/PLMN
& vice versa calling in addition to smart TV channels coupled with the some
infotainment services such as flight inquiry...etc.
7. Is the OTT players offering real-time communication services e.g. voice, messaging
and video call services competing in the same market segment as that of mobile
operators/telecom operators?
7.1 If yes, what are the regulatory imbalances and how this can be addressed?
Page 22 of 133
Ans: The OTT players are providing real-time communication services e.g.
voice, messaging and video, through the existing networks of mobile & fixed
operators. However, regulatory imbalances are yet to be examined (if any),
one of the instant observation is that the mobile & fixed operators are
licensed and accounted for by the regulator, whereas the OTT players are un-
licensed as in many countries. During the consultation phase, such matters
will be discussed.
7.2 If No, give reasons with justifications.
8. Should OTT players providing communication services be licensed and treated

similar as telecom/mobile operators?
8.1 If yes, what could be the licensing framework?
Ans: As per Telecom Policy 2015 Review, PTA, in consultation with Federal
Government and stakeholders, will develop appropriate regulatory
framework to treat VoIP and other Over-The-Top (OTT) services and decision
to put OTT in licensing umbrella or otherwise will be taken after such
consultation.
9. Is it possible to apply prevailing laws and regulations to OTT players who operate in
the virtual world and usually from abroad?
9.1 If yes, please suggest how compliance can be enforced?
9.2 If No, what changes may be required in the law?
Ans: During the consultation phase, such matters will be discussed.
10. Should the OTT players pay for using telecom/mobile operators infrastructure or
network over and above the data charges paid by the customers?
10.1 If yes, what could be the pricing options or models?
11. Is there security concerns associated with OTT players providing communications
services?
11.1 If yes, how can these been mandated such as keeping records, logs etc. as
usually the OTT players reside outside of the country? Suggest.
Ans: The licensed operators in the country are already mandated to keep
records/logs of any communication. The OTT players residing outside the
country cannot be forced to do the same. However, such players can be
approached through appropriate channel.
12. Is there privacy concerns associated with OTT players providing communications
services?
12.1 If yes, how the interest of consumer is protected? During the consultation
phase, such matters will be discussed.
13. Should the OTT players offering communication services i.e. voice, messaging and
video call services (e.g. viber, skype) through applications (resident in the country or
outside) be brought under licensing regime? Suggest with justifications.
Ans: Yes, During the consultation phase, such matters will be discussed.
Page 23 of 133
14. Should the telecom/mobile operators be allowed to discriminate between the normal
data traffic and OTT application traffic?
14.1 If yes, give reasons with justifications. Also, is it needed that these
network operators be mandated to publish traffic management techniques used
for different OTT applications to ensure transparency?
15. Should the telecom/mobile operators be allowed differential pricing for data access
and OTT communication services?
15.1 If yes, give reasons with justifications.
15.2 If No, clarify with comments.
Ans: Yes, During the consultation phase, such matters will be discussed.
16. In terms of the content being transmitted/shared by OTT media/applications, how the
issues of copyright can be addressed?
17. How conducive and balanced environment can be created such that telecom/mobile
network operators are able to invest in network infrastructure and OTT players can
innovate and grow?
Ans: Through mutual agreements between mobile operators and OTT players taking
into account global revenue sharing models.
18. Any other business or issues related to OTT services.

Ans: The SAARC member countries are faced with constant security issues, hence it
is very much important for OTT players to support the member countries
administrations in terms of provisioning of data in such cases.
3.4.3 Questionnaire on Work Item PRS-03: Emerging Licensing

Framework including exit and relicensing policy, by TRAI
(India), With Pakistan Response
A. Existing licensing Frame Work-
Q1. When was the telecom sector liberalized and opened for private operators? When
were initial (first) licenses issued to private operators and for how many years
(period of Licence)?
Response:-
The Telecom sector in Pakistan was liberalized in 1996 with the emergence of
Pakistan Telecommunication Re-Organization Act, 1996 (Act) which
empowered Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to issue & regulate
licenses for telecom services. Before this, there were government owned
incumbent operator (PTCL), NTC and SCO in the fixed sector whereas Mobilink
and PakTel in Cellular sector.
Page 24 of 133
In 2003, De-Regulation policy for fixed telecom was issued, resultantly 14 Long
Distance & International (LDI) and 34 Local Loop (LL) licenses were issued to
private operators.
20 years each for LDI and LL, also PTA is issuing CVAS (15 yrs) for
small business operators. Cellular license are issued for 15 yrs.
First cellular Cellular (AMPS) licenses were issued in 1990 for 15 years
to PakTel & InstaPhone followed by first GSM license issued to PMCL
(Mobilink) on 6th July, 1992.
At present five (5) CMOs are providing GSM/LTE/WCDMA services
Q2. Which are the Authorities / Agencies/ Government Departments or Ministries that
are involved in issue of Licence, monitoring of licence in your country?
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)
Q3. Which are the telecom services (e.g. Wireline, Wireless, Internet, Long Distance
etc.) require the Licence?
Wireline: - LDI, FLL, CVAS, ISPs, FTTH, Hybrid (Copper+OFC)

Wireless: - Cellular (3G, 4G, LTE, GSM, WiMax, EVO, CDMA,
VHF)
Q4. Which are the telecom services that do not require the Licence and only
registration is required with the concerned authorities? (For example, in India
Infrastructure Providers (IP-I Category) requires registration only and no
licence.)
Content Services, SMS aggregated services & Video Conferencing

requires only registration and it is only for five years.
Q5. Whether individual licence is issued to provide a telecom service or Unified

licence (UL) is issued to provide number of telecom services under one licence?
If UL is issues what are the services that are covered in it?
Individual license for services e.g. LDI, LL, Cellular, CVAS.

Unified license (UL) is not covered as per prevailing License Frame
Work.
Q6. On what basis the Regulatory Fee (such as Licence Fee and Spectrum Usage
Charges etc) is being levied / recovered from the telecom operators? What are the
basis and rates(s) of Licence Fee and Spectrum Usage Charges for different
categories of licences?
LL License Fee: 10,000 USD/license per region (total 14

regions)
LDI: Rs.500,000/- (five lac) for nationwide
License fee is decided after thorough consultation with stake holders and
notified in a policy directive by Government of Pakistan.
Page 25 of 133
Spectrum Price: Auction Based
Q.7 What are the Rules and Regulations with regard to spectrum
sharing/infrastructure sharing?
At present only passive infrastructure sharing is allowed. Also, a separate
license (Infrastructure license) is also being issued.
Active Sharing and spectrum sharing is not covered in the current
regulatory framework, but it is being considered in the upcoming telecom
policy review.
Q8. Which technology(s) is being presently used for wireline and wireless service?
Wireline: OFC, DSL, FTTH, Hybrid

Wireless: WCDMA, HSPA, GSM, CDMA, Rev-A, Rev-B, WiMax
B. Emerging Licensing Frame work
Q9. Whether Unified licence is proposed to be issued to provide number of telecom

service under one licence or still continue with individual licence to provide
telecom services?
Telecom Policy is being revised. Once notified, then it will be known

whether UL is in line.
Q10. Is the same technology is being in use or some new technology is is considered to
be used by the telecom companies in future? Whether the Government is
providing any support for the use or migration to new technology? Please
explain.
All licenses are technology neutral.

For example, recently Warid Telecom which was operating cellular
license for GSM in 1800 Mhz has shifted to LTE in same license with a
few modifications in the license.
Q11. Whether the new licence or renewal of licence is being issued bundled with
spectrum or the spectrum has to be acquired through auction or at market price?
New License is issued with Spectrum attached for cellular.
Only auction winners are then issued licenses.
WLL Spectrum is separately given to LL licensees through an auction.
C. Exit Policy
Q12. What are the Rules and Regulations with regard to merger & acquisition,
spectrum sharing/ sale of business and exit from the telecom service?
Merger/Acquisition covered in the Section 5(2) of Telecom Act 1996.
o For upto 10% Ownership change, notification is required
o For > 10% Ownership change, approval of PTA is required.
Rule 11 (5) Telecom Rules 2000 & PTA Regulations Functions & Powers
Regulation 23 also covers the same.
Page 26 of 133
Q13. Whether partial exit (surrender of spectrum only-in part) from business is allowed
or complete exit has to be done?
Partial in the form of change in share holding / transfer of share can be
done. However all cases are processed on a case-to-case basis.
Q14. What are the rules & regulations / procedures about refund of part of entry fee,
release of bank guarantees, pending non-compliance of roll-out obligations at the
time of exit, time frame for exit and settlement of liabilities/claims?
Entry Fee Non refundable
Bank Guarantee linked with Rollout compliance
Exit, cancelation etc governed by Rules, which require advance
notification, settlement of dues etc.
D. Relicensing Policy
Q15. What is licence holding Period i.e., for how many years telecom licence is issued to
provide telecom service?
Cellular = 15 Years
LDI/LL/WLL = 20 Years
VAS = 15 Years
Registration = 5 Years
Q16. What are the Rules and Regulations with regard to renewal of licence, entry of
new telecom operator? Is there any preference to the existing operators as
compared to new entrants about granting of licence, allocation of spectrum
through auction etc.?
Renewal - Rules 2000, advance notice, license condition-
settlement of dues- provision of services
Entry - Not restricted for major licenses LDI, LL,
Cellular
For new entrants, concessions can be considered through Policy
Directive of government, e.g. in Spectrum Auction 2014, new entrants
could directly participate for 850 MHz directly, existing players had to
first win 2100 Mhz spectrum.
Q17. Whether the spectrum is being allotted at administrative price or is being sold
through auction or is there any other method to allot spectrum to at the time of
renewal of existing licence or issue of new licence?
Auction based.
Backhaul Spectrum on administrative rates.
At renewal, auction and winning price of same spectrum to be paid
Also, all of above depends on policy of the Government at that time
Q18. What are the rules & regulations / policies with regard to level playing field for
new entrants?
Act section 62(e) w.r.t competition in telecom sector.
New entrants for cellular will be encouraged to have infrastructure
sharing and National roaming with existing CMTOs on negotiable basis
for speedy Rollout.
E. General
Page 27 of 133
Q19. Any other issue, which has not been included in the questionnaire.
Whether there is any watchhold period for a specific license, e.g. In
Pakistan from 2006 till 2013 a watch hold on further licensing of LDI/LL
was imposed keeping in view the market. The same is now again open.
Is there any waiver of regulatory fees for licensees in special cases, such
as loss of business or any other events. In Pakistan, the same is on a case
to case basis and subject to approval of the government.
Are licensees encouraged/obliged/mandatory/voluntarily on provisioning
of services in rural areas? In Pakistan, the licensees contribute annually
to a USF fund, and the USF Fund then allocates amount to winners of a
project in which the same operators had participated. This way, it is
ensured that USF fund is given payments as well as projects are also
assigned.
3.4.4 Questionnaire on Work Item - PRS-04: International

Connectivity for the Provision of Providing Broadband
Services, by CAM, Maldives, With Pakistan Response
Questionnaire: International Connectivity for the Provision of Broadband in the
Region
Ans: Pakistan/PTA
2. Is your administration responsible for providing the international bandwidth?
a. If no please specify details of the concerned administration
Ans: PTA has issued license to Pakistan Telecommunication Corporation Ltd

(PTCL) being incumbent operator as well as to Transwolrd Associates (TWA)
for establishment of Submarine Landing Stations for international bandwidth,
these operators are responsible for the same under their licenses.
3. How many telecom operators have international connectivity?
Ans: Two, PTCL and TWA. They further resale to other operators.
4. What are the connectivity methods for the international capacity? Please specify
percentage
i. Fiber (under sea)
> 90%
ii. Fiber (land)
<5%
iii. Satellite
<5%
5. What is the international bandwidth usage (Gbps/ Tbps)?
Ans:
Installed capacity: Apprx 400 Gbps

Page 28 of 133
Peak Utilization: Apprx 300 Gbps
Submarine Cables
Cable Allocated Eq Eq , Utilizati

System Capacity (miu- STM- Gbps on
km) 1s
SMW3 25,719,256 95 15 86%
SMW4 21,363,639 2865 448 51%
IMEWE 12,669,676 1712 268 83%
6. What are the connectivity routes? (Eg: SEAMEWE-3, SEAMEWE-4, FLAG

FALCON, etc)
Ans: SE-ME-WE-3, SEMEWE-4, IMEWE and TW-1
7. Kindly provide rates for capacities ranges E1, STM-1, STM-4, STM-16 to Tier 1 pop
server between you and other regions? Please specify by route and region.\
Ans: not available

8. What is the annual growth rate/percentage?
Ans: not available.

9. What capacity the operators get connectivity? (Eg : Own cable, consortium, etc)
As per regulatory framework, Long Distance & International (LDI) operators are
allowed to deploy own cable or also share between other if required so. At present,
14 LDI operators are existing. Out of which about 7 operators have their own
infrastructure.
10. Does your administration have bilateral/multilateral agreement on International
connectivity?
Ans: Not explicitly. However, the LDI operators are allowed to establish
international links on a bilateral basis after necessary approvals by the PTA.
11. If yes please specify the following:
Type of connection: Submarine cable, Terrestrial cable, etc
Upgradeable capacity
Ans: At the moment, the cross-border/bilateral links are not operational,
deployment/commencement is underway.
12. Is there any plan or project for bilateral agreement for international connectivity?
Please specify
Ans: Already explained at point no. 10.

13. What sort of international connection arrangement does your country have with the
other Member countries?
Ans: Only Terrestrial OFC or Microwave. Not undersea.

14. What are the major challenges in relation to current international connectivity
arrangement?
Page 29 of 133
Ans: Political harmony/coordination with member countries/CAPEX and OPEX by
operators of both sides etc.
15. What is the minimum data rate that the national authorities consider as constituting
broadband service? (in kbps, Mbps or Gbps)
Ans: Minimum 256 kbps
16. Please indicate the percentage of physical subscriber network
a. Fibre-optic
b. Copper
c. Coaxial
d. Wireless %, including % terrestrial and % satellite
Ans:-
Technolog DSL HFC WiMax FTTH EvDO Others Mobile Total
y BB
2014-15 1,480,67 43,220 488,990 19,180 1,349,84 6,069 13,498,67 16,886,65
2 3 7 1
17. What wire-line technologies are utilized to provide broadband services?

a. ____ xDSL
b. ____ Cable (excluding fiber)
c. ____ Fiber (FTTX)
d. Anyother
Ans : DSL, FTTH, Hybrid (Coax+OFC) etc.

18. What wireless technologies are utilized to provide broadband services?
a. 3G
b. WiMax
c. ADSl technologies (WiFi)
d. Anyother
Ans: 3G, 4G/LTE, GPRS/EDGE/Wi-Max/EvDO/CDMA 2000/

19. What is the average monthly price for broadband service (including Internet access)?
Ans: About PKR 500 (Pakistani Ruppee) for 1MB DSL, with 10GB download.
20. Describe the most common usage/pricing plan for broadband. (Please specify per
time unit or data unit)
Ans: In fixed DSL/Internet: Monthly packages with download capacities.
In wireless/mobile: Monthly and/or data units, can be monthly package with a
download data limit, or it can be data unit consumed within a set period of time.
However it is flexible and competitive by the operators.
21. What are the major barriers to the deployment of broadband service?
Ans: Right of Way, Laying of physical access infrastructure, security of physical
infrastructure, natural disasters (floods, earthquakes).
22. Is there a plan for coverage of those areas where broadband is not available? If yes,
please explain.
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Ans: For underserved/un-served areas, Universal Service Fund (USF) has been
established, under Ministry of IT & Telecom in order to provide broadband and
telecom services. All telecom operators pay a USF contribution between the range of
1 to 1.5 % of Annual revenues. The USF awards/allocates projects to the
participating/winning/shortlisted operators who opts for a particular project.
Further details can be found at www.usf.org.pk/
23. Which broadband technology is growing the most quickly? (Wireless, xDSL, cable
modem or other)
Ans: Mobile Broadband.
24. Are there regulatory incentives for operators to make investments in the
infrastructure with a view to extending broadband to rural communities?
Ans: As explained in point 22 above.
25. Is there any roadmap prepared for broadband development or digitalization? please
provide details.
Ans: PTA has envisaged its Vision 2025 for proliferation of broadband and new
generation telecom services. The same is available at PTA website www.pta.gov.pk.
26. What are the initiatives taken for expanding international connectivity?
by the Government: Ans: Regulatory facilitation to licensed operators.

by the Industry: Ans: Mutual, bilateral, international coordination.
27. Kindly provide your view on the proposal of establishing International connectivity
arrangement for broadband within our region.
Ans: Mutual consensus needs to be arrived at, for a joint working towards a common
prupose, which should be cheaper, affordable, better quality broadband services to
the population. Furthermore, the operators of the region may also coordinate to
explore new ways to enhance their services and provide quality service to their
subscribers.
28. Is international connection charge higher in the region? If so, what could be the
reasons for such high charges?
Ans: The international connection charge at present cannot be fully understood and
documented, however, competition is the main driver for price reduction.
29. What would be the cost involved in providing international broadband connection?
Kindly explain
Ans: The main cost involved is the wholesale bandwidth cost which the main
operator is offering to other operators. This cost is based on international
negotiations. Therefore, the international symposium/or international operators who
are managing the undersea cables can be approached.
30. Can the current international connectivity charges be lowered?
If so, kindly do provide how this could be done.

Ans: As explained at point 29 above.
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31. Is there any study on assessment of the impact of international connectivity in terms
of cost increase on the following components in your country?
a. penetration,
b. traffic volume,
c. investment
d. Consumer tariff
If yes please provide details in brief

Ans: Not available
32. Any other relevant information that you want to provide. Ans: not Available,
3.4.5 The proceedings of the SATRC Working Group on PRS followed with a
workshop held in Nepal from 21-23rd Dec, 2015. The workshop aimed to discuss
a number of issues in the areas of telecommunication policy, regulation and
services including such issues as measures to protect consumers interests; policy,
regulatory and technical aspects of OTT services; emerging licensing framework;
international connectivity for the provision of providing broadband services; and
other related topics. During the workshop presentations were delivered by experts
from India, Srilanka, Japan and Malaysia followed by discussion within the
workshop participants. The following topics were discussed during the
workshop:-
a. Objectives of the workshop and presentations on the activities of SATRC

Working Group on Policy, Regulation and Services
b. Measures to protect the interests of consumers of telecom services
c. Policy, regulatory and technical aspect of OTT services in SATRC countries
d. Emerging licensing framework including exit and relicensing policy
e. International connectivity for the provision of providing broadband services
4. Pakistans Contribution In SATRC Working Group Meeting At Maldives, 23rd 24th,

March, 2016
4.1 The 2nd meeting of the Working Group on PRS was held in Mali, Maldives, from
23rd-24th March 2016. The meeting was attended by delegates from SAARC
member countries. From Pakistan, Mr. Abdul Samad, Member (Compliance &
Enforcement), PTA, who is also the Voice Chairman of the Working Group on
Policy, Regulation and Service (PRS) was nominated to attend the meeting. The
agenda of the Working Group meeting was as follows:-
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Provisional Agenda of the Working Group Meeting held in Maldives
1. Opening
2. Adoption of agenda and program of the meeting
3. Review of outcomes of the 16th SATRC Meeting
4. Review the previous activities of Working Group on Policy, Regulation and
Services
5. Discussion on the work items assigned to the working group
6. Discussion and adoption of draft outcomes of the Work Items
7. Consideration of the proposals of Work Items for SATRC Action Plan Phase
8. Any other business
9. Closing
4.2 During the meeting, draft report on Work Item PRS-01, Measures to protect interests of
consumers of telecom services was discussed. A comprehensive response on the draft
report by PTA was also provided and discussed during the meeting. It was agreed by the
Chairman of the working group and lead experts to incorporate the comments from all
members and a final draft will be submitted to APT in the next meeting. The draft report
on measures to protect the interests of consumers of telecom services alongwith response
by PTA is given at Annex-A. The following recommendations on the report were also
discussed, which can be considered for implementation by members of SATRC in their
respective countries:
To issue regulations specifying the complaint redressal procedure. These
regulations should mandate the service providers to establish a Complaint
Centre with a toll free Consumer Care Number, for redressing the
complaints of their consumers at no cost.
For accessing the service provider for either booking a complaint or making a
service request, consumers could be able to access the Complaint Centre
through any other service provider. This is mainly required when there is
disruption or disconnection of service by the parent service provider. The
regulations should accordingly mandate the provision of an alternate number
for the Consumer Care Number which can be accessed from any other
network.
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The regulations could mandate that advertisement about the Complaint Centre
and Appellate Authority may be published every six months in the newspaper
and also such information should be given through website, telephone bills,
vouchers, complaint centres, sales office and through pre-configuration or
over the air transfer in the SIM.
A Web Based Complaint Monitoring System could be established to enable
the consumers to monitor the status of their complaints. The Web based
system is technically feasible also. Accordingly, the regulations should
mandate the service providers to implement the web-based complaint system.
There could be an effective body for redressal of grievances of consumers,
which should also have representatives from consumer organizations to give
importance to the opinions, views and welfare of the consumers. There could
be a two-tier complaint redressal system for enhanced efficiency.
The regulations could provide for a Citizens Charter. Keeping the interest of
the consumer, the telecom regulator can prescribe detailed guidelines,
regarding material to be published in the Citizens Charter. The Citizens
Charter can provide details about General Information Number, Consumer
Care Number, right of consumers under the different regulations, orders and
directions issued by the telecom regulator, in particular those relating to
Tariff, Mobile Number Portability, Telecom Commercial Communications
Customer Preference and Value Added Services.
The regulator should maintain a comprehensive database of the complaints
registered by the subscribers of various service providers. This trend of the
data should be then analysed to figure out the most reccurring problem being
faced by the customers, so that accordingly modifications could be done in
the existing regulations, awareness programs and other consumer
empowerment measures.
The regulators could issue regulations specifying the Quality of Service
(QoS) standards, keeping in view the performance of service providers
against the QoS standards, the international standards on QoS and utility of
the laid down QoS parameters.
There is a need to define each QoS parameter extensively and also to explain
the measurement methodology for each parameter so that uniform practice is
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adopted by all the service providers for measuring, recording and auditing of
such performance parameters.
To ensure network availability, following parameters, with adequate
benchmarks, could be prescribed in the regulations for cellular mobile
telephone service:
o BTSs accumulated downtime (not available for service)
o Percentage of worst affected BTSs due to downtime
o For determining the accessibility there are three important parameters
to be monitored, as mentioned below:
o Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR),
o Standalone Dedicated Control Channel (SDCCH)/ Paging Channel
Congestion
o Traffic Channel (TCH) Congestion
o For determining the Connection maintenance (Retainability), there are
three important parameters to be monitored, as mentioned below:
o Call Drop Rate
o Worst affected cells having more than 3% TCH drops (call drop rate)
o Connections with good Voice Quality
To determine the effectiveness of the interconnection between two networks,
Point of Interconnection (POI) Congestion parameter, with adequate
benchmarks, could be prescribed. This parameter signifies the ease by which
a customer of one network would be able to communicate to the customer of
another network.
Customer satisfaction is the major determining factor in the emergence of
new services, setting standards and designing of networks. Therefore, the
customer requirements and expectations should be been given paramount
considerations while defining the Quality of service standards.
The regulator could conduct customer satisfaction surveys to assess the
customer perception of service against the laid down quality of service
benchmarks. These parameters, with benchmark in bracket, can include
following:
o % satisfied with the provision of service ( 90 %)
o % satisfied with the billing performance ( 95 %)
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o % satisfied with network performance, reliability and availability (
95 %)
o % satisfied with maintainability ( 95 %)
o % satisfied with offered supplementary services ( 90 %)
o % satisfied with help services including customer grievance redressal
(90 %)
o % satisfied with overall service quality ( 90 %)
The results of the survey on customer perception of service may be made
public by the regulator for the information of the customers to generate
healthy competition amongst service providers to improve service.
The regulator could mandate reporting of performance against quality of
service benchmarks through quarterly Performance Monitoring Reports
(PMR) and monthly POI congestion reports.
The regulator should audit/ inspect, either directly or through an agency
appointed by it, the records/ measurement relating to each quality of service
parameter. This should ideally also include live testing through drive tests
(both operator assisted and independent).The regulator could also require the
service provider to get the report submitted to the regulator, audited at its own
cost through independent and qualified agency.
Since, the customers generally refer the website of its service provider for
new tariff plan offer etc., it is more appropriate if the information relating to
quality of service is also published on the website of each service provider.
Hence, the regulations could provide for publication of information relating to
quality of service by each service provider on their website.
The users need to have information on delivered performances of various
service providers so that they can make also informed choice about the
service providers, based on quality of service performance.
Non-compliance with the Quality of Service standards laid down by regulator
amounts to violation of the Quality of Service Regulations. For such violation
of the regulations, one of the options for the regulator is to take penal action
against the service provider. By imposing penalty for violation of its
direction/order/regulation, it is seen that the process takes considerable time
and during this process the consumer gets no relief. A delayed action against
the service provider is as good as ineffective and the customer is the main
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sufferer of poor quality of service. The regulator could provide specific
monetary compensation to subscribers such as rent rebate in the case of
delayed repair of faults, interest on delayed payment of security deposit.
However, a combination of financial disincentive and penalty could act as a
deterrent against poor Quality of Service. There should be a specific amount
of financial disincentive defined for both the cases as mentioned below:
o failure to meet defined benchmarks for QoS parameters
o failure to submit the QoS compliance report on defined time
o furnishing false QoS compliance report to the regulator
4.3 Work item on Emerging Licensing Framework including exit and relicensing policy
was discussed by the experts of the working group who shared the combined responses
received from all members. It was agreed to finalize the draft report and will be shared in
next meeting. The document on combined responses on the work item on Emerging
Licensing Framework including exit and relicensing policy having response by PTA is
given at Annex-B
4.4 The remaining two work items, i.e. International Connectivity for the Provision of
Providing Broadband Services and Policy, Regulatory and Technical Aspect of OTT
Services in SATRC Countries were also discussed. The lead experts on the work items
informed about the progress on each item and it was agreed that the draft reports will be
completed and presented before the next meeting of the working group. Responses on
the questionnaires on these work items from Pakistan have already been submitted as
shown in section 3.4.2 and 3.4.4.
4.5 Pakistan Proposals on New Work Items for Future
4.5.1 During the meeting, proposal on new work item for future work was
proposed on Regulatory Framework On Data Sharing For Big Data
Analytics For The Benefit Of The Countries. Big Data is becoming
an increasingly important part of every aspect of a service providers
operations. The drive for efficiency gains, coupled with the need to
personalize customers' experiences, is driving new installations. Big Data
is dependent not only on increased computing power and software to deal
with the exponentially growing size of data; it is also dependent on high
bandwidth communications. Key benefits of big data over traditional data
warehousing technologies, include:
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Optimizing routing and quality of service by analyzing network traffic
in real time
Analyzing call data records in real time to identify fraudulent behavior
immediately, data analytics on user behavior, movement/location
based information sharing.
Allowing call center reps to flexibly and profitably modify subscriber
calling plans immediately
Tailoring marketing campaigns to individual customers using
location-based and social networking technologies
Using insights into customer behavior and usage to develop new
products and services
Despite the benefits of using big data analytics, there remains a threat
to the regulatory framework especially on sharing of customer data.
As per license conditions and obligations on the licensees, the sharing
of subscriber data is a sensitive w.r.t security. There is a need to
examine how operators can share customer data and to what extent so
that national security is not compromised.
Scope of this work item shall include the following:-
Examine the current regulatory framework for data sharing of
subscribers in SATRC member countries.
Examine regulatory challenges and identify what paramteres can
be shared for big data analytics which could be beneficial for
benefit of the country.
Recommend best regulatory practices for future in order to
maximize the use of big data for the socio economic benefit of the
countries.
4.5.2 Another proposal was also made on Regulatory Framework for Mobile
Virtual Network Operators (MVNO). A mobile Virtual Network Operator
(VNO) is an operator that offers mobile services but does not own its own
radio frequency. Usually, this operator has its own network code and in
many cases issues its own SIM card. The mobile VNO can be a mobile
service provider or a value-added service provider. It is to be noted that
there are differing views on how to define a mobile VNO. Moreover,
most countries have yet to adopt a formal position with respect to mobile
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VNOs. Mobile operators with spectrum licenses are often reluctant to
share spectrum with other service providers. Regulators need to look at
the issue of whether (and to what extent) intervention is necessary. If
regulators intervene, they may have to set rates and conditions for access,
while taking into account the effect on spectrum availability, entry into
licensing framework, licence fees and investment.
Scope of this work item shall include the following:-

Examine the current regulatory framework for MVNO in SATRC
member countries.
Examine and identify rregulatory challenges towards MVNO
operations and licensing framework.
Recommend best regulatory practices for SATRC member
countries.
5. Conclusions & Way Forward
During conclusion of the working group meeting, two proposals on new work items
on MVNO and Big Data for future were also presented by PTA. The proposed work
items shall be considered by the APT/SATRC administration and if approved,
working shall begin in the future working groups.
It was also agreed to finalize all the reports by assigned rapporteurs before the next
meeting of the working group as and when finalized by the APT.
It was jointly agreed to increase cooperation between members of the working group
in order to work effectively and propose better recommendations for the APT
member states.
Page 39 of 133
Annexures
Page 40 of 133
ANNEX-A
PAKISTAN INPUT
WORKING GROUP POLICY, REGULATION AND SERVICES
DRAFT REPORT ON
MEASURES TO PROTECT INTERESTS OF CONSUMERS OF TELECOM

SERVICES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER-I:
INTRODUCTION................................................................... 4
A. General..................................................................................................
.. 4
B. Domains of Consumer protection regulations. 5
C. Overview of the
report............................................................................ 6
CHAPTER-II: COMPLAINT REDRESSAL...............................................
8
A. Overview................................................................................................
. 8
B. Analysis of responses from SATRC countries........................................
9
C. International
practices............................................................................. 18
United Kingdom....................................................................................
18
Malaysia................................................................................................
.. 19
Australia................................................................................................
. 21
D. Recommendations.................................................................................
. 24
CHAPTER-III: QUALITY OF
SERVICE.................................................... 27
A. Overview................................................................................................
. 27
B. Analysis of responses from SATRC countries........................................
28
C. International
practices.............................................................................. 31
United
Kingdom..................................................................................... 31
Singapore..............................................................................................
... 33
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Malaysia................................................................................................
.. 34
... 36
CHAPTER-IV: BILLING
ACCURACY....................................................... 40
A. Overview................................................................................................
.. 40
B. Analysis of responses from SATRC countries.........................................
40
C. International
practices............................................................................... 42
United
Kingdom...................................................................................... 42
Australia................................................................................................
... 45
Hong
Kong............................................................................................... 48
.... 51
CHAPTER-V: MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY...................................
56
A. Overview................................................................................................
... 56
B. Analysis of responses from SATRC
countries.......................................... 57
C. International
practices............................................................................... 61
Malaysia................................................................................................
... 61
United
States............................................................................................ 63
Hong
Kong.............................................................................................. 65
... 68
CHAPTER-VI: CURBING UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL CALLS.... 72
A. Overview................................................................................................
.. 72
B. Analysis of responses from SATRC countries.........................................
73
C. International
practices.............................................................................. 76
United
States........................................................................................... 76
Australia................................................................................................
.. 77
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United
Kingdom..................................................................................... 79
... 81
Conclusion...........................................................................................
... 84
Annexure -
1........................................................................................... 85
CHAPTER-I: INTRODUCTION
A. General
The world today is witnessing rapid development and change in communication technology. Various
innovations have enabled communication and human interaction to be faster, more rapid and able to
transcend the limits of time and space. On this basis, the communication technology has now become a
basic necessity in managing daily activities of individuals. Orderly growth of the telecom sector is a
priority for all nations, since telecom growth can stimulate economic growth in the country.
The telecom regulator is a statutory body in a country that strives to set in place a robust, fair and
transparent regulatory regime to ensure and promote orderly growth of the telecom sector. It should be its
endeavor to provide an environment, which is fair and transparent, encourages competition, promotes a
level-playing field for all service providers, protects the interest of consumers and enables technological
benefits to one and all. Integral to the objectives of the telecom regulator is to have measures in place to
ensure that telecom service providers deliver quality services to the consumer at reasonable prices and
assure greater choice and availability of services to consumers.
A telecom regulators principal duty is to further the interests of citizens and consumers through a
regulatory regime which, where appropriate, encourages competition. The competitive nature of the
telecommunications markets means that Service Providers (SPs) are likely to be receptive to the needs of
their consumers and have strong commercial pressures to ensure that consumers are satisfied with the
service they receive. However, competition alone may not always deliver appropriate results and
consumers may need protection from inappropriate and unacceptable behavior by certain market players
that may undermine confidence of the consumers in the market as well as cause individual detriment.
Consumers are vital stakeholders in the telecom industry. Therefore, effective consumer protection in the
telecommunications sector is a key element to avoid additional impediments to sector growth and to
unleash the full potential of telecommunications infrastructure and services as a tool of economic growth
and development.
B. Domains of Consumer protection regulations

Ideal regulations should define legitimate consumer rights and interests, which include but are not limited
to following domains:
Complaint redressal: Complaints handling procedures that specifically encourage consumers to first seek
redress with service providers can be successful and increase service providers awareness of consumer
needs, rights and responsibilities. The consumers not only have the right to complain, but more
importantly, have the right to seek a remedy whenever their rights have been infringed.
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Empowering consumers: Proactive behaviour of telecom regulator in promoting, informing, encouraging
and raising awareness of stakeholders about various telecom related issues leads to consumer
empowerment. It is important to recognize the need to protect and educate consumers with different
access needs who may be particularly vulnerable to deceptive commercial practices or have difficulties in
fully understanding the terms and conditions of service (e.g., the illiterate, the disabled, children and
youth). In addition, a bottom-up approach targeted at citizens through the involvement of schools,
community centers and NGOs, notably through social media, greatly contributes to raising consumer
awareness. Stakeholders groups can also be created including consumer representatives, as a platform
that allows for consumer participation in decision making and policy development. This will bring
consumers voices to the table in a framework of ongoing dialogue.
Protection of consumer interest is a critical element in all the decisions taken by the telecom regulator. To
ensure proper consumer participation, a telecom regulator usually offers all consumers a say in all its
consultations for regulations and policy making. This process may involve publishing of all documents
and information on the web-site of the telecom regulator; all Open House Discussions (OHDs) being
open for public participation and recommendations taking consumer interests into consideration.
The consumers right to information: Regulators need to ensure that all service providers make
available timely and accurate information about their services and products in a clear, transparent and
comparable manner that is conducive to rational decision making. Consumers should thus be able to
understand the nature of the services, including prices and how they are calculated, and the quality of
service provided, in addition to their own rights and responsibilities. All regulations related to consumers
right to information should be regularly and consistently updated allowing it to be practical and
enforceable.
Ability to switch service provider: The ability and willingness of consumers to switch from one service
provider to another is of critical importance. It is by switching that consumers punish poor performance.
The ability of consumers to switch between service providers easily and at low cost, encourages
providers to cater to customer requirements or risk losing them to the competition. High search and
switching costs deter consumers from switching. Number portability lowers the cost of switching by
allowing telephone users to keep their number when changing telephone service providers.
C. Overview of the report

There are a plethora of domains in which regulations can be issued by a telecom regulator for customer-
centric issues. To have in-depth analysis of the imperative regulations required for consumer protection,
we have limited our study to the following five major areas:
i. Complaint redressal
ii. Quality of Service
iii. Billing Accuracy
iv. Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
v. Curbing Unwanted Commercial Communications (UCC)
In order to carry out the study, a questionnaire was prepared and circulated to all expert members of the
SATRC countries for their inputs. The questionnaire is placed as Annexure-I to this report. An analysis of
various regulations and provisions in the above mentioned areas has been carried based on the inputs
received from the experts of the following SATRC countries:
i. Afghanistan
ii. Bangladesh
iii. Bhutan
iv. India
v. Iran
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vi. Maldives
vii. Nepal
viii. Pakistan
ix. Sri Lanka
The objective of this report is to study the consumer protection mechanisms already in place in the
SATRC region and to assess the gaps as well as to study the internationally prevalent consumer
protection measures being laid by the telecom regulators across the globe. After studying them, certain
suggestions are proposed, which can be adopted by the SATRC countries to have a well defined,
systematic and effective consumer protection system to safeguard the interests of the consumers in the
telecom sector in their countries.
CHAPTER-II: COMPLAINT REDRESSAL
A. Overview
A regulator takes several measures to protect the interest of consumers, to facilitate availability of
telecom services at affordable price and to ensure Quality of Service is provided by telecom service
providers. Notwithstanding this, consumers continue to have concerns and issues with regard to the
telecom services received by them. Consumer complaints play a valuable role in helping regulators to
identify those areas where current legislation/regulation may be lacking and where best to target
interventions. Given the large base of telecom consumers in any country, the number of complaints
would be large even if the percentage of dissatisfied consumers is low.
The customer service and customer relationship management is an important way in which the Service
Providers can distinguish themselves and compete for customers. However, it is the responsibility of the
regulator to make sure that when consumers are dissatisfied, they are able to make a complaint with ease
and can be assured that their service provider will have processes in place to receive and handle their
complaint.
Effective complaint handling procedures are an important aspect of ensuring that individual citizens and
consumers are appropriately protected and empowered in their dealings with the Service Provider. If a
complaint is handled badly, an individual consumer may suffer emotional and financial harm beyond
what may have been caused by the initial problem that prompted the complaint. Effective redressal of
consumer complaints is therefore of prime importance. The effort in this regard is a continuous process
and requires to be reviewed from time to time to improve the effectiveness of complaint redressal. There
should be a framework for satisfactory redressal of consumer grievances through establishment of an
effective multi-tier redressal mechanism. While considering regulatory intervention in this area, care
should be taken to balance the importance of regulation for consumer protection against the detrimental
impact that regulation may have on efficient, effective and innovative customer service which benefits
all consumers.
Access to a fair and transparent complaint process is an essential part of an effective consumer protection
framework. The complaint redressal mechanism can be successful if there is high awareness among the
consumers about the said mechanism along with the information relating to where and how to lodge
grievances, the officials of the service providers to be approached for redressal of grievance and the time
period by which the grievance will be effectively resolved.
B. Analysis of responses from SATRC countries

In countries like India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, there are Telecom Consumers
Complaint Redressal Regulations, in place, which deal with the framework for handling of consumer
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complaints, service request and provision of information to consumers by service providers. In Maldives,
according to Telecommunications Regulations 2003, a licensee must adequately address customer
complaints. The Authority may by license condition or direction require a licensee to prepare a customer
charter which sets out procedures for the handling of customer complaints and dispute. In Iran, there are
no such regulations in place, but there are departments for consumers complaints and also a call center
for registering consumer complaints and following them.
Establishment of Complaint Centre

In most SATRC countries like India, Pakistan, Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and
Afghanistan, TSPs have their Complaint Centre which operates on all days of the week. In Iran, the
Complaint Centre operates on working days only. These complaint centers can be accessed through a
Consumer Care Number, which is toll free except in Bangladesh, where it is not toll free. In all these
countries, except in Sri Lanka and Nepal, in case consumers telephone/ mobile is faulty, the consumer
can use a connection from any other service provider to contact the Complaint Centre. The consumer
may opt to speak in English or in the local language.

In Afghanistan and Iran, there are no specified time limits for resolution of complaints. The time limits
for resolution of different types of complaints for various SATRC countries are mentioned in the tables
below:
iii. Basic Telephone Service (wireline):
S.No QoS Parameter India Pakistan Maldiv Bhutan Nepal Banglade

. es sh
1 Provision of 100% in Within 7 7 100 % Dependin Within 20-
Telephone 7 days days working cases in g upon 30 days
(subject days less than the
to 7 days, availabili
technical provided ty of
feasibilit technical point, it
y) ly normally
feasible takes one
week
2 Fault Repair For Termed as 48 Hrs 90 % Within Maximu
urban Fault within 36 m of 7
PTA Comment:- areas: clearance next working days
Fault repair and
billing error By next ratio:- working hours for rural
clearances are as working Within day and and for
per license day: 24hr: 95% 100 % hilly
conditions/whereas 85% and Within within 3 areas a
the remaining are
as per operators
within 48hrs: days Maximum
own policies. The five 100% 15 days
general time taken days: (Regulator
for each item has 100%. y)
been given.
For
rural
and hilly
areas:
By next
working
Page 46 of 133
day:
75% and
within 7
days:
100%.
3 Shift of Telephone 3 days Within 7 7 Within Dependin Maximum
Connection (95% of working working 24 hours g upon 7 days
requests days. days after the
to be receive availabili
attended of ty of
within 3 applicati point, it
days) on normally
takes two
days
4 Termination/ Closure 7 days Within 7 Within 1 Within Within 7
of service working hour one days
days after working
receive day
of
applicati
on
5 Resolution of billing/ 98% 90%: 10days Within Normally -
charging complaints within 24hrs 24 hours within
four 95%: one
weeks 48hrs, working
and 99%: 72 day
100% hrs,
within 100%
six within 7
weeks days
(Regulator
y)
6 Period of applying within 1 Within 1 Three Normally Within
credit/waiver/adjustm week of week months within one week
ent resolutio one of
n of month of resolution
complain billing of the
t cycle complaint
7 Time taken for 100% Within Within 24 hours Normally Maximum
refund of deposits within one month 45 days within 7-10 days.
after closure 60 days of billing one
cycle/or month of
next billing
billing cycle
cycle.
iv. Cellular Mobile Telephone Service:
S.No Service Parameter India Pakista Maldive Bhuta Nepal Banglades

. n s n h
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1 Resolution of billing/ 98% 98% in 10 days 24 Normall 24 Hours
charging complaints within 24hrs hours y within
four 100% in a day
PTA comment:- weeks 48 hrs.
The resolution of and
billin/charging 100%
complaints is covered
in cellular licenses, within
and the rest of items six
are as per operator weeks
own policies.
2 Period of applying within 1 Within Next bill 24 Normall Within one

credit/waiver/adjustmen week of one run hours y within week of
t to customers account resolutio month couple resolution
from the date of n of of of days of the
resolution of complaints complain billing complaint
t cycle/or
next
billing
cycle.
3 Termination/ Closure of 7 days Within 1 hour Normall Within 7
service 24hrs y within days
two days
4 Time taken for refund 100% Within 45 days 24 Normall Maximum
of deposits after closure within 60 one hours y within 7-10 days.
days month a week
of
billing
cycle/or
next
billing
cycle.
v. Broadband Service:
PTA Comment:
A separate license for broadband is not issued, the broadband service is being provided by basic
telephone service provider or local loop licensees, conditions remain the same in both cases for
broadband services.
S.No. Service India Pakistan Maldives Bhutan Nepal Banglade

Parameter
1 Service 100% cases in 15 Within 7 7 days 1 Hour Normally Less than 7
Provisioning / working days days. within a week (subject
Activation (subject to technical technical
Time feasibility). feasibility)
2 Fault By next working Termed as 48 Hrs 24 hours Normally within 3 days
Repair / day: > 90% and Fault within two
Restoration within 3 working clearance working days
Time days: 99% ratio:-
Within
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24hr:
95%
Within
48hrs:
100%
(Regulato
ry)
3 Billing a) 100% within 4 90%: Time a) 90 % a. almost 99% Resolution
Performance weeks 24hrs Limit for within b. normally billing compl
(a) b) 100% within 60 95%: redressal 48 hours within within 2 week
Percentage of days 48hrs, of b) 1 hour three
Billing 99%: 72 complaint: working
Complaints hrs, 10 days days
resolved. (b) 100%
within 7
days
Time taken (Regulato
for refund of ry)
deposits after
closure Within
one month
of billing
cycle/or
next
billing
cycle.
In case of Pakistan, the time limits prescribed for the resolution of different types of complaints are as
follows:
a. Response to Assistance Requested. The response to the requested assistance should be available
98% of the time. Complaint shall be recorded within 2 minutes. The response to Requested
Assistance shall be as follows:-
95% of the complaints, not related to billing or service provisioning, shall be solved within 24 hrs.
b. Billing Complaints. The resolution time for billing complaint shall be as follows:-
100% of the billing complaints shall be resolved within 7 working days.
c. Service Provisioning Complaints. The resolution time for service provisioning complaints shall be
as follows (Provided that these, are for regions from within the announced coverage area, does not
involve ROW issues not within the control of the service provider, are not created as a result of
devastating natural or man-made calamities):-
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In all SATRC countries, except Bhutan and Bangladesh, the Complaint Centre communicates the unique
docket number along with date and time of registration and the time limit for resolution of the complaint.
In Bangladesh, the Complaint Centre communicates only the unique docket number while registering the
complaint and does not provide the time of resolution of complaint. In India, Pakistan, Maldives and
Nepal, on completion of action on a complaint, the consumer is informed of the action taken. In Nepal
and Afghanistan, time for which the details of the complaint remain in the system, against each docket
number, depends on the live time of complaint. In Pakistan, this time period may be between 6 months
upto a year, depending on severity of the complaint. Whereas in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Maldives,
it is fixed at three months, one week, three months and six months respectively.
Handling of queries
In all SATRC countries a General Information Number is established by all the service providers if in
case a consumer needs certain information from the service provider.

In India, the Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) at the Consumer Care Number should operate
in the following manner:
i. the first level of the IVRS provides for language selection;
ii. the second level of the IVRS provides for options relating to the broad categories of complaints
and service requests;
iii. the third level of the IVRS provides for a sub-menu under complaints and service requests, with the
option to speak to a consumer care agent.
In Bangladesh, the first two steps of the IVRS system are similar to those of India and at the third step,
the customer speaks to the consumer care agent.
In Pakistan, also the IVRS at the Consumer Care Number operate in the prescribed multi step
manner. These steps are: 1 ST step: Language selection, 2nd step is IVR instructions/Menu, 3 rd step
technical assistance. Usually by 2nd Step, after language selection step, consumers can dial 0 or
1 in some case to talk to a representative.
In Bhutan, the Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) at the Consumer Care Number operate in the
prescribed multi step manner. 1 st step: language selection option, 2 nd step: Service selection 3rd step:
problem selection 4th step: promotions 5th step: general information 6th step: speak to operator.
In Nepal and Iran, the Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) at the Consumer Care Number
normally operates in a multi step manner but not in prescribed steps.
In Afghanistan, the Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) at the Consumer Care Number operate
in a multi step manner i.e. 1 ST step is language selection option, 2 nd step is IVR instructions 3rd step
promotions, 4th step technical assistance 5 th step general information and so on. The steps in the IVRS
system in which a consumer gets to speak to a customer care executive differs from operator to operator
(2 to 5 steps).
In Maldives, the consumer gets to speak to a customer care executive in the IVRS system in 2 steps.

Where a consumer is not satisfied with the redressal of his complaint by the Complaint Centre, or his
complaint remains unaddressed or no intimation of redressal of the complaint is received within the
period specified in regulation, such consumer may prefer an appeal to the Appellate Authority for
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redressal of his complaint in India, Iran and Bhutan. In Nepal, a consumer can approach NTA for the
redressal of complaint, and further, the Appellate Authority can be approached if he is not satisfied with
NTA's decision.
In Pakistan, Maldives, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, there is no Appellate Authority except the
telecom regulator, which can be approached by a consumer for the redressal of complaint, if he is not
satisfied with the actions of the service provider.
In SATRC countries where a separate Appellate Authority is present, the following observations are
made:
The contact details of the Appellate Authority are available on the web site of the service providers
and their sales outlets. In India, these are also available in the start-up kit.
There is no fee or charge for filing an appeal except in Nepal, where a fee is charged but the
amount of fee for filing an appeal is not fixed as it is calculated based on the case and penalty.
Different means through which the appeal can be filed is as mentioned in the table below:
Means of filing appeal India Bhutan Nepal Iran
E-mail
Fax
Post
In person
Customer care number - -
In India and Iran, the consumer may file the appeal to the Appellate Authority within thirty days
after expiry of time limit prescribed for redressal of complaint. In Nepal, appeal can be filed within
35 days of the decision made for a case. In Bhutan, there is no such prescribed time limit.
In the countries mentioned in paragraph above, an appellant can appear in person to present his
case before the Appellate Authority.
In India, there is also an Advisory Committee to the Appellate authority of the service provider in
every service area. It has two representatives one from the service provider and the other from
the registered Consumer Advocacy Group (CAG) registered with TRAI. The Advisory Committee
has to give its advice on every appeal to the Appellate Authority for its consideration. In Iran,
whether the Advisory Committee will be present or not, depends on the operator.
In India, the secretariat of the Appellate Authority has to register an appeal immediately on receipt
by assigning a unique appeal number. In Nepal, the case number gets registered in their filing
system and website. In Bhutan, no such unique appeal number is assigned.In Iran, some operators
have this number.
In Bhutan, the consumer is informed formally through official letter about the acknowledgement of
the appeal. In India, the secretariat of the Appellate Authority has to acknowledge the appeal,
within three days of its receipt, by sending the unique appeal number through SMS or e-mail to the
consumer. In Nepal and Iran, no such communication of acknowledgement is given to the
consumer.
A copy of the appeal is forwarded to the service provider concerned for filing a reply. In Nepal, the
service provider can file a reply within 35 days, in India this time limit is 7 days and in Bhutan,
there is no such time limit.
In India, the secretariat of the Appellate Authority has to place before the Advisory Committee for
its consideration the reply of the service provider along with the appeal, within two days of receipt
of reply from the service provider. The Advisory Committee has to render its advice on every
appeal placed before it within fifteen days. The secretariat has to place the advice of the Advisory
Committee before the Appellate Authority, within two days of receipt from the Committee.
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In India and Bhutan, the secretariat of the Appellate Authority has to intimate the decision on the
appeal to the appellant and the service provider whereas in Nepal it is the responsibility of Under
Secretary in Ministry of Information and Communication.

In India and Bangladesh, the telecom consumers complaint redressal regulations require setting up of a
Web based complaint monitoring system by the service provider through which the consumers can track
their complaints.
In India, TRAI has launched the Telecom Consumers Complaint Monitoring System (TCCMS) portal
www.tccms.gov.in to facilitate the telecom consumers
in locating the Consumer Care Number, General Information Number and contact details of
the complaint centre and Appellate Authority of their service provider.
in accessing the website of their service providers complaint monitoring portal to track the current
status of their complaints or appeals lodged with their service provider complaint centre or
Appellate Authority.
In Iran, there is a web based complaint center that is managed by the regulator. There is also a short code
for filing a complaint.
In Nepal, Telecom Consumers Complaint Monitoring is done manually to help the customer in
processing their complaints.

In India, the service providers are required to publish a Telecom Consumers Charter in Hindi, English
and the local language of the service area. It must have the following information:
l. terms and conditions of service
m. Information about complaint redressal mechanism, complaint redressal procedure
n. Different time frames specified by the authority for various complaints under QoS regulations
o. QoS parameters specified by the authority in respect of each of the service
p. Quality of service promised by the service providers
q. Consumer care number
r. General information number
s. procedure for termination or disconnection of each service offered by the service provider
t. Right of the consumers under different regulations, orders issued by the Authority
u. Duties and obligations of service providers under different regulations, orders and directions issued
by the Authority
In India, the Start-up Kit, which a mobile customer gets at the time of his enrolment, contains an
abridged version of the Telecom Consumers Charter.
In Pakistan, Standard Contract of Service (SCS) and code of commercial practice (CCP) exists, which
covers majority of above points. Each operator is required to approve their SCS and CCP within 1
year of issuance of their licenses. Also, the Start-up Kit contains the salient feature of telecom
regulations.
In Pakistan, PTA has issued Telecom consumer Protection Regulations 2009 wherein, detailed
mechanism for handling consumer complaint has been provided. Regulation 11, of the said
regulations, specified nature of complaints, like, misuse of service, Quality of Service, Poor Service
etc. At first stance, complaints are required to be filed with the concerned operator.
Time frame for redressal of consumer grievances by the operator: 3 working days.
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In case of non satisfactory redressal of the complaint, or non response, the matter can be referred to
the Authority, which will be decided by the Authority in accordance with applicable procedures
(please see Regulation 15 of the consumer protection regulations).
In addition, PTA also promulgated regulations namely, Protection from Spam, Unsolicited, Fradulent
and Obnoxious Regulations 2009, with the purpose to ensure and protect the interests of telecom
consumers by preventing them from Spam, Fraudulent, Unsolicited and Obnoxious communications.
Under these regulations, various SOPs have been issued, including complaint handling procedure
(please see Regulation 4, 5, 6, 10 and 11 of the said regulations.
For the purpose of proper documentation and issuance of SIMs, Subscriber Antecedents Verification
Regulations, 2015 have also been promulgated.
In Pakistan, there are consumer laws for each province and the consumers including telecom users
may also file case before the consumer courts on various issues with regard to seeking damages,
compensations etc.
Moreover, consumers may also approach Ombudsman (Wafaqi Mohtasib) with regard to non
implementation of regulations in true letter and spirit.
In Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, service providers are not required to publish a
specific Telecom Consumers Charter. In Iran, publishing telecom charter is under the control of operator.

In most SATRC countries like India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan,
the service providers publish the following information on their web site:
v. Customer Care Number
vi. General Information Number
In Iran these information is published in local language and it is optional for the service provider to make
the same information available on the website. Besides, these, in India and Bangladesh, the service
providers publish the procedure for monitoring of complaints on the web based complaint monitoring
system. In addition to this, in India, the contact details of the Appellate Authority are also published.
The service providers are required to publish this information, in both English and local language in
leading newspapers with varying frequencies in different countries, as mentioned in the table below:
Country wise frequency of publishing this information
S.No. Country Frequency

1. India Once in every six months
2. Pakistan At beginning of operation or launching services and routine

updating
3. Bhutan There is no requirement by rules
4. Bangladesh No fixed time period
5. Nepal As and when required
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6. Afghanistan At the beginning of operation or launching services
7. Sri Lanka -
There is no publication of such information in newspapers and website, by the service providers, in
Maldives.
C. International Practices
United Kingdom
1
Section 52 of the Communications Act 2003 places a duty on Ofcom to set general conditions to ensure
that communications providers establish and maintain procedures to, amongst other things, handle
complaints and resolve disputes between them and their domestic and small business customers. General
Condition 14 (GC14) is the relevant condition for complaint handling and dispute resolution. Under
GC14.4 communications providers must have and comply with procedures that conform to the Ofcom
Approved Code of Practice for Complaints Handling when handling complaints made by domestic and
small business customers. Under General Condition 14.5 providers are obliged to implement and comply
with a dispute resolution scheme ('ADR'). There are penalties for non-compliance with General
Condition 14. Under Section 96 of the Act, Ofcom may impose a penalty of up to ten per cent of turnover
for failure to comply with a formal notification within the time period specified.
2
The Ofcom Approved Code of Practice for Complaints Handling (the Ofcom Code) sets out the
minimum standards that Ofcom has set for Communications Providers (CPs) in the handling of
Complaints made by Domestic and Small Business Customers about the provision of Public Electronic
Communications Services. According to it, a CP must have complaints handling procedures that are
transparent, accessible, effective, facilitate appropriate access to Alternative Dispute Resolution and
retain appropriate records of contact with Complainants.
Ofcom works to ensure everyone gets the very best from their communications and their role is to look at
how issues affect UK consumers as a whole. They dont handle individual complaints.
For Problems including:

additional charges
charges for leaving your contract early
call costs
price of other services
disputed bill items
refunds no price list
credit limits/allowances
stolen mobile phone/ dongle
Consumers can follow these steps:

Contact their providers customer services department and explain the problem.
1http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/telecoms/ga-scheme/general-conditions/customer-code-
practice/
2http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/telecoms/ga/complaints-handling-code.pdf
Page 54 of 133
If this doesnt resolve the issue, consumer can make a formal complaint to the company. The details
of how to do this can be found on the back of the bill, on their website or from the customer
services.
If their provider is unable to resolve the complaint, consumer may ask for a deadlock letter. This
enables the consumer to take the complaint to an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme.
ADRs act as an independent mediator and will examine the case from both sides and reach a decision
they think fair. If eight weeks have passed since you first formally complained you can contact the ADR
directly. There are two ADR schemes - Ombudsman Services: Communications, and the
Communications and Internet Services Adjudication Scheme (CISAS). All service providers in UK must
belong to one of the schemes. The service provider will tell the consumer which scheme it is a member
of, or consumer can use OFCOMs ADR checker.
Malaysia
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) although not directly involved
in the handling, but has responsibility for ensuring consumer complaints are dealt with fairly and
effectively. The complaints relate to all aspects of communications and multimedia services,
telecommunications, broadcast, Internet services, postal and courier services, and digital certification.
3
In Malaysias Consumer Complaints Handling Process, the first stage of complaint made to the service
provider enables the latter to solve issues first hand. However, should the complaint to the service
provider not be resolved or dealt with in a satisfactory manner, the consumer may proceed to the relevant
Industry Forum, namely Communications and Multimedia Consumer Forum of Malaysia (CFM) or
Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia (CMCF). If the complaint still cannot be
resolved, then MCMC is the next platform.
Malaysian Consumer Complaints Bureau: Complaints Handling Process
The CFM works on the basis of self-regulation with participation and representatives from consumer
associations, service providers and other interested parties. The CFM is a designated Industry Forum in
3http://www.skmm.gov.my/skmmgovmy/media/General/pdf/IPR2014_English.pdf
Page 55 of 133
line with the requirements of the CMA. Since 2001, the CFM provides platform for resolution of
complaints, disputes and grievances in relation to consumers C&M matters. The year 2013 marked a
milestone for CFM with the official launching of their consumerinfo.my portal (www.consumerinfo.my).
This portal is part of the CFM initiatives to reach out to consumers through new media platforms. Aside
from this, CFM is also promoting their awareness campaign on Facebook and Twitter.
In an effort to create greater visibility to all Malaysians, CFM has actively participated in various
consumer engagement and awareness events. CFM publications such as consumer handbook and other
consumer awareness collaterals were distributed during these various events to encourage empowerment
of consumers with knowledge of their C&M rights.
Figure below charts the trend of types of complaint received by MCMC over the last three years.
Australia
4
The service provider must make details of its complaints-handling process available in a readily
accessible position on its website. The information should be clear. If someone who does not have access
to the internet, can ask for a copy of the complaints-handling process, which must be made available free
of charge. Details of the service providers complaints-handling process must be available in appropriate
different formats to ensure that it meets the needs if you consumer has a disability, is from a non-English
speaking background and/or is suffering hardship. The service providers complaints-handling process
needs to be developed with regard to the Australian Standard on Complaint Handling.
4http://www.acma.gov.au/Citizen/Take-action/Complaints/Telco-complaints/phone-service-
complaints
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To make a complaint, the consumer should contact its service provider in the first instance. A person can
complain to a service provider if he is a current or former customer. If he remains dissatisfied after
dealing with its service provider, he can contact the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO).
The TIO is an office of last resortto be involved once all other avenues for dispute resolution have
been explored. The TIO provides independent, just, informal and speedy resolution of telephone
complaints and disputes. Its service is free to consumers.
The complaint can be made by letter, over the telephone, by fax, online at a website or by email. It
doesnt have to be written. If the service provider has retail operations, the consumer can complain to a
person in the store. Complaining to the service provider is free of charge except in some limited
circumstances. These include:
1. if the consumer request access to information that is over two years old
2. if the free provision of the information in the form or quantities requested is inconsistent with the
service providers standard form customer contract or the summary of offer in the Critical
Information Summary.
Service providers may charge for calls to complaints-handling areas at local or low cost call rates.
If complaintis made to service provider, they must acknowledge it:
1. immediately if the consumer complained in person or by telephone
2. within two working days once the complaint has been received by the service provider when it
has been made by email, logged on a website, sent by mail, or received by telephone where the call
was met with a recorded message.
Acknowledgement need not be in writing. The complaint must be assigned a unique reference number or
some other identifier that will ensure that the service provider can easily identify your complaint and its
subject matter.
Where possible the service provider should seek to resolve the complaint on first contact. If this is not
possible, they need to advise the consumer about the proposed resolution of the complaint as soon as is
practicable after they have completed the investigation. The service provider needs to specify the
response times for individual steps in its complaints-handling process. These need to be clearly set out.
Urgent complaintsby customers in financial hardship or receiving priority assistance where the
complaint relates to that issue or where a disconnection has occurred or is in imminent and the processes
set out in the Code for credit management have not been followed should be resolved within two
working days. Most other complaints should be resolved within 15 working days.
If the service provider does not believe a complaint can be resolved within these time frames, it must
advise the consumer, before the end of the relevant time period of:
1. the reasons for the delay
2. the time frame for complaint resolution
3. options for external dispute resolution if the delay is 10 working days or more.
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If the consumer is unhappy with the time frames that apply to the management of your complaint or he
seeks to have your complaint treated urgently, he will need to tell the service provider. The service
provider must then tell the consumer about its internal escalation processes for complaints-management
and the options for external dispute resolution, including the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.
The service provider must provide the consumer with the means to track the progress of the complaint.
This will usually involve a unique reference number but may involve another means (e.g., with smaller
service providers the name of the consumer may be a sufficient identifier).
The consumer must accept any proposed resolution to his complaint before his service provider is
required to implement it. A resolution cannot be imposed if the consumer doesnt agree with it. The
consumer can ask for his complaint to be escalated and managed under his service providers internal
escalation process if he doesnt agree with the proposed resolution of his complaint. He can also pursue
his complaint further with the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman. His service provider must tell
him how to contact the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman if he indicates dissatisfaction with the
project or outcome of his complaint.
The service provider is formally required to classify and analyse complaints every three months to
identify recurring problems and issues that include areas of non-compliance with
the Telecommunications Consumer Protections Code C628:2012. They also need to monitor complaints
to identify emerging issues and address these as soon as is practicable and record progress against
addressing these complaints. Service providers also need to formally monitor and report annually to their
Chief Executive Officer regarding their compliance with their complaints-handling processes and where
there are opportunities to make improvements.
D. Recommendations
After analyzing the Complaint Redressal procedures followed in the SATRC countries as well as
studying the Global practices being followed on the issue, the following suggestions are made which can
be considered for implementation by members of SATRC in their respective countries:
1. The regulators could issue regulations specifying the complaint redressal procedure. These
regulations should mandate the service providers to establish a Complaint Centre with a toll free
Consumer Care Number, for redressing the complaints of their consumers at no cost.
2. For accessing the service provider for either booking a complaint or making a service request,
consumers could be able to access the Complaint Centre through any other service provider. This is
mainly required when there is disruption or disconnection of service by the parent service provider.
The regulations should accordingly mandate the provision of an alternate number for the Consumer
Care Number which can be accessed from any other network.
3. In the absence of the mandatory well established format of a multi-step IVRS menu, customers face
difficulty in navigating the IVRS menu at the Call Centre and are unable to speak to a customer care
agent. Since a sizeable segment of subscribers are from the rural areas and the low income group, it
is necessary that the IVRS menu could have an option of the subscriber being able to speak to the
customer care agent in the shortest possible steps. Hence, a provision could be made in the
regulations prescribing the manner in which the IVRS menu shall be managed including the
provision for speaking to a customer care agent in a specific step. It is felt that the consumer should
be able to speak to a customer representative in the third step of an IVR system.
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4. A major obstacle in effective complaint redressal mechanism is the low awareness about the existing
grievance redressal mechanism. To address this issue, the regulations could mandate that
advertisement about the Complaint Centre and Appellate Authority may be published every six
months in the newspaper and also such information should be given through website, telephone bills,
vouchers, complaint centres, sales office and through pre-configuration or over the air transfer in the
SIM. The regulations should also mandate that whenever there is a change in any policy, a similar
advertisement should be made.
5. At times, the customer is not sure if his complaint has been registered and the time that is likely to be
taken by the service provider for its resolution. Accordingly, it could be mandated in the regulations
that every complaint shall be registered by giving a unique docket number, which could remain in the
system for at least three months. The docket number along with date and time of registration and the
time limit for resolution of the complaint could be communicated to the consumer. The customer
shall also be informed of the action taken.
6. A Web Based Complaint Monitoring System could be there to enable the consumers to monitor the
status of their complaints. The Web based system is technically feasible also. Accordingly, the
regulations should mandate the service providers to implement the web-based complaint system.
7. There could be an effective body for redressal of grievances of consumers, which should also have
representatives from consumer organizations to give importance to the opinions, views and welfare
of the consumers. There could be a two-tier complaint redressal system for enhanced efficiency. The
Complaint Centres are essentially registration and response centres and do not themselves deal with
the resolution of complaints. They only facilitate registration of consumer complaint and the level at
which a problem is resolved within a company depends upon the complexity of the issue involved.
8. Therefore, if the consumer is not satisfied with the resolution of the complaints, he can approach the
next tier the Appellate Authority for redressal of his complaints. Additionally, in order to strengthen
the functioning of Appellate Authority, there could be a two-member Advisory Committee
comprising of one representative of consumer organisation registered with the telecom regulator and
one member from the service provider, to render advice to the Appellate Authority on every appeal
filed before the Appellate Authority.
9. The regulations could prescribe that every service provider shall appoint an Appellate Authority in
each service area within forty-five days of commencement of these regulations. The Appellate
Authority can be a one or more than one member body, at the discretion of the service provider.
Every appellate authority shall have a Secretariat. The Secretariat shall register the appeal,
acknowledge the appeal with a unique appeal number, and forward the appeal to the service provider
for its reply. On receipt of reply from the service provider, it shall place before the Advisory
Committee the appeal and reply received from the service provider, for its advice. On receipt of
advice of Advisory Committee, it shall place before the Appellate Authority the appeal filed, reply
received from the service provider and advice tendered by the Advisory Committee for a decision.
The Appellate Authority shall take a decision on the appeal upon placing of the appeal by the
Secretariat.
10. The regulations could provide for the time bound resolution of complaints at both the tiers -
Complaint Centre of the Service Provider and the Appellate Authority.
11. The regulations could provide for a Citizens Charter. Keeping the interest of the consumer, the
telecom regulator can prescribe detailed guidelines, regarding material to be published in the
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Citizens Charter. The Citizens Charter can provide details about General Information Number,
Consumer Care Number, right of consumers under the different regulations, orders and directions
issued by the telecom regulator, in particular those relating to Tariff, Mobile Number Portability,
Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference and Value Added Services.
12. The regulator should maintain a comprehensive database of the complaints registered by the
subscribers of various service providers. This trend of the data should be then analysed to figure out
the most reccurring problem being faced by the customers, so that accordingly modifications could
be done in the existing regulations, awareness programs and other consumer empowerment
measures.
CHAPTER-III: QUALITY OF SERVICE
A. Overview
Provision of world class telecommunication infrastructure and information is the key to rapid economic
and social development of the country. While expansion in number of subscribers and growth of tele-
density are important quantitative goals in this sector, it is important to pay attention to the Quality of
Service to consumers in telecom sector.
Competition amongst the service providers in a mature market takes care of the Quality of Service to a
great extent. However, in a fast developing market the Quality of Service has more linkages with
accessibility, involving robust infrastructure, appropriate capex commitment, and affordability
considerations. However, the loyalty in terms of subscribers relationship with the access providers and
perceived tolerance to bear with the quality of service, remains. Thus the key issue here remains as to
how the Quality of Service is to be ensured and what relief should be given to customers for poor Quality
of Service. To achieve these two objectives, the regulator can establish provisions relating to regulatory
enforcement.
In the telecom sector, particularly in cellular mobile telephone service, there has been phenomenal
growth. Technology changes have taken place with passage of time in providing cellular mobile services.
The Quality of Service is required to be reviewed periodically to update the Quality of Service
parameters and benchmark.
Customer satisfaction is the major determining factor in the emergence of new services, setting standards
and designing of network. Therefore, the customer requirements and expectations are paramount
considerations in reviewing Quality of service standards.
Ensuring the quality of service is very important for customer satisfaction and protection of consumer
interest. In selecting benchmark of quality of service, the parameter and benchmark should be meaningful
to the consumer for enabling him to make an informed choice and also on the level of quality that they
are getting. The measures that are objective, measurable and verifiable are important to ascertain the
quality of service being maintained by the service provider. In a competitive scenario, the need for
service providers to provide good service to attract and retain the customer should serve as an incentive
to maintain high quality of service. Also for the effective competition in the market as well as for the
promotion of consumer awareness and protection of consumer interest, access to accurate and meaningful
information about service quality can have an effect on consumer choice.
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There is a need to define each Quality of Service parameter extensively and also to explain the
measurement methodology for each parameter so that uniform practice is adopted by all the service
providers for measuring, recording and auditing of such performance parameters.
In achieving the quality of service, service providers have to continuously plan, upgrade, augment
capacity and ensure customer care provisioning. This process involves:
a network design and expansion as per the projected traffic/consumer base
reliability of various network elements
continuous monitoring of network and augmentation/optimization
service repair and service level management of all existing and new customers and ensure that with
enrolment of new customers, existing customer do not face deterioration in the quality of service

All the SATRC countries have laid down the standards of Quality of Service to be provided by the
service providers, for:
iii. Basic and Cellular Mobile Telephone Services
iv. Broadband services
The Quality of Service standards have been either established in specific regulations or are contained in
the licensing terms and conditions, in different SATRC countries.
All SATRC countries, except Bhutan, have specified parameters on quality of service related to network
outages benchmarks for meeting these parameters by the service providers in respective countries are
mentioned in the table below:
S.No. QoS Parameters India Nepal Afghanista Maldives Banglade Iran Sri
n sh Lanka
1. BTS accumulated 2% Value 72 hours per Value not 2% Value 2%
downtime not year provided not
provide in provided
d in response in
respons response
e
2. Call set-up success 95% 98 % do 95% do > 95%
rate
3. SDCCH/ Paging 1% 0.5% do 3% do -
Chl. Congestion
4. TCH Congestion 2% 2% do 3% do -
Pakistans response
S.No. QoS Parameters Benchmark Remarks
1. Network Down-time <1%
2. Network Accessibility > 99%
3. Grade of Service (end to end
<= 2 %
blocking)
4. Service Accessibility > 98%
5. Call Connection Time <= 5 sec
6. Call Completion Ratio > 98 %
Page 61 of 133
7. Mean Opinion Score As recommended by ITU-T in recommenda
(Average of, Average A2B plus >3 P.862.2 ( PESQ), P.862.3 (POLQA) or latest
Average B2A) forum recommendation
8. SMS Success Rate > 99%
9. End to End SMS Delivery < 8 seconds
To ensure quality of service and to monitor the performance of service providers against the QoS
parameters prescribed in the regulations, SATRC countries have adopted certain strategies, as shown in
the table below:
S.No. Name of the India Nepal Bhutan Afghanistan Maldives Pakistan Bangladesh Iran Sr
Strategy
1. Performance
Monitoring
report (PMR)
2. Audit of QoS - -
3. Survey of Pl
Customer im
satisfaction qu
PTA Comment:-
Audit of QoS is regularly conducted through the year. Each cellular operator carry out their
quarterly QoS survey and submit the logs to PTA for audit. Discrepancies found are then shared
with operators.
v. Performance Monitoring report (PMR)
The service providers are required to submit their PMR at different frequencies in various SATRC
countries, as shown in the table below:
India Nepal Bhutan Afghanistan Maldives Pakistan Bangladesh Iran Sri

Customer Monthly Quarterly Quarterly Quarterly Customer Each month Mon
information information also the
related PMR related PMR regulator can
quarterly and monthly monitor
Network service
related PMR providers
monthly online
vi. Audit of QoS
In Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and Iran, the audit of network for QoS is done by the telecom regulator.
In Iran, another governmental department is also responsible for it. In India, it is done by third
party agency. The frequency of audit of the network for QoS for different services, in different
countries is mentioned in the table below:
Service Type India Nepal Bhutan Afghanistan Maldives Pakistan Bangladesh Ir

Mobile telephone Quarterly - Quarterly - Annualy R
service and
Quarterl
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y
Basic service Yearly - Quarterly - Twice a R
year
Broadband service Yearly - Quarterly - Twice a R
year
vii. Survey of Customer satisfaction
The frequency of carrying out survey of Customer satisfaction, in different countries is mentioned
in the table below:
India Nepal Bhutan Afghanistan Maldives Pakistan Bangladesh Iran

(by third party agency) (by third - By third
Half-yearly party party / or
agency) by
Yearly regulator
randomly.
In India, Sri Lanka and Nepal, the telecom regulator, also obtains Point of Interconnection (POI)
congestion reports on monthly basis from the service providers.
United Kingdom
5
In January 2005, Ofcom required certain companies to gather and publish up-to date information on the
quality of their customer service. As a result, these companies got together as an industry and created a
website to provide information to consumers(http://www.topcomm.org.uk). This website published the
service performance of the companies on five particular measures:
how long it takes each provider to connect customers with a new line;
how many faults they have to fix;
how long they take to fix those faults;
how quickly they deal with complaints; and
the accuracy of their bills.
Ofcom published a statement on 29th July, 2009, stating its decision to withdraw the Topcomm Direction
immediately for the following reasons:
The scheme doesnt meet its original objectives;
The scheme costs the companies that support Topcomm a lot of time, money and effort to run;
It would be very expensive to alter the scheme and we dont know if any changes would actually be
useful until we carry out further research to better understand what consumer really need;
Its going to be some time before we have a better idea of what consumers need so its best that we
remove the scheme sooner rather than later .
This notification meant that providers caught by the Topcomm scheme no longer have to collect and
publish QoS data.
For fixed broadband services, Ofcom has, for several years, collected information on broadband speeds.
This information has enabled consumers to improve their purchasing decisions, and appears to have
driven improvements in service quality by operators. Ofcom on 23 rd January, 2013 published a Call for
5http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/topcomm/statement/plain_Eng.pdf
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Input Measuring Mobile Voice and Data Quality of Experience, sought views from all interested
stakeholders on:
What information would be valuable to consumers when purchasing mobile services;
What data would be required to produce this consumer information, and
How we could best collect it.6
Also, Ofcom has published complaints data since November 2006. The data illustrate the level and types
of complaints received by Ofcom across all the communications markets. Ofcom believes that publishing
the complaints data can be informative for consumers when seeking to compare providers, and useful to
intermediaries such as consumer groups, journalists, and price comparison sites, all of which aim to
advise consumers.7
Ofcom is currently engaged in a range of work which will help improve the information available in this
area:
it will work with the MNOs to develop a common methodology for measuring (Call Completion
Success Rates) CCSR across the networks to allow comparisons to be made with a view to publication. If
a single, common methodology cannot be found it will endeavour to quantify the size of systematic
differences between MNOs individual methodologies;
in relation to 3G and 4G mobile broadband, Ofcom will publish results of field measurement made in
five UK cities. This report will highlight how the performance of 4G networks compares to 3G networks;
and
it will continue to work with the MNOs and third parties to improve the information available to
consumers on mobile voice and data QoE. It will continue to draw on the best available data, whether
supplied by the MNOs, third parties or research commissioned directly by Ofcom.
Singapore
8
The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) has established a set of minimum QoS
standards for key services (Broadband, Mobile, Fixed Network Telecoms & Fibre Connection Services
and Postal Services). Service providers are required to submit periodic reports of their service quality and
IDA monitors their performance to ensure compliance.
The IDA quarterly publishes the QoS performance of service providers with a view to helping customers
make informed decisions while choosing service providers. Surveys are also conducted to monitor
customer satisfaction and to get customer feedback on how operators service can be further improved.
Results of these surveys are used by IDA to instruct operators to correct their weaknesses and also to
fine-tune their own standards of requirement for operators 9.
To ensure operators compliance, the IDA has also established a penalty framework which imposes fines
for non-compliance.
6http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/mobile-voice-data-
experience/summary/condoc.pdf
7http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/consumer-experience/tce-
14/Policy_Evaluation_2014.pdf
8https://www.ida.gov.sg/Policies-and-Regulations/Industry-and-Licensees/Standards-and-
Quality-of-Service/Quality-of-Service
9http://www.trc.gov.lk/old_site/images/pdf/ConsultationPaperonQOS.pdf
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IDA regularly reviews the QoS requirements to take into account industry and technology changes, as
well as changes in consumer demand, to ensure that the requirements remain relevant.
Malaysia
Under the Communication and Multimedia Act of 1998, the Government of Malaysia has published a
Ministerial Direction on Quality of Service, named Direction No. 1 of 2002. This directs the Malaysia
Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to determine mandatory standards on the
quality of a number of telecommunications services including fixed and mobile voice.
10
Malaysian consumers are protected by the Mandatory Standards, brought into force by MCMC to
monitor and regulate the performance of all relevant service providers. A total of seven Mandatory
Standards for Quality of Service has been registered between 2003 and 2011, namely:
Public Switched Telephone Network Service (PSTN)
Public Cellular Service (PCS)
Dial Up Internet Access Service (DIAS)
Content Applications Service (CAS)
Public Payphone Service (PPS)
Digital Leased Line Service (DLL)
Broadband Access Service (BAS)
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission monitors compliance to the Quality of
Services Standards through reporting based on data collected by the service providers and by actual
measurements. Service providers are required to submit audited reports to the Malaysian
Communications and Multimedia Commission every six months. The reports are to detail various aspects
of their performance and must be accompanied with a duly signed declaration form. MCMC conducts a
random audit on the reports submitted by the service providers to ensure the validity and reliability of the
service offered.11
As at end of June 2014, a total of 60 reports were submitted to MCMC, in which, 24 licensees reported
for non-compliances. Non-compliance to the Quality of Service Mandatory Standards is an offence under
Section 105(3) CMA 1998. The offenders can be fined not exceeding RM100,000 or face imprisonment
not exceeding two years, or both.12
In order to improve the quality of services provided by the cellular service providers, MCMC introduced
the Mandatory Standards for Quality of Service (Public Cellular Service) Determination No. 1 2013
which came into effect since 9 July 2013. Several criteria have been tightened up such as the rate of
dropped calls that was reduced to 3% compared to 5% previously. Meanwhile, the rate for End-point
Service Availability (ESA) was increased to 95% compared to 90% previously.13
Auditing the Cellular Networks via EESAT for Dropped and Blocked Calls
Cellular network quality in Malaysia is measured using EESAT (Extensive End-Point Service
Availability Testing) for benchmarking. In principle, EESAT involves a sequence of test calls, defined by
two methods of testing, which are:
Drive test
Static test
The MCMC conducts monthly Drive Test measurements on major cellular service providers to ensure
that their services are up to mark and aligned with the licence conditions.
12
13http://www.skmm.gov.my/skmmgovmy/media/General/pdf/MCMC-AR_ENG_2013.pdf
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Benchmarking the cellular network service quality or network performance analysis is done using the
ActixOne analysis system. This system was first introduced in July 2012 as a neutral benchmarking
platform as it is able to perform a single multi-vendor drive test survey data analysis. The software
system helps to eliminate any differences or disputes between the cellular service providers and the tested
results.
Consumer Empowerment Tools for Measuring Quality of Services

MCMC is in the process of developing QoS Tools, to promote consumer empowerment and increase
transparency as well as crowd sourcing in terms of quality of service improvement and quality of
experience for consumers particularly in relation to broadband and cellular services. The objectives of the
QoS Tools initiative include:
1. Enable consumers to make informed decision on broadband and cellular packages offered by service
providers. Consumers can also evaluate and assess service quality and performance of their daily usage
as compared with service pledged and performance statistics published by service providers.
2. Enhance the transparency of broadband and cellular performance between consumers and service
providers.
3. Evaluate services offered through the data gathered in the QoS Tools downloaded by consumers. It can
also be used to analyse the service providers performance for further quality of service improvement.
The target users for this QoS Tools include consumers, licensees and the MCMC. They can assess to a
common QoS Assessment Portal to evaluate, improve and assess performance and quality of service.
D. Recommendations
After analyzing the Quality of service regulations and monitoring procedures followed in the SATRC
countries as well as in different nations across the globe, the following suggestions are made which can
be considered for implementation by members of SATRC in their respective countries:
1. The regulators could issue regulations specifying the Quality of Service (QoS) standards, keeping in view
the performance of service providers against the QoS standards, the international standards on QoS and
utility of the laid down QoS parameters.
2. There is a need to define each QoS parameter extensively and also to explain the measurement
methodology for each parameter so that uniform practice is adopted by all the service providers for
measuring, recording and auditing of such performance parameters.
3. To ensure network availability, following parameters, with adequate benchmarks, could be prescribed in
the regulations for cellular mobile telephone service:
BTSs accumulated downtime (not available for service)
Percentage of worst affected BTSs due to downtime
4. For determining the accessibility there are three important parameters to be monitored, as mentioned
below:
Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR),
Standalone Dedicated Control Channel (SDCCH)/ Paging Channel Congestion
Traffic Channel (TCH) Congestion
5. For determining the Connection maintenance (Retainability), there are three important parameters to be
monitored, as mentioned below:
Call Drop Rate
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Worst affected cells having more than 3% TCH drops (call drop rate)
Connections with good Voice Quality
6. To determine the effectiveness of the interconnection between two networks, Point of Interconnection
(POI) Congestion parameter, with adequate benchmarks, could be prescribed. This parameter signifies
the ease by which a customer of one network would be able to communicate to the customer of another
network.
7. Customer satisfaction is the major determining factor in the emergence of new services, setting standards
and designing of networks. Therefore, the customer requirements and expectations should be been given
paramount considerations while defining the Quality of service standards.
8. The regulator could conduct customer satisfaction surveys to assess the customer perception of service
against the laid down quality of service benchmarks. These parameters, with benchmark in bracket, can
include following:
(i) % satisfied with the provision of service ( 90 %)
(ii) % satisfied with the billing performance ( 95 %)
(iii) % satisfied with network performance, reliability and availability ( 95 %)
(iv) % satisfied with maintainability ( 95 %)
(v) % satisfied with offered supplementary services ( 90 %)
(vi) % satisfied with help services including customer grievance redressal (90 %)
(vii) % satisfied with overall service quality ( 90 %)
9. The results of the survey on customer perception of service may be made public by the regulator for the
information of the customers to generate healthy competition amongst service providers to improve
service.
10. The regulator could mandate reporting of performance against quality of service benchmarks through
quarterly Performance Monitoring Reports (PMR) and monthly POI congestion reports.
11. The regulator could audit/ inspect, either directly or through an agency appointed by it, the records/
measurement relating to each quality of service parameter. This should ideally also include live testing
through drive tests (both operator assisted and independent).The regulator could also require the service
provider to get the report submitted to the regulator, audited at its own cost through independent and
qualified agency.
12. Since, the customers generally refer the website of its service provider for new tariff plan offer etc., it is
more appropriate if the information relating to quality of service is also published on the website of each
service provider. Hence, the regulations could provide for publication of information relating to quality of
service by each service provider on their website. The regulator could also publish the summary of
Quarterly Performance Monitoring reports, the results of audit and customer satisfaction survey
undertaken by the regulator through agencies appointed by it on its website. In addition, the regulator
may also publish, licensed service area wise, information relating to comparative performance of service
providers against quality of service benchmarks for key parameters.
13. The users need to have information on delivered performances of various service providers so that they
can make also informed choice about the service providers, based on quality of service performance. The
benchmarking could also benefit the service providers as they could compare their quality of service with
that of their competitors and could face competition effectively. To facilitate this, two indexes for cellular
mobile telephone service, one related to network parameters named Network Service Quality Index
Page 67 of 133
(NSQI) and the other index related to customer service named Customer Service Quality Index (CSQI)
can be introduced by the regulator. There can be a system of 10 point score for evaluating the
performance against each parameter and equal weightage may be given to each parameter. The evaluation
of performance on each parameter should be based on whether the service provider has achieved the
benchmark or not. Wherever the benchmark is achieved a score of 10 points should be assigned to that
parameter. In case the performance on any parameter is below the benchmark, the score in respect of that
parameter should be reduced depending on the level of performance.
14. Non-compliance with the Quality of Service standards laid down by regulator amounts to violation of the
Quality of Service Regulations. For such violation of the regulations, one of the options for the regulator
is to take penal action against the service provider. By imposing penalty for violation of its
direction/order/regulation, it is seen that the process takes considerable time and during this process the
consumer gets no relief. A delayed action against the service provider is as good as ineffective and the
customer is the main sufferer of poor quality of service. The regulator could provide specific monetary
compensation to subscribers such as rent rebate in the case of delayed repair of faults, interest on delayed
payment of security deposit. However, a combination of financial disincentive and penalty could act as a
deterrent against poor Quality of Service. There should be a specific amount of financial disincentive
defined for both the cases as mentioned below:
failure to meet defined benchmarks for QoS parameters
failure to submit the QoS compliance report on defined time
furnishing false QoS compliance report to the regulator
Before a financial disincentive is imposed, the service provider should be given a reasonable opportunity
of representing against the contravention of the regulation observed by the regulator.
15. A crowd sourcing approach in terms of quality of service improvement is an innovative approach to
improve Quality of service in a holistic manner. There could be a comprehensive QoS database
maintained by the regulator, where subscribers can provide the input against various QoS parameters.
These inputs can be then analysed to study the QoS parameters and areas where the service is not
according to the established benchmarks or to recognize the particular areas, where there is a dire need
for improvisation.
CHAPTER-IV: BILLING ACCURACY
A. Overview
High number of consumer complaints about pricing and billing is one of the most common challenge that
needs to be tackled by the telecom regulators. These complaints arise despite consumers having almost
universal access to pricing information across all services, including for mobile, internet access and smart
phone services. This suggests that the provision of information may not in itself be a sufficient measure
to protect consumers in the telecom sector.
To tackle this issue, there can be a parameter in the QoS regulation which indicates complaints-based
measure of billing accuracy. While analysis of unresolved billing complaints to find root causes is useful
in preventing further occurrences of a problem, and is to be encouraged, it is a proactive process. System
assessment and performance measurement, if done frequently, has the advantage, of identifying problems
and rectifying them before the subscriber becomes aware of them. This reduces the incidence of
complaints, benefiting the operator through the reduction of costs of complaint handling, and reducing
the burden of complaints referred to the regulator. As such, it could appear appropriate to implement a
Code of Practice for metering and billing accuracy.
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The major objectives of laying down the Code of Practice for metering and billing accuracy are to:
Bring uniformity and transparency in the procedures being followed by service providers with
regard to metering and billing.
Prescribe standards relating to accuracy of measurement, reliability of billing.
Measure the accuracy of billing provided by the Service Providers from time to time and to
compare them with the norms so as to assess the level of performance.
Minimize the incidences of billing complaints.
Protect the interest of consumers of telecommunication services.

In order to protect the interest of subscribers from inaccurate billing and charging, the telecom regulators
of India and Bangladesh have prescribed a uniform code of practice for metering and billing accuracy,
with which a service provider is required to comply. Iran also has some check list which includes some
indicators for metering billing accuracy. In Afghanistan, Maldives, Bhutan and Nepal, there is no
prescription of such uniform code. But, Nepal is drafting a policy which governs procedure for billing
accuracy.
Pakistan Comment:-
The theme of Code of commercial practice is uniform for all operators and keeping in line with
consumer protection regulations. Each operator/service may develop their own code of practice within
the limitations f consumer protection regulations. And each code of practice is evaluated on a case to
case basis.
In India, the service providers have to arrange audit of their Metering and Billing System for which the
auditors are empanelled by telecom regulator. In Afghanistan, Maldives, Bhutan and Pakistan, there is no
such obligation on the service providers to carry out such audits. Nepal is in the process of
implementation of audit.
According to the regulations in India, Iran and Bangladesh, the service providers need to furnish an audit
report certified by the auditor, to the regulator. This audit report certified by the auditor, for each financial
year has to be furnished to the regulator, once a year. In India, it should be submitted not later than 31 st
July of every year and in Bangladesh, within three months after 31 st July. In India, the service providers
are required to submit an Action Taken Report on inadequacies to the regulator by 15 th November of
every year whereas in Bangladesh, this deadline is decided by the their regulator.
In India, during the audit, call data records of one month for the following tariff plans have to be audited
in each Quarter:
1) Three prepaid and two post paid plans having the maximum number of customers at the beginning
of the Quarter;
2) Two new prepaid and post paid tariff plans launched during the Quarter;
3) Two Special Tariff Vouchers having maximum number of customers at the start of Quarter;
4) Two prepaid data plans having maximum number of customers at the start of Quarter;
5) Two new post paid data plans having maximum number of customers at the beginning of the
Quarter.
In India and Iran, the regulator has issued a detailed checklist of audit for the implementation of metering
and billing regulation which includes every item of the Code of Practice and the Terms of reference,
where the audit covers the following:
ii. checking of roaming charges levied on customers vis--vis the published tariff
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v. verification of redressal of billing complaints and complaint handling process
In Bangladesh also, the regulator issues a detailed checklist of audit for the implementation of metering
and billing regulation which includes every item of the Code of Practice and the Terms of reference, only
if the audited firm is appointed by the regulator. It covers all the parameters as mentioned in the case of
India. Also, in Bhutan, the licence terms and conditions contain a detailed checklist of audit for the
implementation of metering and billing regulation which includes every item of the Code of Practice and
the Terms of reference.
In India, Iran and Bangladesh, the regulator may refer complaints relating to billing for verification by
the auditor. The systemic deficiencies observed during audit are to be corrected in a time bound manner.
14
United Kingdom
In UK, Ofcom Metering and Billing Direction sets out the requirements on Communications Provider
(CPs) to ensure that the risk to consumers of being incorrectly charged for their use of Public Electronic
Communications Services (PECS) is reduced. This Direction applies to any Total Metering and Billing
System (TMBS) used for either Retail or Wholesale purposes, or both. A CP providing Retail services
shall apply for Approval of its TMBS when the Relevant Turnover from the sum of the Mandatory
Services that it provides exceeds 40,000,000 on an annual basis (exclusive of VAT and other taxes
directly related to turnover).In order to provide the End-Users with confidence, Ofcom uses independent
Approval Bodies (AB), who are accredited to approve those CPs who are required to demonstrate
compliance with the Direction.
Allowable Measurement Capabilities

A TMBS utilises two distinct types of Events for charging purposes.
Usage Events
These are Event records that are generated by a telecommunications switch, triggered by the use of the
service by the End-User.
Non-Usage Events
These are sub-divided into two categories and cover the Event records not triggered by the use of the
service by the End-User. The two categories are:
Non-Recurring Events - These include costs for the provision, change, suspension or removal of
services, products and equipment. They are likely to be actions that do not result in the creation
of a usage Event record.
Recurring Events - These include subscriptions and rentals for equipment or availability that are
applied on a regular basis to the Bill irrespective of any usage or non-usage Event. The
measurement system must be able to confirm that recorded Events fall within the limits shown
within section unless otherwise stated, these limits apply to the units of measure used in the
systems being measured.
Usage Events: Measurement Capabilities
14http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/telecoms/policy/mou-
oct2014/The_2014_Direction.pdf
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Non-Usage Non-Recurring Events: Measurement Capabilities
Non-Usage Recurring Events: Measurement Capabilities
Performance Measurement Requirements
Performance Measurement
The performance of the TMBS shall be assessed on the basis of how many errors are made. An error will
be defined as exceeding the allowable measurement capability as set out in tables above. This assessment
of performance requires that the accuracy requirements are assured by a robust and credible management
system, controlling processes and monitoring and recording Events. This is separated into the elements
above for the purposes of demonstrating compliance with the allowable measurement capabilities.
Performance will be based on measurements taken over a rolling 12 month average.
The measurements and other performance indicators which the CP must produce and present to its AB on
a regular basis to demonstrate that the charging performance of its TMBS is accurate and consistent shall
be set out in detail in the Measurement Strategy Document (MSD).
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Measurement processes shall be effective in supporting increased knowledge of the end to end TMBS.
They shall include the identification of root causes of bill inaccuracies and the implementation of
activities aimed at achieving continual improvement of End-Users bills.
MSD Requirements
It is a requirement of the Direction that the CP produces a MSD and agrees its content with its AB. In
order to obtain the ABs agreement to the content of the MSD, the CP must show that the proposed
strategy will enable the accuracy and consistency of charging to be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the
AB.
As each TMBS is unique, its MSD will need to be tailored to ensure that its content relates to the High
Level Description (HLD) and risk management assessment. Typically the MSD will contain Key
Performance Indicators relating to charging accuracy and detail the controls and measurements in place
in areas such as, but not limited to:
a) Billing pipeline measures;
b) Bill accuracy checks;
c) Customer complaint handling;
d) Credits and Bill adjustments;
e) Handling of suspense and write-offs; and
f) Testing to ensure the accuracy of published Tariffs.
There may be a requirement for the MSD to contain controls and measures specific to certain customer
groups, for example large business customers or mobile pre-pay customers, to ensure that risks and
potential charging errors specific to these groups are mitigated and recorded.
15
Australia
In Australia, the Billing Standard is administered by an Industry Forum of Operators, rather than by the
Regulator and Appointed Approval Bodies. Industry body responsible is the Australian Communications
Industry Forum (ACIF). Call charging and billing accuracy ACIF C518:2006 Code applies to all Carriers
and carriage service providers that supply a standard telephone service across:
a. a Public Fixed Circuit Switched Network; or
b. a Public Mobile Circuit Switched Network .
Tolerance levels for Billing Accuracy Parameter errors

Billing Accuracy Parameter means any one of the following which are used to determine whether a Test
Call is accurately billed and charged. Tolerance levels specified in the table below take into account what
is observed by the Test Call system or independent source of Test Call data and what is recorded by the
Carriers or CSPs call charging and billing system. The Billing Accuracy Parameters are:
(a) Call Start Time Error; or,
(b) Call Duration Error; or,
(c) Called Number Error; or,
(d) Rated Price Error; or,
(e) Additional Call Error; or,
(f) Missing Call Error.
15http://archive.acma.gov.au/webwr/telcomm/industry_codes/codes/c518_2006.pdf
Page 72 of 133
Performance Indicators
The allowable number of inaccurately charged and billed Test Calls in a sample must be less than or
equal to the accuracy limits in table below at 95% confidence level across the sample of Test Calls.
Verification of call charging and billing accuracy

Compliance with the Code for call charging and billing accuracy by Carriers and CSPs must be
determined by the generation of Test Calls through a Test Call system and/or extracted from live traffic
and/or wholesale/interconnect billing data. Each Carrier or CSP is responsible for testing its own call
charging and billing accuracy and associated Billing Accuracy Parameters as relevant to the Code A
Carrier's or CSPs testing program may be undertaken either by:
(a) that Carrier or CSP; or
(b) an External Testing Body contracted by that Carrier or CSP for this purpose.
The Test Plan must outline the processes and systems deployed by the Carrier or CSP to determine if the
testing results indicate that the Carrier or CSP complies with the requirements of the Code
A minimum of four broadly representative rating plans must be tested unless the rating plans that are
tested cover more than 50% of the Carriers or CSPs traffic as measured by:
(a) total number of calls; or
(b) revenues; or
(c) subscriber numbers; or
(d) duration.
The Statement of Process Compliance is prepared by the Code Signatory which states that an
Independent Qualified Assessor has determined that the Test Plan has been prepared by the Code
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Signatory in accordance with the requirements of the Code. A Code Signatory must demonstrate ongoing
compliance with the Code by submitting an ongoing annual Self Attested Statement of Compliance to
ACIF. The ongoing annual Self Attested Statement of Compliance is to be submitted to ACIF by the
Code Signatory no longer than
(a) four months after the end of the final Test Call being completed; and
(b) thirteen months from the date of the last Self Attested Statement of Compliance that demonstrated
compliance with the Code.
Hong Kong
16
The Telecommunications Authority of Hong Kong (TA) issued a Statement on Billing and Metering
Accuracy of Public Telecommunications Services in Hong Kong on 4 August 2000. A Billing and
Metering Integrity Scheme (BMIS) was proposed to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the metering
and billing systems of operators in the telecommunications industry. BMIS is a set of testing criteria and
quality assurance procedures based on relevant international standards to check the accuracy in
measuring call duration and billing the calls made. The BMIS criteria specify that the number of
inaccurately metered calls shall not exceed 0.01% of total calls and the error of billed amount shall not
exceed 0.01% of the total billed amount in a single bill. Operators joining the scheme have to follow the
quality assurance procedures prescribed by the Office of the Communications Authority (or its
predecessor Office of the Telecommunications Authority or OFTA) to check their internal process
routinely and to ensure that the accuracy criteria are met.
All fixed network operators, mobile network operators, Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) and
Public Non-Exclusive Telecommunications Service (PNETS) operators may voluntarily participate in
BMIS if they offer services (such as IDD services, mobile services and dial-up Internet services) which
are charged on the basis of time of usage. The BMIS is not a compulsory licensing requirement and some
operators have out of commercial consideration chosen not to join the scheme.
In order to have an effective monitoring system to keep track of the performance and compliance status
of operators with respect to the BMIS, the Authority has an intention to publish and update from time to
time the names of operators whether they are in compliance with the BMIS or not on the OFTAs website
in order to allow the public to know the Compliance Status of individual operators. Customers can, based
on the published information, make their informed choices and decisions of subscribing to specific
operators.
17
The main purpose of the Quality Assurance Manual (QAM), published by the Authority, is to provide a
quality assurance framework such that the operators can implement their self-appraisal systems in a
timely and responsive manner in compliance with the BMIS. Apart from this manual, the operators are
required to develop their own Detailed Operation Manual (DOM) and perform measurements or generate
Test Calls in accordance with the requirements and procedures stipulated in this manual. If necessary,
OFTA or OFTAs appointed agent will perform an on-site audit on operators Billing and Metering
Systems.
Telecommunications Metering Acceptance Model (the Metering Model)

The purpose of the monthly Metering Test is to examine whether the metering integrity standard of
1:10,000 is met and to ensure an acceptable quality level in metering accuracy for a specific traffic in a
month. Operators shall start from the normal inspection. Normal, tightened or reduced inspection shall
continue to be unchanged on successive monthly Metering Tests, except where the Switching Rules
16http://www.ofca.gov.hk/en/consumer_focus/fixed_telecom/bmis/index.html
17http://www.ofca.gov.hk/filemanager/ofca/en/content_405/hkta3104.pdf
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require changes. The Metering Model follows some of the requirements in ISO 2859-1:1999(E) with the
details given in the following table:
Table: Telecommunications Metering Acceptance Model
Note 1 : Each mobile network operator is required to conduct a number of Test Calls stated in Table
above irrespective of number of licences issued to that particular operator for operation of second
generation mobile services (i.e. GSM 900/1800, TDMA and CDMA technology).
Switching Rules
Normal to Tightened - When two monthly Metering Tests out of five consecutive monthly Metering
Tests (or fewer than five consecutive monthly Metering Tests) have been non-acceptable on original
inspection, operators are required to implement the requirements of the tightened inspection.
Tightened to Normal - When five consecutive monthly Metering Tests that have been considered
acceptable on original inspection, operators are allowed to switch to the normal inspection.
Normal to Reduced - Operators can switch to the reduced inspection provided that all of the following
conditions are satisfied:
a) the current value of the switching score is at least 30; and
b) reduced inspection is considered desirable by the operator.
Switching Score
The calculation of the switching score shall be initiated at the start of normal inspection. The switching
score shall be set at the zero value at the start and updated following the inspection of each subsequent
monthly Metering Test on original normal inspection. When the acceptance number is 0, add 2 to the
switching score if a specific monthly Metering Test is accepted; otherwise reset the switching score to
zero. For example, the switching score is 2 when the monthly Metering Test in, say, May 2002 is passed.
The switching score is 4 when monthly Metering Tests in May 2002 and June 2002 are passed. The
switching score is reset to zero if the monthly Metering Test in July 2002 failed.
Reduced to Normal - Under the reduced inspection, operators can switch to the normal inspection if any
of the following conditions occur on original inspection:
a) a monthly Metering Test is not accepted; or
b) instructions given by the TA that normal inspection shall be re-instated.
The following are the Metering Tolerance for different services:
Table: Metering Tolerance for Different Services
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Note 2: Mobile Service is applicable to mobile local calls, mobile IDD calls and mobile ETS calls.
Apart from Metering Tolerance for call duration, four more parameters need to be tested in the Metering
Test. These parameters are Calling Party, Called Party, Charged Party and Charging Time Stamp. No
tolerance or error is allowed for recording of the Calling Party, the Called Party and the Charged Party.
These parameters must be checked if they are relevant to the charging accuracy. Tolerance for the
charging time stamp is +8.5 seconds and -5.5 seconds and this parameter needs to be checked if it is
relevant to the charging accuracy.
Telecommunications Billing Acceptance Model (the Billing Model)

Operators are required to perform a Billing Test each month by sampling a number of bills specified with
respect to the applicable status in table below. The purpose of the monthly Billing Test is to examine
whether the billing integrity standard of 1:10,000 is met and to ensure an acceptable quality level of
billing accuracy for the bills issued in a month.
Table: Telecommunications Billing Acceptance Model
A specific monthly Billing Test is considered to be not acceptable if the individual total error sum over
the total billed sum of any sampled telephone bill is greater than 1/10,000.
During the Billing Test, call records from Billing System would be rerated by operators in accordance
with the billing logic/tariff plan. This rerated per call charge will be compared with the per call charge
appeared on the bill issued to the customer. No tolerance will be given to the difference between the
rerated per call charge and also the per call charge appeared on the bill issued to the customer.
D. Recommendations
After analyzing the mechanisms implemented in the telecom sector to ensure billing accuracy in the
SATRC countries and in various other countries, the following suggestions are made which can be
considered for implementation by members of SATRC in their respective countries:
1. The regulators could issue Code of Practice for metering and billing accuracy, with which the service
providers are required to comply. It should include the following salient features:
I. Information relating to Tariffs
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1.1 Before a customer is enrolled for any telecommunication service, he shall be provided the detailed
information relating to the tariff applicable for that service.
1.2 The customer shall be provided a copy of the Customer Acquisition Form at the time of the enrollment
and shall also be informed in writing, within a week after the activation of service, about -
(i) the tariff plan subscribed by him;
(ii) quantity related charges such as the charge for each SMS message, or kilobyte of data etc;
(iii) accuracy of measurement of time, duration and of quantity, and also the resolution and rounding
rules, including the underlying units, used when calculating the charges for an individual event or an
aggregation of event; and
(iv) contractual terms and conditions for provision, restriction and termination of service
1.3 Where a value-added service (e.g. download of content, such as a film clip or ring tone) or entry to an
interactive service (such as a game) can be selected through a choice of the service user (e.g. by dialing a
specific number) then the charge for the service must be provided to him before he commits to use the
service.
1.4 The information about the tariff plans, Plan Vouchers, Top Up Vouchers, Special Tariff Vouchers and
Combo Vouchers on offer shall be available on the website of the service provider.
II. Accuracy of Measurement

2.1 Unless otherwise specified in the published Tariff or previously agreed Tariff, a charge could be
determined in accordance with the following limits:
(a) Where the charge is dependent upon duration, the recorded duration shall be measured to within:
(i) Between +1 seconds and 1 second; or
(ii) Between +0.01% (1:10,000) to 0.02% (1:5,000); whichever is less stringent;
(b) where the charge is dependent upon the time of day, the time of day shall be recorded to within 1
second,
(c) where the charges are dependent upon the counting of occurrences of a particular type, the count shall
be accurate to no more than plus 1/25,000 (0.004%) or minus 1/1,000 (0.1%).
III. Reliability of Billing

3.1 The performance of a Total Metering and Billing System could be, subject to the tolerances specified in
the table below:
Total Metering and Billing System reliability performance requirements
Chargeable events Performance
Number under or not charged 0.1% (1 in 1000)
Number overcharged 0.004% (1 in 25,000)

18
Value under or not charged 0.05% (1 in 2000)
Value overcharged 0.002% (1 in 50,000)
IV. Applying Credit to Accounts
4.1 For post-pay accounts, payments made by a customer could be credited to his account within 3 working
days of receipt of the cash/ cheque. Where credit is given by the service provider, this could be applied
within one working day of its agreement.
18sum of the values

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4.2 For pre-pay accounts, top-up credit could be applied to a customers account within 15 minutes of its
application. Where credit is given by the service provider, this could be applied within 1 day of its
agreement.
V. Timeliness of Post Pay Billing

5.1 The timeliness of bill issue or bill data file issue could be subject to systematic processes. Any chargeable
events the details of which are not available when the bill is prepared should be included in a subsequent
bill, not later than the fourth monthly bill after the chargeable events occurred. Any details not so
presented shall be written off and if significant be counted against the performance for undercharged
events.
VI. Restriction and Removal of Service

6.1 Where the service provider unilaterally intends to restrict or cease service to the customer, a notice could
be provided to the customer in advance of such action so that the customer has reasonable time to take
preventive action to avoid restriction or cessation of service.
VII. Complaint Handling

7.1 The service provider could have a documented process for identifying, investigating and dealing with
billing complaints and creating appropriate records thereof. The service provider should carry out a root
cause analysis for each upheld billing complaint, categorise the cause and establish proportionate
remedial action to correct it. Where the root cause affects multiple customer accounts, then all affected
Bills shall, if practicable, be included in a recovery programme.
7.2 Where remedial action has not been completed and the cause is likely to affect other bills when issued,
then the service provider should take reasonable steps to ensure that they are checked and, if necessary,
corrected, before being sent to the customer. If not checked and corrected such Bills should be included
in a recovery programme.
VIII. Materiality
8.1 Compliance with the requirements contained in this regulation could be demonstrated in relation to
products and services that have a material impact on the customers bill. This materiality may deemed to
be:
a) where the service providers turnover from a product or service comprises 5% or more of its total
turnover with the customers targeted for that product or service; or
b) where the number of customers subscribing to a product or service offered by the service provider
comprises 5% or more of the customers targeted for that product or service; or
c) at the specific direction of the telecom regulator.
2. The telecom regulator could notify the panel of auditors to certify the Metering and Billing System of
service providers. The service providers may appoint any one of these Auditors for auditing their billing
system vis--vis the Code of Practice for metering and billing accuracy. The certification of the billing
system should be done and then filed to the telecom regulator on an annual basis. The service providers
shall take corrective action on the inadequacies, if any, pointed out by the Auditing agency in the
Certificate and an Action Taken Report thereon should be filed with telecom regulator by a pre-defined
date of every financial year.
3. CDR (Call Data Records) audit is the most important part of the metering and billing audit. CDR audit
should be representative of the whole year rather than for a particular period. Therefore, the audit of the
CDRs could be done throughout the year in such a way that in every quarter, one month CDRs of the
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selected plans/Special Tariff Vouchers are audited. The CDR under different tariff plans could be audited
in each Quarter in a manner so as to include.---
a) three prepaid and two post paid plans that have the maximum number of customers at the beginning of
the Quarter;
b) two new prepaid and post paid tariff plans launched during the Quarter;
c) two Special Tariff Vouchers having maximum number of customers at the beginning of the Quarter;
d) two prepaid data plans having maximum number of customers at the beginning of the Quarter;
e) two new post paid data plans having maximum number of customers at the beginning of the Quarter.
4. The Authority could issue, from time to time, the Guidelines for Audit and Checklist for Audit of the
Metering and Billing System. Also, the telecom regulator could lay down the obligations of the auditor
clearly so that there is transparency in the functioning of the auditor. This will also help telecom regulator
in getting timely information about the audit from the auditor and the progress of refunds, if any.
5. To strengthen the effectiveness and compliance of the said regulations, financial disincentives for delay
in submission audit reports and Action Taken Reports need to be in place. In case the audit observations
find excess charging, the service provider should refund the overcharged amounts to affected customers
within two months. The service provider should be liable to pay financial disincentive, in case of
violation of this provision also.
CHAPTER-V: MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY
A. Overview
Number portability enables a subscriber to switch between services, locations, or operators while
retaining the original telephone number, without compromising on quality, reliability, and operational
convenience.
Number portability implementation removes barriers to competition between operators and services and
ensures a dynamic, fully competitive market. The two constituencies that benefit the most from the
introduction of number portability in a country are the subscribers, and operators who price competitively
and provide quality service. In the absence of Number portability mechanism, subscribers have to change
their telephone numbers when changing operators. Changing a telephone number can be a major
inconvenience and a barrier preventing them from exercising the choice of changing operators. As a
result, the customer may be unable to take full advantage of the growing competition among operators or
the introduction of new services and technologies.
Number portability eliminates these hurdles and provide immense benefits to the subscriber. These
benefits may be categorized as:
a. Type 1 benefits accrue to subscribers who retain their telephone number when switching an operator,
and include cost savings from having to change mobile number. Such subscribers are able to avoid the
costs of reprinting stationary, informing callers, changing signs and lost business.
b. Type 2 benefits are those that arise out of efficiency and service quality improvements and any
associated price reductions resulting from increased competition.
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c. Type 3 benefits are those that accrue to callers to porting users who are able to avoid the need to
change entries in their diaries, directories, databases and abbreviated dialers. They would also dial fewer
wrong numbers and make fewer directory inquiries.
Additionally, subscriber also benefits from lower prices, due to the competition between operators to
provide the best service packages, customer service, or other benefits. Introducing number portability
will allow some of subscribers to shift between operators and could improve subscriber satisfaction once
it is introduced. Operators who provide the best quality of service and coverage, and highest value-for-
money will benefit because consumers will prefer to begin service with them and will no longer hesitate
because of changing phone numbers.
Designing efficient, simple, secure and yet practical porting procedures for number portability may
involve addressing issues such as the role of retailers, the need to change SIM cards or handsets, existing
customer obligations, authentication of customers requesting a port, communication arrangements
between entities during the porting process, refusal to port, time to port, and procedures for porting large
quantities of numbers at a given time. The success of introduction of any service in a telecom network is
highly dependent on how cost-effective it is to the end users, and the cost burden it imposes on the
concerned parties for its implementation. In this respect, the implementation of number portability should
be cost-effective to ensure its success.

Although in India and Pakistan, Full Number Portability (inter and intra Licensed Service Area MNP) has
already been implemented, majority of SATRC countries like Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Maldives
and Afghanistan have not yet implemented it. In Nepal, NTA is studying the implementation of the
system. In Iran, Full Mobile Number Portability will be implemented on May 2016 in the whole of Iran.
In India and Pakistan, MNP is allowed irrespective of the mobile technology (GSM/CDMA). Iran also
intends to allow it irrespective of the mobile technology. In Pakistan, once the Customer Acquisition
Form (CAF) is filled by the applicant of MNP service, the customer receives a code, Number Portability
Request (NPR) No. which is used for the porting. In India, the subscriber desirous of porting his mobile
number needs to obtain Unique Porting Code (UPC) by sending SMS from the mobile number to be
ported. To obtain UPC customer has to send SMS to number 1900 with the text PORT followed by
space followed by the 10 digit mobile number to be ported. The UPC so obtained will be valid for 15
days for all service areas except J&K, NE & Assam Service Areas where it will be valid for 30 days. Iran
intends that UPC will be obtained by sending SMS in response to CRDB message, till 1 day and after
checking by CRDB, UPC will be issued.
In India, the service provider may charge porting charge, maximum up to Rs. 19 whereas in Pakistan
only the SIM cost is charged. The porting charge is undecided in Iran.
Eligibility for porting

In India, a subscriber holding the mobile number is eligible to make a porting request only after a time
period of 90 days from the date of activation of his mobile connection. If in case, the subscriber has
previously done porting, then he will be eligible only after a time period of 90 days from the date of the
previous porting. Iran also intends to make the subscriber eligible to make a porting request only after a
time period of 90 days from the date of activation. In Pakistan, these time periods are 2 months for both
the cases.
In India, at the time of porting request, a post paid subscriber is required to submit an undertaking that he
has already paid all the dues as per the last bill to the Donor Operator and that he would be bound to pay
all the dues to the Donor Operator till its eventual porting and agrees that in the event of non-payment of
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any such dues to the Donor Operator, the ported mobile number is liable to be disconnected by the
Recipient Operator. In Pakistan, no such undertaking is required and porting is not completed unless dues
are cleared from the Donor Operator. Iran also intends to do so.
In India, Pakistan and Iran (intends), in the case of a pre-paid subscriber, he needs to give an undertaking
that he understands that at the time of porting, the balance amount of talk time, if any, would lapse.
Grounds for rejecting porting request

The conditions under which a Porting request can be rejected in India, Pakistan and Iran (intends to
make) are as follows:
S.No. Conditions India Pakistan Iran

1. If the outstanding payment is certain
amount of money. (Rs. 10/- or more) (Any amount) (1 Rials or
more)
2. If it has been made before the expiry of a period
of certain days from the date of activation of a (90 days) (2 months) (90 days)
new connection.
3. If it has been made before the expiry of a period -
of certain days from the date of the previous (90 days) (2 months)
porting.
4. If change of ownership of the mobile number is
under process.
5. If the case related to the mobile number sought to
be ported, is sub-judice.
6. If the mobile number sought to be ported has been
prohibited by a Court of Law.
7. If the subscriber has applied for inter-service area
porting.
8. If the unique porting code mentioned in the -
porting request does not match with the unique
porting code allocated by the Donor Operator for
the mobile number sought to be ported or validity
of UPC has expired.
9. On the ground of subsisting contractual - -
obligations with certain exceptions

In India and Pakistan, there is a provision for the withdrawal of porting request. Iran also intends to make
it. The features of this provision are mentioned in the table below:
S.No. Features India Pakistan Iran

1. The time limit in which a subscriber may withdraw his Within 24 hours Within 24 hours Before act
porting request of new SI
2. Medium of informing the recipient operator about the In writing Through contact
withdrawal number
3. Any obligation on the service provider to refund the No No -
porting charges paid
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Porting time
In case of Pakistan, the maximum time period for the completion of porting process is 3 days whereas in
India, this time period is 7 working days (in the case of J&K, Assam and North East licensed service
areas the maximum time allowed is 15 working days). Iran intends to regulate this time period as
maximum 5 days for post paid and 3 days for prepaid.

In India and Pakistan, the Recipient Operator will intimate the date & time of porting to subscriber. Iran
also intends to do so. Iran has no service disruption time. In Pakistan also, there is no service disruption
time, whereas in India the service is disrupted for around 2 hrs during night time on the date of porting.
According to the Indias MNP regulation in force:
PTA comment:
Before disruption of previous/old/port out SIM, the new/portin SIM
is usually activated. Therefore when the user changes the SIM, the
ported in SIM is already useable, therefore the no service
disruption is mentioned. Further discussion may be done if
required.
At the date and time of porting fixed by the Mobile Number Portability Service provider, the Mobile
Number Portability Service provider shall communicate to the Donor Operator its instructions for
disconnection of the mobile number and the Donor Operator shall, immediately and in any case within
two hours of receipt of such instructions,
(a) comply with such instructions; and
(b) report compliance of such instructions to the Mobile Number Portability Service provider.
Upon receipt of the instructions for activation of the mobile number the Recipient Operator shall,
immediately and in any case within two hours of receipt of such instructions,
(a) comply with such instructions; and
(b) report compliance of such instructions to the Mobile Number Portability Service provider.
19
Malaysia
In Malaysia, 'Porting' is the act of switching to a new mobile service provider without having to change
their mobile number. However, only active mobile numbers can port. Thus, consumers are advised not to
terminate their current line before porting. Both prepaid and postpaid users can port. Business/Corporate
accounts holders can also port, subject certain guidelines.
Before consumers port

If consumers have any overdue bills or have existing contracts with their current mobile service provider,
the current mobile service provider will reject their port request which is made by the new mobile service
provider. In such a case, they will not get a refund of the administrative porting fees. For prepaid users,
consumers need to know that all existing credit will expire upon successful porting and not be carried to
the new mobile service provider.
Steps to be followed by the consumer to port to a new service provider
19http://www.skmm.gov.my/skmmgovmy/files/attachments/FAQs_MNP.pdf
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Consumer will have to go to the new mobile service providers Service Centre or Authorised
Dealer to request for number porting. (request to port will act as a notice to the consumers
current service provider to terminate your subscription.)
Fill in a Service Registration Form and pay the porting fees for processing. Consumer will be
issued with a new SIM card.
Upon approval, the new mobile service provider will inform the consumer that you have
successfully ported when the new SIM card is activated.
Porting related information

The porting process will not take more than 5 business days for individual porting whereas for business
porting, it will not take more than 10 business days.
Consumers can port their number more than once but they cannot make more than one MNP request
within the same period to different mobile service providers.
For individual or consumer ports, consumer has to provide:
MyKAD / Police or Army ID (if in the armed forces)/ Passport/ Old IC.
A copy of his current bill from his existing mobile service provider if he is a Postpaid user
(depending on his new mobile service provider.)
For business ports,they have to provide:
Letter of authorisation from the company containing customer name, business registration
number, account number from current mobile service provider.
Consumer can appoint a representative or an agent to do his number portability request.However, the
following documents are required by the new service provider for processing.
A proxy authorisation letter signed by the registered customer or authorised signatories (for
business porting).
A copy of the registered users MyKAD/ other ID.
A copy of his representative or agents MyKAD/ other ID.
The new mobile service provider must verify the customers request and validate the supporting
documents.
Consumer cannot dictate the date and time at which his number should be ported. Upon receiving the
porting request from consumer, the new mobile service provider will automatically send it for
processing. Consumer will be informed once the porting validation process is completed, and when his
new SIM card is activated.
The maximum that a mobile service provider can charge for a port is RM25 but the fees might vary
downwards from one service provider to another. This fees will cover the administrative charges,
issuance of new SIM card and all other costs in relation to the port.
The consumer may cancel his port request with his new mobile service provider before it is approved.
However, porting fees are not refundable as the administrative charges and costs for SIM issuance
would have already been incurred.
The consumer will still enjoy the same services during the porting process, except for International
Roaming Services, which his current mobile service provider may suspend upon his porting request.
Rejection of Port Request

To ensure that your porting request is approved, consumers need to ensure:
No overdue payments with their current mobile service provider.
No contract with their current mobile service provider.
Correct identification details.
Their account is active.
United States
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Under the Federal Communications Commission's "local number portability" rules, consumer can switch
telephone service providers for wireline, wireless or Voice over Internet Protocol and keep his existing
phone number if he remains in the same geographic area. If consumer is moving from one geographic
area to another, however, he may not be able to take his number with him.
Initiating the process

Consumer may request service from a different company at any time. When changing companies, the
FCC urges the consumer to:
Do not terminate service with the existing company before initiating new service with another
company.
Contact the new company to start the process of porting of number.
Provide the new company with the 10-digit phone number and any additional information
required, which may include the customer account number and passcode, along with the five-
digit zip code.
Fees and charges

Companies may charge their customers fees to recover the costs that they incur in providing
number portability. The consumer should ask the new company whether it charges any number
portability fees and whether those fees can be waived.
Companies may not refuse to port a number because a consumer has not paid for porting.
Once the consumer requests service from a new company, his old company can't refuse to port
his number, even if he owes money for an outstanding balance or termination fee; however, he is
still obligated to pay any unpaid balances or fees, if applicable.
20
Porting process time
For a wireless-to-wireless transfer, the porting process should take approximately two and a half
hours from the time the porting request is made of the old carrier. The FCC has not mandated a
specific time frame for the wireless-to-wireless porting process. Two and a half hours is the time
frame agreed upon by the wireless industry, and the FCC encourages carriers to use that time
frame.
A wireline-to-wireless port will probably take longer to complete, and could take several days.
Before porting between wireline and wireless phones, consumers should ask their new service
provider how long the process will take.
Using a new phone

For various reasons, wireless handsets are often incompatible among different wireless service providers.
Consumers will likely need to purchase a new phone, even when they retain the same phone number.
Even when a phone can be reprogrammed to work on a new network, most carriers may have policies
against doing so.
'Mixed service' during porting

If the consumer ports from a wireline phone to a wireless phone, there may be a period of "mixed
service" when he essentially has two telephones with the same number. The consumer should ask his
new wireless company whether he will be able to continue using his current wireline number during the
one-day transfer process. Also, if he ports from a wireline phone to a wireless phone, his wireline long
20https://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/wireless-local-number-portability-wlnp#howmuch
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distance company will not move with him. The long distance service will generally be provided by the
consumers new wireless company, which he should verify with the new wireless company.
Emergency services
In some areas, 911 operators automatically receive the phone number or location of a wireless call, but in
many areas the technology capable of providing that information known as Enhanced 911 or "E911"
is not yet available.
During the one-day porting process - if there is a period of "mixed service" the consumers E911 service
may be affected. Calls should go through, but 911 operators may not be able to call him back if
disconnected. Before porting, the consumer should ask the new company if the one-day porting process
will affect a 911 call.
Filing a complaint
If consumer has a problem porting his phone number from one service provider to another, first try to
resolve it with the service provider. If he cannot resolve the problem directly, he has multiple options for
filing a complaint with the FCC:
Online
By phone
By mail
Hong Kong21
According to the, procedures for Mobile Number Portability Provision, established by the Hong Kongs
telecom regulator Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA), Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
is the ability for a customer to retain their assigned telephone numbers when changing the subscription
from one mobile operator to another mobile operator.
Actions by the (Recipient Network Operator) RNO

The RNO should take the following actions on receiving a customer who wishes to port their number:
(a) Identify the following types of customers:
(i) For a Personal User: by checking the customer against their ID Card or Passport if appropriate.
(ii) For a Corporate User: by checking the information supplied on the MNP Application Form
against the BR copy.
(iii) For Institution User : by checking the information supplied on the MNP Application Form
against the institution's registration copy.
(iv) For Pre-paid SIM Service User : by checking the validity of the number assigned to the pre-paid
SIM service and the cardholder certificate, if applicable .
(b) Identify the Donor Network Operator (DNO).
(c) Confirm whether the customer's number is still active.
(d) Collect necessary information.
(e) Highlight to the porting-in customer in detail on the MNP Application Form that the RNO would not
be held responsible for any remaining liability that the porting-in customer still has with the DNO after
porting in.
(f) Explain carefully to customer the procedure/charges involved for canceling the porting request.
(g) Collect a ticket for the cutover window allocation and inform the customer of the proposed cutover
time.
21http://www.ofca.gov.hk/filemanager/ofca/common/Industry/telecom/mnp_procedures.pdf
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(h) Request the customer to switch on the mobile phone all the time during the porting process in case it
is required to inform the customer for any changes in cutover timings, or request for additional
information or details etc.
Actions by the DNO

The DNO on receipt of the Number Portability Request (NPR) should check the accuracy of the
Directory Number (DN) and customer's name and ID/BR against their own records. If the information is
successfully verified, the DNO should authorize the porting by issuing the Acknowledgment to NPR
(AKNPR) and terminate the service associated with the number during the cutover window.
CRITERIA FOR REJECTING/CANCELLING A PORTING REQUEST
By the DNO
The DNO may reject a porting request only under the following circumstances :
Incorrect/incomplete name of the customer in English
Incorrect/incomplete HK Identity Card / Passport /Business Registration /institution's
registration/card holder certificate number
Mobile number(s) ceased to be assigned by the DNO
Mobile number(s) owned by different customer
Report of stolen/lost handset/SIM card by original customer together with a valid police case
report identifying the case
Incomplete/incorrect information on the NPR sent by the RNO
Double porting
Specifically the DNO may not reject a porting request due to any financial, contractual or other concerns
or issues it may have with the customer.
By the RNO/Customer
The RNO and customer may cancel a porting request in accordance with some conditions if they so wish.
By other Network Operators

DNO's Maintenance Agent (MA)
The DNO's MA may cancel a porting request (specifically an APN) if on checking it finds that the APN
has no associated AKNPR or that the DN or cut-over window are different in the APN to the associated
AKNPR.
PORTING OF MOBILE NUMBERS ASSIGNED TO PRE-PAID SIM CARD USERS
The RNO has to inform the customer that when a mobile number of a pre-paid SIM service is ported out,
the residual stored value in the SIM service shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the service
with the DNO. It is currently an industry practice that all remaining values on pre-paid SIM service are
neither refundable nor transferable.
The RNO should verify the mobile number of the pre-paid SIM service by using Calling Number Display
Service or any other suitable means. The DNO should facilitate the porting request by checking whether
the service is terminated or not. For clarification, the mobile number of the pre-paid SIM service is
considered terminated by the DNO if the prepaid SIM service expires on the date of porting, or no stored
values remained, or the porting mobile number is ceased to be assigned to the customer. The DNO will
reject a porting request if the pre-paid SIM service is terminated.
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The customer should produce the corresponding pre-paid SIM card for verification. In addition, the RNO
may request the customer to produce the card holder certificate, if applicable. For record purpose, the
RNO shall make a copy of the card holder certificate with the serial number on the card shown. If the
card holder certificate is lost, the RNO must request the customer to declare the lost in MNP Application
Form.
D. Recommendations
After analyzing the MNP mechanisms in the SATRC countries and in various countries across the globe,
the following suggestions are made which can be considered for implementation by members of SATRC
in their respective countries:
The regulations could seek to provide a framework governing all relevant aspects of MNP by
a. laying down clear eligibility conditions for porting of mobile telephone numbers;
b. defining rights and obligations of various stake holders, i.e., the customer, the Donor
Operator, the Recipient Operator, the MNP provider;
c. laying down the procedure to be followed by each player in the chain in processing
number porting request;
d. specifying clear time limits for completion of various steps by each player in the
chain i.e. the Donor Operator, Recipient Operator and the MNP service provider; and
e. envisaging least disruption of service to the consumer.
Salient features of the MNP under the regulations could be follows:
1. Scope of MNP
MNP facility shall be available within licensed service area and across licensed service area also.
Mobile Number Portability could include porting from one technology to another technology of the same
service provider.
2. Eligibility for porting

A subscriber holding a mobile number could be eligible to make a porting request only after 90 days of
the date of activation of his mobile connection. If a number is already ported once, the number could
become eligible for porting only after 90 days from the date of the previous porting. The rationale for
specification of a minimum period is to enable the service provider to recover the customer acquisition
cost.
The subscriber, who is under a subsisting contractual obligation having an exit clause with the Donor
operator and has not complied with the exit clause cannot be allowed to port the number. Accordingly,
provisions could be incorporated in the regulations.
The subscriber making the porting request could be required to have cleared all the bills issued prior to
the date of porting request. He shall give an undertaking that he has already paid all billed dues to the
Donor Operator as on the date of the request for porting and that he shall pay dues to the Donor Operator
pertaining to the mobile number till its eventual porting and that he understands and agrees that in event
of non-payment of any such dues to the Donor Operator, the ported mobile number shall be liable to be
disconnected by the Recipient Operator.
Any extra procedure for the Donor Operator to recover his dues before porting takes place might
complicate the procedure for number portability. Porting from an Operator is similar to disconnection for
the purpose of recovery of dues. Therefore, only suitable provisions should be made in the regulations for
recovering dues.
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3. Porting charges
The Subscriber who wishes to port his mobile number could approach the Recipient operator (the
operator to whom the subscriber wants to port his number). The Subscriber could be required to pay
porting charges, if any, to the Recipient Operator. Operators should be free to charge any amount less
than or equal to the amount set by the telecom regulator.
Examination of the request involves work on the part of the Recipient Operator/MNP service provider.
Besides, refund of porting charge also involves additional expenditure for the service providers.
Therefore, there should be no provision for refund of porting charges paid to the Recipient Operator.
4. Verification of subscriber by Recipient Operator and Authentication by Donor Operator

The request of the subscriber should not be rejected merely on account of change of address, difference
in use of spelling in the name or address between the data given by the subscriber at the time of porting
and that available with the Donor Operator, or non-availability of the original CAF details. In such cases,
the probability of either rejection of subscribers request or delay in grant of clearance by the Donor
Operator is very high. Moreover, the subscriber is only getting disconnected from the Donor Operator.
Therefore, the Donor Operator needs only to confirm that the mobile number applying for porting
belongs to its network. Additionally in order to implement the MNP successfully, the key aspect is to
make the process simple, easy and speedy for the subscriber.
Accordingly, the regulations could introduce a procedure wherein a Unique Porting Code (UPC)to be
generated by Donor Operator for the authentication of the subscriber requested for porting of his mobile
number. This UPC could be valid for 15 days. The subscriber will have to incorporate this code in the
porting form while submitting it with the customer acquisition form to the Recipient Operator.
5. Duration of No service period

No Service Period should be set in such a manner so that no inconvenience is caused to the subscriber
and adequate time is also available to carry out the disconnection/activation of the subscriber number.
Therefore, the window period of two hour each for the disconnection and activation by the Donor
operator and the Recipient operator respectively should be prescribed.
Also this activity should take place during the night time, so that it is not inconvenient to the customers.
6. Withdrawal of porting request

A subscriber could be able to withdraw his porting request within 24 hours of its submission to the
Recipient Operator. But the porting charges shall not be refundable.
7. Porting time period

The regulations could envisage a maximum time period of seven working days for the completion of
porting process.
8. Financial disincentive in case of wrongful rejections and deviation in timelines in the MNP
process
Wrongful rejections can be discouraged by levying financial disincentives on the concerned Donor
Operator after verifying the correctness of rejection of porting requests on sample basis.
For the purpose of verification of correctness of rejection of porting requests by the Donor Operator or
compliance to the timelines, the telecom regulator may call for data from Access Providers or Mobile
Number Portability Service providers or both from time to time. Based on the analysis of the data and
supporting information provided by the MNP service providers and Access Providers, the telecom
regulator shall levy financial disincentives on the concerned access provider
9. Corporate Mobile Number Portability

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Need for Authorized signatorys letter
To ensure genuineness of porting, a copy of the letter from authorized signatorys could be sent by the
Recipient Operator to Donor Operator along with other required details.
Limit on the number of mobile numbers in a corporate porting request

A limit of 50 mobile numbers with a corporate porting request could be prescribed so that probability of
errors in feeding of large mobile numbers with UPCs by the Recipient Operator is reduced and at the
same time sufficient numbers can be processed simultaneously with authorized signatorys request.
CHAPTER-VI: CURBING UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL CALLS
A. Overview
With the advent of technology, it is cheaper and easier than ever to market goods and services to
consumers via the internet or through direct marketing phone calls. High teledensity accompanied by low
tariffs create a great business opportunity for the marketing sector. The direct marketing industry
generates huge amount of money in sales with a large number of people employed in the direct
marketing. But there is also a growing problem with nuisance calls.
Nuisance calls are a scourge. At best they irritate consumers and at worst they can cause anxiety and fear.
They undermine the reputation of the legitimate direct marketing industry.
Unsolicited Commercial Communications (UCC) is one of the major issues of public inconvenience.
What makes the calls a nuisance for consumers is that the calls are unrequested and unwanted. The
telephone consumers may face problem of unsolicited calls and short messages (SMS)/ multi-media
messages (MMS) from direct sales agents (DSAs) and telemarketing agencies promoting business on
behalf of various commercial and business organizations. The use of telephone is a personal and private
affair of the subscriber and any unsolicited intervention is considered as intrusion of the subscribers
privacy.
There are several key factors that have made the issue of nuisance calls particularly acute over the past
few years:
The expansion of the data industry, where through the internet and other means, the collection
and sale of data has become a lucrative growth industry.
The reduction in the cost of making calls and the development of new technology that enables
organisations to make a large number of live unsolicited direct marketing calls or automated
recorded message calls at little cost.
Wider use of technology that enables the calling line identification (CLI) functionality to be
readily spoofed, which is the practice of changing the telephone number that gets sent with the
call, causing the telephone network to display a number to the consumer that is deliberately false
or invalid, so that consumers do not know where the call came from. This practice also makes it
more difficult to trace the caller in event that a complaint is received by regulators.
The global nature of the communications networks means that calls can be routed through
several countries before arriving in the home country, which makes them more difficult to trace
quickly.
Online marketing provides vast opportunities for technology marketers to better understand prospective
customers by collecting and sharing information from and about users. However, considering the public
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anguish over the issue and the urgent need for a comprehensive approach to tackle the problem of
Unsolicited Commercial Communications, the telecom regulator of the country should put in place a
robust framework to curb the menace of Unsolicited Commercial Communications. The two most
common regulatory schemes are opt-out schemes, wherein customers may request to be removed from
calling lists used by advertisers, and opt-in schemes, in which marketing calls can only be made to those
users who have given their prior consent to receive such calls.

In India, there are regulations to curb menace of unsolicited commercial communications/telemarketing
calls. In Bangladesh, the regulator has issued directives for this purpose. Regulations on Anti-Spam,
Obnoxious and Fraudulent activities exist in Pakistan also. In Afghanistan, there is an order for no
establishment of telemarketing calls. In Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives, there is no regulation or
framework specifically to curb the menace of unsolicited commercial communications/telemarketing
calls.Iran
The consumers who get affected by unsolicited commercial communications/telemarketing calls, in

Nepal and Bhutan, can complain to the regulator. Maldives in the meantime is seeking for an interim
solution for those customers who do not wish to receive unsolicited commercial
communications/telemarketing calls. It has plans to address the complaint of this nature. In future it may
implement Do Not Disturb Register so that consumers who do not wish to receive UCC can register.
In India, there is a National Customer Preference Register (NCPR). A customer can opt to block all
commercial communication or selectively block SMS from specified categories. These categories, are as
listed below:
8) Banking/insurance/financial products/credit cards
9) Real Estate
10) Education
11) Health
In Iran also, there is a National Customer Preference Register (NCPR) through which customer can opt to
block all commercial communication in the form of SMS only. If the customer registers himself or
herself for receiving this SMS, they are send but in case of no registration, all advertising SMS are
blocked.
In other SATRC countries there is no such National Customer Preference Register (NCPR).
In India and Pakistan, telemarketers have to get registered with the telecom regulators and in Iran, the
ministry of culture and Islamic guidance is responsible for contents of this telemarketers SMS. In India,
telemarketers have to deposit Rs. 50,000 as the security deposit with the operator before taking telecom
resources whereas in Pakistan no such security needs to be deposited. However, in Pakistan, for bulk
SMS such persons need to identify and white-list their numbers.
In India, there are stringent penalty provisions for violation of the regulations with provision for recovery
of penalty from the security deposit of the telemarketer. The penalty amount increase with the increase in
violations. On the issue of first notice by the Originating Access Provider to the telemarketer for sending
such unsolicited commercial communication, a sum of rupees twenty five thousand only (Rs. 25000/-)
shall be deducted from the security deposit of the telemarketer and deposited in the account as may be
specified by TRAI, from time to time. On the issue of second such notice, a sum of rupees seventy five
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thousand only (Rs. 75000/-) shall be deducted from the security deposit of the telemarketer. This penalty
will reach a sum of rupees two lakh fifty thousand only (Rs. 250,000/-) for sixth such notice. Also, if the
telemarketers violate the provisions of regulations six times then all their telecom resources will be
disconnected and will be subsequently blacklisted for the next two years.
In India, there is a separate number series starting with 140 for telemarketers for voice calls, which will
facilitate easy identification of telemarketing voice calls. In Iran, such a separate number series exists for
telemarketers for SMS only. In India and Bangladesh, there are separate headers for transactional and
promotional messages to facilitate identification by consumers. In Pakistan, there are no such provisions.
In India, to ensure that normal telephone connections are not misused to send promotional messages, the
limit imposed on the number of SMS per day per SIM is 100, after which SMS pack rate is not
applicable. For every SMS sent beyond 100 SMS per day per SIM, customers have to pay minimum 50
paise per SMS. In Pakistan, maximum 200 SMS can be sent every 15 minutes.
In India, to prevent the telemarketers from dumping promotional SMSs which results in inconvenience to
consumers as well as networks, a promotional SMS charge of Rs.0.05 is to be paid by the originating
operator to the terminating operator.The Originating Access provider may collect the promotional SMS
charge from the registered telemarketer.
In India and Bangladesh, the service providers have to ensure that any commercial communication
including SMS, other than transactional messages, is sent only in certain time period of the day. In India,
this time period is from 0900 hrs to 2100 hrs and in Bangladesh it is from 0900 hrs to 2000 hrs.
Registration by consumers in to the National Customer Preference Register (NCPR)

In India and Iran, a subscriber can register his preference or change of preference by making a call/SMS
to a toll free number. It is based on all the approaches i.e. IVRS based, customer care executive based and
SMS based. The customer care executive or IVRS confirm and register the preference of the customer in
the Provider Customer Preference Register. In India, the customer is informed about the preference
exercised by him through SMS with the unique registration number. In India, once the subscriber
registers the preference, he would cease to receive commercial communications as per the preference(s)
after a period of 7 days from the date of registration or change preference whereas this time period is 1
day in case of Iran.

In India, Iran and Pakistan, in case a subscriber receives unsolicited commercial communication after
registration, then he can make the complaint to the service provider through both the methods voice call
and SMS, through a toll free number. In India, the complaint needs to be made within 3 days of receipt of
such UCC. On registration of complaint, a unique complaint number will be communicated to the
complainant by the operator. The action taken on the complaint will be informed to the complainant
within 7 days.
United States
Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the FCC has rules in effect that address unsolicited
telephone marketing calls including those using automated and prerecorded messages. Under current
FCC rules:
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Anyone making a telephone solicitation call to a home must provide his or her name, the name of
the person or entity on whose behalf the call is being made, and a telephone number or address at
which that person or entity can be contacted.
Telephone solicitation calls to your home are prohibited before 8 am or after 9 pm.
Telemarketers must comply immediately with any do-not-call request the consumer makes
during a solicitation call.
In 2003, in an effort to increase consumer protection, the FCC helped establish the national Do-Not-Call
list with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
The national Do-Not-Call list protects home voice or personal wireless phone numbers only. Once the
consumer has placed his home phone number or numbers, including any personal wireless phone
numbers, on the national Do-Not-Call list, callers are prohibited from making telephone solicitations to
those number(s). His number(s) will remain on the list until the subscriber removes them or discontinue
service there is no need to re-register numbers.
The consumer can register his home phone number or wireless numbers on the national Do-Not-Call list
by phone or by Internet at no cost. The subscriber must call from the phone number he wishes to
register.
Telemarketers have up to 31 days from the date that the consumer registers his telephone number to
remove it from their call lists and stop calling him.
According to FCC, telephone solicitation is a telephone call that acts as an advertisement. However,
some phone solicitations are permissible under FCC rules, including: calls or messages placed with
consumers prior permission, by or on behalf of a tax-exempt non-profit organization, or from a person or
organization. However, having an established business relationship no longer meets the rules for
permissible unsolicited calls to the consumers landline phone. Companies and telemarketers must have
the consumers permission to call.
Additionally, many states now have statewide do-not-call lists for residents. The consumers can contact
their states public service commission or consumer protection office to see if their state has such a list,
and to find out how to register their numbers.
If the consumer receives a telephone solicitation that he thinks violates any of the FCC rules, he can file a
complaint with the FCC. The FCC can issue warning citations and impose fines against companies
violating or suspected of violating the do-not-call rules, but does not award individual damages.
The consumers have multiple options for filing a complaint with the FCC:
File a complaint online
By phone
By mail
Australia
The Do Not Call Register (DNCR) is an Australian Government initiative that gives Australians the
opportunity to opt out of receiving most telemarketing calls or marketing faxes.But putting the number
on the Do Not Call Register will not stop scam calls to that phone number. ACMA recommends
consumers to be vigilant when receiving any unsolicited phone calls to their number and if they suspect it
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is a scam simply hang up. Also, ACMA suggests consumers to protect their personal and financial details
and never provide them to anyone calling their number they are not completely certain about. To report a
scam call, consumer can go to the Australian Consumer & Competition Commissions Scamwatch
website or call on their number.
Under the DNCR Act, telemarketers and fax marketers must not call or fax registered numbers. Any
business that calls or faxes a number on the register, or arranges for a call to be made or fax to be sent to
a number on the register, may be in breach of the legislation and could face penalties. To avoid possible
penalties, businesses planning to make telemarketing calls or send marketing faxes are able to check, or
wash, their calling lists against the register. Businesses do this by submitting their lists to the Register
Operator, through the Telemarketer Access Portal -a website for industry- or by posting in a CD-ROM.
Lists are washed and returned to the businesses, with numbers they can, and cannot, call or fax identified.
Businesses are not provided with any number they did not have.
The DNCR Act allows certain telemarketing calls and marketing faxes to be made, where the contact is
authorised by an exempt organisation. These include contact authorised by:
government bodies
registered charities
registered political parties, independent members of parliament and political candidates
educational institutions, where the call or fax is made to a household where a current or former
student lives or previously lived.
However, where the call or fax relates to goods or services, the exempt organisation must be the supplier
or prospective supplier of those goods or services for the call or fax to be exempt.
There is a Telemarketing and Research Industry Standard 2007 that sets rules about when and how
telemarketers can contact people. It includes requirements for:
1. when telemarketing and research calls cannot be made
2. information that must be provided during a telemarketing or research call
3. when calls must be terminated
4. the use of calling line identification.
The standard applies to any person or business intending to make telemarketing or research calls,
regardless of whether they are exempt from the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (the DNCR Act).
This means that even if a particular business, such as a charitable organisation, is exempt from the
requirements of the DNCR Act and therefore able to call numbers listed on the Do Not Call Register, it
must still meet the requirements contained in the standard.
Different rules can apply depending upon whether a call is a research call or other telemarketing call.In
general:
1. a call is a research call if one of its purposes is to conduct opinion polling or standard
questionnaire-based research
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2. a call is a telemarketing call if one of its purposes is to offer to supply, or to advertise or promote,
goods or services, or an interest in land, or a business or investment opportunity, or to advertise or
promote a supplier of any of the above, or to solicit donations.
Where a call is for a dual purpose, in that it contains opinion polling or research elements, but also has a
telemarketing component, then the call becomes a telemarketing call for the purposes of the DNCR Act
and must not be made to a number on the register unless it is a designated telemarketing call.
United Kingdom
According to OFCOM, if someone rings the consumer trying to sell something, this is known as a live
telesales call. Although companies and organisations are allowed to make live telesales calls, they cannot
call the consumer if he has:
told them previously that he does not want to receive telesales calls from them; or
registered his number with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) or Corporate Telephone
Preference Service (CTPS), unless he has previously given a company permission to make
marketing calls to him.
The law makes a distinction between live telesales calls (where there is a person on the line) and
automated marketing calls when a recorded marketing message is played.
When someone makes a live telesales call to the consumer, the calling agent must supply him with the
name of the caller and, if he asks for it, the address of the caller or a free telephone number. The
consumer can use this information to notify the caller that he no longer wishes to receive live marketing
or sales calls.
The consumer can notify the caller by telephone, email or letter. Once the caller has been notified, they
should not make any live telesales calls to the number(s), the consumer has given them. In addition,
consumer can register his landline or mobile number with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).The
TPS is a free service that allows consumers to record their preference not to receive any unsolicited
telesales calls. Once registered with the TPS, the number(s) provided by consumer is added to an official
list of numbers that all UK organisations (including charities, voluntary organisations and political
parties) are prohibited from calling for sales and marketing purposes.
Although there are commercial organisations that offer services for reducing nuisance calls, the TPS list
is the only official register for opting out of live telesales calls. The TPS register is established and
supported by legislation and organisations which want to make live telesales calls are legally required to
screen their sales lists against the TPS list only. The TPS and Ofcom are not affiliated with any
commercial organisations that offer services to reduce nuisance calls. An equivalent service, the
Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS), is available for corporate bodies.
Registering with the TPS should reduce live telesales calls but it will not prevent all unwanted calls.
Firms can still contact consumer to carry out market research even if consumer is registered with the
TPS, although these calls must not be combined with any marketing or selling. Also, TPS registration
does not work if consumer has previously given a firm permission to market to you by phone. The
consumer can withdraw this consent by simply contacting the caller and informing them that he does not
wish to be called for marketing purposes.
When the consumer registers his number(s) with the TPS/CTPS it takes up to 28 days for it to come into
effect. If he is still getting calls after 28 days, he can complain to the TPS. He can do this online, by
phone or in writing. The TPS will contact the caller in question asking for an explanation and requesting
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that it removes the number from its call lists. It also sends details of the complaints it receives to the
Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).The ICO has powers to investigate and take action against
anyone making marketing calls to consumers or corporate bodies registered with the TPS or CTPS.
Overseas firms who call on behalf of UK-based organisations should comply with UK law. This means
that they should screen their call lists against the TPS register before making unsolicited sales and
marketing calls.
When making a complaint, consumers should try to provide as much information as they can, including if
possible:
the organisation which made the call;
the date and time of the call;
the telephone number that made the call; and
the nature of the sales/marketing that occurred during the call.
This information is valuable because it helps regulators to take more targeted action.
For up-to-date information and advice on the latest scams, the consumer should contact Action Fraud
the UK's national fraud reporting centre. However, if debit cards, online banking or cheques are involved
in the scam, then the consumers first step should to contact his bank or credit card company.
One specific scam is the missed call' scam. Victims receive a missed call from a number beginning 070
or 076.These numbers are used as they appear to be calls from a mobile phone number. However, when
the victim tries to call the number back, the call is immediately dropped or an engaged tone is played and
the victim is charged 50p for making the call. Ofcom recommends to the consumer that if he receives a
missed call from a number beginning 070 or 076 that he does not recognise, do not call it back. Instead,
make a note of the number and complain to the premium rate regulator, Phonepay Plus by phone, online
or in writing.
D. Recommendations
After analyzing the regulations and framework to curb the menace of unsolicited commercial
communications/telemarketing calls in the SATRC countries and in some other countries of the world, it
can be concluded that the telecom regulator can come out with a number of technological, commercial
solutions and financial disincentives to stop the menace of UCC. Therefore, following suggestions are
made which can be considered for implementation by members of SATRC in their respective countries:
1. Setting up a National Customer Preference Register (NCPR)
The telecom regulator could set up a National Customer Preference Register (NCPR)where consumers
desirous of not receiving any such messages or wanting to receive messages of only a particular category
can register themselves. The customer should be able to make call/ send SMS for registration of
preference or change of preference or deregistration on a toll free short code. Before sending promotional
messages, regulator should require the telemarketers to ensure that these messages are not sent to
consumers who are listed in the National Customer Preference Register (NCPR), and have opted not to
receive such messages.
2. Blocking of Bulk International Messages
In many cases, it is found that spam messages are routed through servers located in different countries.
Therefore, the telecom regulator could mandate that TSPs monitor and prevent the practice of
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circumventing telecom regulators spam control provisions by routing commercial SMSs through
Internet servers located outside the country.
3. Specific Phone Numbers for Telemarketing Calls

To give an option to the subscriber to receive or reject an incoming telemarketing call, the telecom
regulator could mandate that all telemarketing calls be made only from phones with a distinct number
series beginning.
To check proliferation of UCCs from unregistered telemarketers who make calls or send messages from
phones with normal number series, telecom regulator could mandate that TSPs implement technical
solutions and ensure that commercial SMSs are never sent from an unregistered source or number.
There could be separate headers for transactional and promotional messages to facilitate easy
identification by consumers.
4. UCC Complaint Redressal
Telecom regulator could empower consumers with a simplified procedure to lodge UCC complaints.
They should be able to provide details of an offending number to their service provider, by sending a text
message or telephonically calling the common short code number. Service providers should also be
required to promptly register such complaints online.
5. Preventing Misuse of Bulk SMS Packs

Some cheap SMS packs can be misused by unregistered telemarketers to send bulk SMSs. The telecom
regulator could mandated that SMSs exceeding 100 per day shall be charged at a rate not less than 50
paise per SMS, i.e. no concessional rate can be provided by a TSP for more than 100 SMSs per day. This
can discourage usage of bulk SMS packs for sending UCCs by unregistered telemarketers and curtail
nuisance SMSs.
6. Registration of Telemarketers and Rationalisation of Deposits and Fees
Unregistered telemarketers are largely responsible for UCCs and spam SMSs. Recognising this, the
telecom regulator could encourage registration of telemarketers by incentivising them to register and
carry out their business legally. This could be done by setting a rationalized value for the initial deposit
and registration fees and increasing the validity period of registration for authorised telemarketers.
7. Stringent penalty provisions

The regulator could make stringent penalty provisions for violation of regulations with provision for
recovery of penalty from the security deposit of the telemarketer. This amount of penalty should keep on
increasing with the number of contravention, in order to inculcate a greater sense of responsibility among
the telemarketers.
8. Disconnection of Telecom Resources and Blacklisting of Telemarketers

Once a complaint is received by a TSP about a UCC being made from an unauthorised source, the same
is investigated and if found genuine, the UCC sending subscriber could be blacklisted. Further, all
telecom resources allotted to such a sender could be disconnected and no telecom resource should be
provided to such subscriber by any TSP for a period of two years.
Even authorised telemarketers found to be violating the telecom regulators regulations should be
blacklisted after 6 such recorded violations. As a strong penal measure, all telecom resources provided to
such a telemarketer should also be disconnected.
9. Disconnection of Telecom Resources of Organisations/ Entities on whose behalf the UCC is sent
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It is a common observation that a large number of UCC complaints received from consumers are calls or
messages sent on behalf of banks, insurance companies, builders, and other such organisations. These
organizations may appoint unregistered telemarketers on their behalf for sending the UCCs.
Organisations marketing their products through retailers, distributors and franchisees are responsible for
the acts of their agents. The telecom regulator could, therefore, issue a regulation to ensure that banks,
insurance companies, real estate companies, and such other companies on whose behalf the telemarketing
calls are being made are also liable to have their telecom resources disconnected. This will inculcate a
greater sense of responsibility in these organisations.
Conclusion:
A regulators mission is to ensure that the interests of consumers are protected and at the same time to
nurture conditions for growth of telecommunications services in a manner and at a pace which enables
the country to play a leading role in the emerging global information society. For achieving these
objectives, the regulator should issue from time to time regulations, directions, orders or guidelines with
focus on providing consumer with adequate protection, choice, affordable tariffs and high quality of
service besides other areas.
This report covers some of the vital regulatory domains that should be addressed as a matter of priority to
ensure that digital consumers are fully empowered and protected. These domains are complaint redressal,
Quality of Service (QoS), billing accuracy, Mobile Number Portability (MNP) and Unwanted
Commercial Communications (UCC). The consumer protection regulations put in place by some
regulators around the world, have been studied to identify international best practices. The consumer
protection measures of all the SATRC countries have also been analysed. It is observed that some
SATRC countries have robust consumer protection regulations in place, circumventing these issues while
some countries in the region have implemented consumer protection measures partially.
Therefore, this report can be used as a guide by the regulators of SATRC region while formulating the
consumer protection framework that is appropriate for their respective countries.
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Annexure 1
Questionnaire

2. Is your administration responsible for protecting consumers interests in the Telecom
sector?
a. If no, please specify details of the concerned administration
3. What are the following key Telecom Services Performance Indicators for your
country?
a. Number of telecom operators - for both wireless and wired services. Please
classify them further into private and public operators
b. Number of subscribers - for both wireless and wired services
c. Teledensity - for both wireless and wired services for rural and urban areas
d. Monthly Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for Access Services
e. HHI (Herfindal-Hirschman index) - for both wireless and wired services
4. Does your country have Consumers Handbook on Telecommunications?
b. If yes, then please specify the languages in which it is available.
5. Does your country have registered consumer protection organizations in telecom
sector? If yes, then
c. How many of them exist?
d. What is the method of interaction between consumer organizations and
telecom regulator?
6. Do you conduct regional consumer education workshops?
b. If yes, then what is their frequency?
7. Are there any Regulations, Direction and Orders on consumer protection in telecom
sector?
c. If yes, then please specify the areas it covers.
d. If not, then
iii. Is there any roadmap prepared for protection of consumers in the
telecom sector? Please provide details.
iv. What are the major barriers being faced to implement a robust
consumer protection mechanism?
8. Describe the most common complaints made by the customers of telecom sector in
your country?
COMPLAINT REDRESSAL
9. Are there any Regulations, Direction and Orders on complaint redressal system? If
yes, please provide details.
Establishment of Complaint Centre

10. Is the Telecom Service Provider (TSP) in your country mandated to have an
established Complaint Centre? If yes, then
e. What are timings and days of operation of Complaint Centre?
f. Do the TSPs have a Consumer Care Number? Is it toll-free?
g. Can the consumer use a connection from any other service provider to
contact the Complaint Centre, if his telephone/ mobile is faulty?
h. Which all languages does the customer care executive speak? (English/Local
language etc)

11. Is a unique docket number allotted while registering the complaint?
12. Is there any time limit for resolution of the complaint?
c. If it is same for all service parameters, then please specify.
d. If it is not same for all service parameters, then please specify it for the
following:
i. Basic Telephone Service (wireline):
S.No. Service Parameter Time Limit for

redressal of complaint
1) Provision of Telephone
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2) Fault Repair
3) Shift of Telephone Connection
4) Termination/ Closure of service
5) Resolution of billing/ charging

complaints
6) Period of applying
credit/waiver/adjustment
7) Time taken for refund of deposits after
closure
ii. Cellular Mobile Telephone Service:

1) Resolution of billing/ charging
complaints
2) Period of applying
credit/waiver/adjustment to
customers account from the date of
resolution of complaints
3) Termination/ Closure of service
4) Time taken for refund of deposits after

closure
iii. Broadband Service:

1) Service Provisioning /Activation Time
2) Fault Repair / Restoration Time
3) Billing Performance (a) Percentage of

Billing Complaints resolved. (b) Time
taken for refund of deposits after
closure
iv. If there are some additional service parameters which can be

incorporated, then please specify them.
13. Does the Complaint Centre communicate the unique docket number along with date
and time of registration and the time limit for resolution of the complaint through
SMS to the consumer?
14. Is the consumer informed of the action taken to address the complaint through SMS?
15. For how long the details of complaint will remain in the system against each docket
number?
Handling of queries
16. Is General Information Number established by all the service providers if in case a
consumer needs certain information from the service provider?

17. Does the Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) at the Consumer Care Number
operate in the prescribed multi step manner? If yes, then please specify the steps.
18. In how many steps does the consumer gets to speak to a customer care executive in
the IVRS system?
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19. Is there any Appellate Authority which can be approached by a consumer for the
redressal of complaint, if he is not satisfied? If yes, then
n. Are the contact details of the Appellate Authority available in :
iii. the start-up kit
iv. web site of the service providers and their sales outlets
o. Is there any fee or charge for filing an appeal? If yes, then what is the
amount?
p. Can the appeal be filed through :
v. e-mail
vi. fax
vii. post
viii. in person
q. What is the time limit prescribed for redressal of complaint by the appellate
authority?
r. Can an appellant appear in person to present his case before the Appellate
Authority?
s. Is there any Advisory Committee to the Appellate authority of the service
provider in every service area? If yes, then who all are the constituent
members of such advisory committees?
t. Is a unique appeal number assigned by the secretariat of the Appellate
Authority during the registration of an appeal?
u. Is the acknowledgement of the appeal communicated to the consumer made
through SMS or e-mail? What is the time limit for it?
v. Is a copy of the appeal forwarded to the service provider concerned for filing
a reply? What is the time limit in which the service provider can file a reply?
w. Is the reply of the service provider along with the appeal, placed before the
Advisory Committee for its consideration?
x. What is the time limit in which an Advisory Committee has to render its
advice on every appeal placed before it?
y. What is the time limit in which the secretariat has to place the advice of the
Advisory Committee before the Appellate Authority?
z. Whose responsibility is it to intimate the decision on the appeal to the
appellant and the service provider? (For eg In India, this is the responsibility
of secretariat of the Appellate Authority)

20. Are there any regulations that require the setting up of a Web based complaint
monitoring system by the service provider through which the consumers can track
their complaints? If yes, provide details of such application in your country.
21.Does your country have a Telecom Consumers Complaint Monitoring System to help
the customer in processing their complaints?

22. Does your country have a telecom consumers charter? If yes, are all service
providers required to publish a Telecom Consumers Charter in English and the local
language of the service area? If yes, then does it have the following information?
a. Inter-alia terms and conditions of service
b. Information about complaint redressal mechanism, complaint redressal
procedure
c. Different time frames specified by the authority for various complaints
under QoS regulations
d. QoS parameters specified by the authority in respect of each of the
service
e. Quality of service promised by the service providers
f. Amount to be deducted as administrative expenses or otherwise
g. Consumer care number
h. General information number
i. Various procedures related to services like mobile number portability,
procedure for termination or disconnection of each service offered by
the service provider
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j. Right of the consumers under different regulations, orders issued by
the authority
k. Duties and obligations of service providers under different regulations,
orders and directions issued by the authority
23. Does the Start-up Kit, which a mobile customer gets at the time of his enrolment,
contain an abridged version of the Telecom Consumers Charter containing salient
features?

24. Are the service providers required to publish the following information in leading
newspapers:
i. Customer Care Number
ii. General Information Number
iii. Contact details of the Appellate Authority
iv. Procedure for monitoring of complaints on the web based complaint
monitoring system
d. Is this information published in
iii. English
iv. local language
e. What is the frequency of publishing this information?
f. Do the service providers need to make the same information available on
their web site also?
25.In your opinion, what additional measures can be incorporated for addressing the
issue of Complaint Redressal? provide details
QUALITY OF SERVICE
26. Have you issued any Quality of Service regulations? If yes, then
e. Have you laid down the Quality of Service standards for
i. Basic and Cellular Mobile Telephone Services
ii. Broadband service
f. Have you specified parameters on quality of service related to network outages
and the benchmarks for meeting these parameters by the service providers? If
yes, then are these any of the following (Please specify the benchmarks laid
down by you for the corresponding parameters on quality of service ):
vi. BTS accumulated downtime
vii. Call set-up success rate
viii. SDCCH/ Paging Chl. Congestion
ix. TCH Congestion
x. Please specify any other parameters that can be incorporated
g. To ensure quality of service and to monitor the performance of service providers
against the QoS parameters prescribed in the regulations, do you adopt any of
the following strategies:
i. Performance Monitoring report from service providers. If yes, then what is
their frequency?
ii. Audit of QoS by third party agency. If yes, what is the frequency of audit of
the network for quality of service for
4) mobile telephone service
5) basic service
6) broadband service
iii. Survey of Customer satisfaction through third party agency. If yes, what is
the frequency of this survey?
iv. Please specify if any other strategies are adopted?
h. Do you obtain Point of Interconnection (POI) congestion reports on monthly basis
from the service providers?
27.In your opinion, what additional measures can be incorporated for addressing the
issue of Quality of Service? pl describe briefly.
BILLING ACCURACY
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28. Have you prescribed a uniform code of practice for metering and billing accuracy in
order to protect the interest of subscribers from inaccurate billing and charging?
29. Do the service providers have to arrange audit of their Metering and Billing System?
If yes, then
m. What is the frequency of such audit?
n. Are the auditors empanelled by your organization?
o. Do the service providers need to furnish an audit certificate to your
organization?
p. If yes, then what is the frequency and last date for its submission?
q. Is an Action Taken Report on inadequacies, if any, pointed out by the auditor
in the audit report, submitted to your organization?
r. If yes, then what is the frequency and last date for its submission?
s. Is there any threshold for the tariff plans that are to be audited? (for eg in
India, Tariff plans with 10% or more subscriber base are audited and it is
mandatory to audit atleast three pre paid and post paid plans each which has
maximum subscriber base).
i. If yes, then please specify it.
ii. Are they audited on sample basis? If not, then please specify the
method employed.
t. Has your organization issued a detailed checklist of audit for the
implementation of metering and billing regulation which includes every item
of the Code of Practice and the Terms of reference?
u. Does this audit cover the following :
ii. checking of roaming charges levied on customers vis--vis the published
tariff
v. verification of redressal of billing complaints and complaint handling
process
v. Are the billing complaints received in your organization referred to the auditor
for verification?
w. Are the systemic deficiencies observed during audit to be corrected in a time
bound manner?
x. Has the audit of the metering and billing system helped in the reduction of
incidences of billing complaints?
30.In your opinion, what additional measures should be incorporated for addressing the
issue of Billing Accuracy? Please provide brief details.
MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY (MNP)

31. Is Full Number Portability implemented in your country? If yes, then please describe
the the process in brief.
32. Describe the type of MNP implemented in your country
c. Is it allowed irrespective of the mobile technology (GSM/CDMA)?
d. Is it allowed only within in a licensed service area or across the licence areas
as well?
33. Does a subscriber desirous of porting his mobile number needs to
h. Contact Recipient Operator (RO) to whom he wants to port his mobile
number?
i. Obtain Customer Acquisition Form (CAF) & Porting Form from the R.O.?
j. Read the eligibility, permissible grounds for rejection of porting requests and
other conditions carefully?
k. Obtain Unique Porting Code (UPC) by sending SMS from the mobile number
to be ported? If yes, then please specify
iii. procedure for obtaining UPC
iv. the validity of UPC
l. Submit the duly filled Porting Form and CAF along with documentary proof to
the Recipient Operator.
m. A post paid subscriber should also submit a paid copy of the last bill along
with Porting Form and CAF.
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n. Obtain new SIM card from the Recipient Operator
34. What amount is charged in your country as porting charges to the consumer?
Eligibility for porting

35. What is the eligibility to make a porting request?
36. After how many days of activation of a mobile connection, can MNP be allowed?
37. If a mobile number is already ported once, can the number again be ported?
b. If yes, then after how many days from the date of the previous porting, is it
allowed?
38. At the time of porting request, is a post paid subscriber required to submit an
undertaking that he has already paid all the dues as per the last bill to the Donor
Operator and that he/she would be bound to pay all the dues to the Donor Operator
till its eventual porting?
39. Is a pre-paid subscriber, given an undertaking that he understands that at the time
of porting the balance amount of talk time, if any, would lapse?
Grounds for rejecting porting request
40. Are there any conditions under which a Porting request can be rejected?
b. If yes, then are these any of the following:
x. If the outstanding payment is certain amount of money.
2) If yes, then please specify the amount of money.
xi. If it has been made before the expiry of a period of certain days from
the date of activation of a new connection.
2) If yes, then please specify the period of days.
xii. If change of ownership of the mobile number is under process.
xiii. If the case related to the mobile number sought to be ported, is sub-
judice.
xiv. If the mobile number sought to be ported has been prohibited by a
Court of Law.
xv. If the subscriber has applied for inter-service area porting.
xvi. If the unique porting code mentioned in the porting request does not
match with the unique porting code allocated by the Donor Operator
for the mobile number sought to be ported or validity of UPC has
expired.
xvii. On the ground of subsisting contractual obligations, with some
exceptions.
2) Please specify the exceptions, if any.
xviii. Any other ground for rejection for porting?

41. Is there a provision for withdrawing the porting request? If yes, then
d. What is the time limit in which a subscriber may withdraw his porting
request?
e. How is the recipient operator informed about it?
f. Is there any obligation on the service provider to refund the porting charges
paid?
Porting time
42.What is the maximum time period for the completion of porting process?
b. Are there any exceptions? If yes, please specify them.
43. Does the Recipient Operator intimate the date & time of porting to subscriber?
44. Is there any service disruption time?
b. If yes, please specify its duration?
45.In your opinion, what additional measures should be incorporated for addressing the
issue of Mobile Number Portability?
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CURBING UNWANTED COMMERCIAL COMMUNICATIONS (UCC)
46. Is there any regulations/framework to curb menace of unsolicited commercial

communications/telemarketing calls?
47. Is there a provision to complaint against a scam call/SMS? If yes, please provide
details.
48. Is there a provision to notify the caller that you no longer wish to receive live
marketing or sales calls? If yes, please provide details.
49. Is there any National Do Not Call Registry (NDNC)? If yes, then
c. Can a customer opt to block all commercial communication through this
Register?
d. Can a customer opt to selectively block SMS from specified categories?
1) If yes, then are these categories, any of the ones listed below:
Banking/insurance/financial products/credit cards
2) Real Estate
3) Education
4) Health
ii. If in case you have some more categories, please specify them.
50. Is it mandatory for the telemarketers to register with the regulator/ or any other
organisation? In case of other organization, please specify.
b. If yes, then do they have to deposit certain security deposit with the operator
before taking telecom resources?
ii. If yes, then please specify the amount of security deposit?
51. Are there any penalty provisions for violation of the regulations?
d. If yes, then does it have a provision for recovery of penalty from the security
deposit?
e. Does the penalty amount increase with the increase in violations?
ii. If yes, then does the telemarketer have to deposit additional security
deposit on consequent violations?
2) If yes, then specify the amount.
f. Is there any provision for disconnecting the telecom resources after certain
violations? If yes, then
iii. Specify the number of violations
iv. Is there subsequent blacklisting that takes place for the telemarketer?
2) If yes, then what is the duration for which the telemarketer is
blacklisted?
52. Do you have separate number series for telemarketers for voice calls?
b. If yes, please specify.
53. Are there any separate headers for transactional and promotional messages to
facilitate identification by consumers?
54. Are there any restrictions for sending of SMS in excess of certain number to ensure
that normal telephone connections are not misused to send promotional messages?
If yes, then
a. Please specify it for both postpaid and prepaid connections.
55. Is there any promotional SMS charge to be paid by the originating operator to the
terminating operator?
56. Is there any time period during which any commercial communication including SMS,
other than transactional messages can be sent?
Registration by consumers in to the Do Not Disturb Register
57. Can a subscriber register his preference or change of preference by making a
call/SMS?
f. If yes, then is it a toll free number?
g. Is it IVRS based or customer care executive based or SMS based or both?
h. Does the IVRS or customer care executive confirm exercise of preference of
the customer?
i. Is the customer informed of his registration of preference and the unique
registration number?
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ii. If yes, then is it through SMS or by other means? Please specify, if it is
by other means?
j. After how many days would a customer cease to receive commercial
communications from the date of registration or change preference?
58. Can a subscriber make a complaint to the service provider in case a subscriber
receives unsolicited commercial communication after registration? If yes, then
f. Can the customer make the complaint through voice call or SMS or both?
g. Is it a toll free number?
h. Is there any time limit in which this complaint needs to be made, after receipt
of such UCC?
ii. If yes, then please specify.
i. Is a unique complaint number communicated to the complainant by the
operator on registration of complaint?
j. Is the time limit in which the action taken on the complaint will be informed to
the complainant?
ii. If yes, then please specify.
In your opinion, what additional measures should be incorporated for
addressing the issue of Curbing Unwanted Commercial Communications
(UCC)? Please provide a brief write up on proposed measures.
----------------------------- End of Draft Report on PRS-01 -----------------------------------
Annex-B
COMPILATION OF RESPONSES ON EMERGING LICENSING FRAMEWORK

INCLUDING EXIT AND RELICENSING POLICY OF SATRC NATIONS
A. Existing licensing Frame Work-
Q1.When was the telecom sector liberalized and opened for private
operators? When were initial (first) licenses issued to private operators
and for how many years (period of Licence)?
India:
In India, liberalisation process in the telecom services market began in 1992. Prior to
liberalization of Indian telecommunication service sector, the telecom services in the
country were provided by Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and MTNL
(Government Telecom Company).
Telecom Services Sector was opened up for private participation with the issue of
licences for radio paging and other value added services. Separate licences were
awarded for each type of service. The other services were opened up for private
participation later on:
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Mobile Services 1994
Basic Services- 1997-98
Internet Services-1998
National Long Distance (NLD) -2000
International Long Distance (ILD)-2002
For the award of Mobile, Basic and Internet licences, Initially Indian territory
was divided into 23 Licensed Service Areas (LSAs), now there are 22 LSAs.
With the implementation of National Telecom Policy-1994 (NTP-1994), the first phase of
liberalisation in mobile telephony began with the award of eight Cellular Mobile
Telephone Service (CMTS) licences in four Metros (Bombay, Delhi, Calcutta, Madras) in
1994. These were awarded on the basis of a beauty contest. The licence fees were a
flat amount for the first three years, and then were linked to the number of subscribers
subject to a minimum amount. Subsequently, 34 CMTS licences were awarded in 18
Licence Service Areas (LSAs), two each in all LSAs through a single-stage competitive
bidding process in November 1995 except West Bengal and Assam, where only one
licence was awarded. No bids were received for Jammu and Kashmir and the then
Andaman and Nicobar LSA. The licence had a validity of 10 years extendable by a period
of five years at a time.
In 1999, the Government noted that the result of the NTP-94 was not satisfactory and
the operators and the sector were facing financial problems. It, therefore, brought in a
fresh policy-the New Telecom Policy 1999 (NTP-99). It brought following important
changes:
NTP-99 allowed the licensees to migrate from a Fixed Licence Fee Regime to a
Revenue Share arrangement with effect from 1st August, 1999.
Licences validity period was extended for 20 years, extendible by 10 years.

Previously, it was ten years, extendible by 5 years.
The Cellular licence was made technology-neutral; it was mandatory
for the licensees to use GSM technology.
In 1997, the Government granted the third mobile licence to MTNL for
Delhi and Mumbai Metros. For other LSAs, BSNL was licenced as the
third CMTS operator in 2000.
The Government awarded CMTS licences to 4th operators in the LSAs in 2001
through a single stage bidding process.
In November 2003, Government introduced the Unified Access Service (UAS)
licensing regime. It permitted an access service provider to offer both fixed
and/or mobile services under the same licence, using any technology. It was
decided by the Government that with the introduction of Unified Access
Service Licence (UASL), all applications in future shall be in the category of
Unified Access Service Licence. The existing operators were given the option
to continue under the present licensing regime or migrate to new UASL. The
majority of licensees have migrated to the UASL regime.
Subsequently UAS licences were given in November 2003, January 2004,
December 2006, and March 2007, as and when people applied for the same.
All these licences were linked with spectrum and entry fees was the same as
charged for the fourth cellular licence.
Afghanistan:
- Afghanistan Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (ATRA) was established in 2006 in

order to regulate telecommunication in Afghanistan.
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- First GSM license was issued to Roshan Company in 9th of January 2003 for 15 years.
Bangladesh:
- The telecom sector was liberalized and opened for private operators in 1989. A license
was issued in 1989 for a period of 15 years. Its also needed to mention that, different
types of license issued in a different time where the Period of License may vary but most
of the big operators like Mobile, BWA, and Gateways period of the license is 15 years.
Bhutan:
- The telecom sector was liberalized and opened for private operators in 2006. A
consolidated (unified) licence was issued in 2007 for a period of 15 years.
Pakistan:
- The Telecom sector in Pakistan was liberalized in 1996 with the emergence of Pakistan
Telecommunication Re-Organization Act, 1996 (Act) which empowered Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to issue & regulate licenses for telecom services.
Before this, there were government owned incumbent operator (PTCL), NTC and SCO in
the fixed sector whereas Mobilink and PakTel in Cellular sector.
- In 2003, De-Regulation policy for fixed telecom was issued, resultantly 14 Long Distance
& International (LDI) and 34 Local Loop (LL) licenses were issued to private operators.
o 20 years each for LDI and LL, also PTA is issuing CVAS (15 yrs) for small
business operators. Cellular license are issued for 15 yrs.
o First cellular Cellular (AMPS) licenses were issued in 1990 for 15 years to PakTel
& InstaPhone followed by first GSM license issued to PMCL (Mobilink) on 6th
July, 1992.
o At present five (5) CMOs are providing GSM/LTE/WCDMA services
Iran:
Except radio licenses:
- 2008 was the year that the principle telecom sector liberalized but before that some
private operators were issued licenses:
- Small fix operators: 2003 (period of License: 10 years)
- A large mobile operator (Irancell): 2005 (period of License: 10 years)
Radio licenses:
- From very ancient the Radio licenses were issued to private sector (period of licence: 1
year to 3 years).
Maldives:
- Second ISP licence issued in 1996 to Focus Infocomm for 10 years.

Page 107 of 133
Sri Lanka
- Sri Lankan telecommunication industry was liberalized in 1991.

- Initial licence for the private operators was issued in 1989 for a licence period of six
years.
Q2. Which are the Authorities / Agencies/ Government Departments or

Ministries that are involved in issue of License, monitoring of license in
your country?
India:
The Telecom service sector in India is controlled, regulated and monitored by:
Department of Telecom (DoT) and Telecom Commission, Ministry of
Communications and Information Technology (MOC&IT), Government
of India;
The Department of Telecom formulates developmental policies for the
accelerated growth of the telecommunication services. The Department is
also responsible for grant of licenses for various telecom services like Unified
Access Service Internet and VSAT service. The Department is also
responsible for frequency management in the field of radio communication in
close coordination with the international bodies. It also enforces wireless
regulatory measures by monitoring wireless transmission of all users in the
country.
The Telecom Commission was set up by the Government of India vide
Notification dated 11th April, 1989 with administrative and financial powers
of the Government of India to deal with various aspects of
Telecommunications.
The Telecom Commission and the Department of Telecommunications are
responsible for policy formulation, licensing, wireless spectrum management,
administrative monitoring of PSUs, research and development and
standardization/validation of equipment etc. The multi-pronged strategies
followed by the Telecom Commission have not only transformed the very
structure of this sector but have motivated all the partners to contribute in
accelerating the growth of the sector.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was established by the Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 with effect from 20th February 1997, to regulate
telecom services, including fixation/revision of tariffs, interconnection and quality of
service etc of telecom services in India which were earlier vested in the Central
Government.
TRAI's mission is to create and nurture conditions for growth of telecommunications in
the country in a manner and at a pace which will enable India to play a leading role in
emerging global information society. One of the main objectives of TRAI is to provide a
fair and transparent policy environment which promotes a level playing field and
facilitates fair competition. TRAI issues directions, orders and regulations to achieve its
objectives and carry out its functions assigned under Telecom Regulatory Authority of
India Act, 1997.
Telecommunications Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal

(TDSAT)
The TRAI Act was amended by an ordinance, effective from 24 January 2000,
establishing a Telecommunications Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT)
Page 108 of 133

to take over the adjudicatory and disputes functions from TRAI. TDSAT has been set up
to adjudicate any dispute between a licensor and a licensee, between two or more
service providers, between a service provider and a group of consumers, and to hear and
dispose of appeals against any direction, decision or order of TRAI.
Afghanistan:
- Afghanistan Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (ATRA) is responsible for issues and

monitoring of the telecom licenses.
Bangladesh
- Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is the only agency

responsible for the issuance and monitoring of License with the prior approval from the
Government.
Bhutan:
Bhutan InfoComm and Media Authority (BICMA) is the only agency responsible for
issuance and monitoring of Licence.
Iran:
Communication Regulatory Authority (CRA) of Iran
Pakistan:
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA)
Maldives:
The Communications Authority of Maldives (CAM) is responsible for issuing licence and
regulating telecom sector.
Sri Lanka
Sector Autho Agen Government Minist

rities cies Department ries
s
Telecommunica Telecommunica Preside
tions tions ntial
Regulatory Secretar
Commission of iat
Sri Lanka
Media Ministry
of
Media
Transport Department of Ministry
Motor Traffic of
Transpo
rt
Land Ministr
y of
Lands
Page 109 of 133
Foreign Sri Lanka
employment Bureau of
Foreign
Employment
Consumer Consum
Relation er
Protecti
on
Authority
Housing Ministry
of
Housing
Water Supply WS&DB
Electricity PUCSL
Gem & Jewelry Gem &
Jewelry
Authority
Transport Registra
r of
Motor
Vehicles
Other
Q3. Which are the telecom services (e.g. Wireline, Wireless, Internet,
Long Distance etc.) require the License?
India:
Till 2012, individual licenses were required to start a telecom services listed below.
However with the introduction of Unified License in 2012 under which number of telecom
services can be provided less than one licence. Under Unified licence following services
can be provided under single licence by taking appropriate service authorisations:
1. Access Service (Licence Service Area-wise)
2. Internet Service (Category-A with All India jurisdiction)
3. Internet Service (Category-B with jurisdiction in a Service Area)
4. Internet Service (Category-C with jurisdiction in a Secondary Switching
Area)
5. National Long Distance (NLD) Service
6. International Long Distance (ILD) Service
7. Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) Service
8. Public Mobile Radio Trunking Service (PMRTS) Service
9. Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) Closed User Group (CUG) Service
10.INSAT MSS-Reporting (MSS-R) Service
11.Resale of International private Leased Circuit (IPLC) Service
Afghanistan:
Wireless, wire line, Internet long distance and other services in telecom sector are
requiring ATRA license.
Page 110 of 133

Bangladesh
All the services mentioned above require licenses from BTRC.
Bhutan:
All the services mentioned above require licence.
Iran:
All of them
Pakistan:
Wireline: - LDI, FLL, CVAS, ISPs, FTTH, Hybrid (Copper+OFC)

Wireless: - Cellular (3G, 4G, LTE, GSM, WiMax, EVO, CDMA, VHF)
Maldives:
All telecommunication services provider requires operating license from CAM.
Sri Lanka
Section 17 System Licensed Operators

Frequency Licence
Vendor Licence
Fixed Operators
The use of radio equipment Mobile Operators
requires a license under the International
Section 22 of the Sri Lanka Telecommunication
Telecommunications Act Operators (External
- Aeronautical Services Gateway Operators)
- Amateur Services(5) Data Communication
- Broadcasting Services Operators
Internet Service
- Cellular Services
Providers
- Data / Telemetry Services Cable Distribution
- Fixed Services Network Operators
- Land Mobile Services Direct to Home Satellite
- Low Power Device Broadcasting Operators
Trunk Radio Operators
- Maritime Services
Payphone
- Satellite Services
- Low power devices one The Vendor Licence is an
authorisation issued by the
Telecommunication Regulatory
Commission (TRC) to manufacture,
import, sale, offer for sale, deal-in,
hire, lease, demonstrate, maintain
Page 111 of 133

or repair of any telecommunications equipment or radio communication equipment in Sri
Lanka.
Q4. Which are the telecom services that do not require the License and
only registration is required with the concerned authorities? (For
example, in India Infrastructure Providers (IP-I Category) requires
registration only and no license.)
India:
In India Infrastructure Providers (IP-I Category) requires registration only and no licence.
Further, as per New Telecom Policy (NTP) 1999, Other Service Providers (OSP), such as
tele-banking, tele-medicine, tele-trading, e-commerce etc will be allowed to operate by
using infrastructure provided by various access providers for non-telecom services. The
Telecom Commission (Department of Ministry of Communications) in May 1999,
accorded in principle approval for registration of Call Centers, both International and
Domestic, in the country under the above category. Later, services like Network
Operation Centers and Vehicle Tracking Systems were also added to this category. As
per the Terms and Conditions formulated by the Telecom Commission in February 2000,
these application Service Providers could take telecom resources from authorized
Telecom Service Providers only and may not infringe upon the jurisdiction of other
authorized Telecom Service Providers and they will not provide switched telephony.
These companies should meet the revised terms and conditions of OSP registration.
Afghanistan:
In Afghanistan VAS and IT Solution services doesnt requires any license and just need to
be register with ATRA.
- The telecom equipments, which works in spectrum 2.5 Ghz doesnt, require any license
and registration.
Bangladesh
Currently only call center service providers do not require any license, but registration
from BTRC.
Bhutan:
None. The Bhutan Information, communications and Media Act does not exempt any
telecom services from obtaining licence.
Iran:
Some radio services (related to the usage band) do not require license and just
registration
Pakistan:
Content Services, SMS aggregated services & Video Conferencing requires only
registration and it is only for five years.
Page 112 of 133
Maldives:
CB sets and long range communication phone requires one time registration. Equipment
operating on 2.4 GHz requires no licence.
Sri Lanka
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) issues

approval/authorization to Import Controller/Customs/BOI for the importation of network
equipment including Customer Premises Equipment/Terminal Apparatus by
telecommunications operators, vendors or individuals.
Q5. Whether individual license is issued to provide a telecom service or

Unified license (UL) is issued to provide number of telecom services under
one license? If UL is issues what are the services that are covered in it?
India:
Till 2012, individual licenses were required to start a telecom services. However with the
introduction of Unified License in 2012 the services listed above can be provided under
single licence by way of authorizations. However, one company can have only one Unified
Licence. The applicant company can apply for authorization for more than one service
and service area at different time. Under Unified Licence, there can be authorization for
any one or more services. Depending upon the authorization, the scope and jurisdiction
of the licence will vary. At present, licenses for the following services are operative:
Sl. No. Service Remark
1 Unified Licence All Services

2 Access Service Service Area wise
3. Internet Service : Cat-A All India jurisdiction
4. Internet Service : Cat-B Service Area wise
5. Internet Service : Cat-C Secondary Switching Area wise
6. National Long Distance (NLD) All India jurisdiction
7. International Long Distance (ILD) All India jurisdiction
8. Global Mobile Personal Communication All India jurisdiction
by Satellite (GMPCS) Service
9. Public Mobile Radio Trunk (PMRTS) Service Area wise
Service
10. Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) All India jurisdiction
Closed User Group (CUG) Service
11. INSAT MSS-Reporting (MSS-R) Service All India jurisdiction
12. Resale of International Private Leased All India jurisdiction
Circuit (IPLC) Service
Afghanistan:
We have issued six telecom services licenses which are follows;

Page 113 of 133
1. Four individual private GSM licenses have been issued to Etisalat, MTN,
Roshan and AWCC.
2. One private CDMA license has been issued to Wasal Telecm .
3. One governmental Unified license has been issued to Afghan telecom.
The UL has been issued to Afghan telecom, which can be described as below:
- The license is authorized, on a non- exclusive basis to build, own and operate
facilities based network and provide any voice, internet/data and video
telecommunications services to the public thereon as granted by the license,
including local, national and international.
Note: Afghan telecom has been sold it is CDMA part to Wasel telecom it is mean that
Afghan telecom cant provide CDMA service.
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh individual license is issued to provide a telecom service.
Bhutan:
In Bhutan, two types of licenses are issues. Individual licence small telecom operators
including ISPs and ICT Facility providers. However, for big major telecom operators ,
consolidated ( Unified)license is issues.
- Under consolidate licence, the licensee can provide both ICT services as well as ICT
facilities. ICT services includes voice, data and multimedia and ICT facilities includes all
ICT infrastructures required for providing ICT services.
Iran:
Some parts are issued unified license for example unified license for fix and mobile but
we have other mobile operator that their license is individual.
- And also we have UL in fixed wire line Services and we called it FCP
Pakistan:
- Individual license for services e.g. LDI, LL, Cellular, CVAS.

- Unified license (UL) is not covered as per prevailing License Frame Work.
Maldives:
- CAM issues service base license to provide telecom service providers.
Sri Lanka
Individual Licence is issued. Unified licence has not been introduced yet. Currently
TRCSL is reviewing the licensing framework with the assistance of ITU experts.
Q6. On what basis the Regulatory Fee (such as License Fee and
Spectrum Usage Charges etc) is being levied / recovered from the telecom
operators? What are the basis and rates(s) of License Fee and Spectrum
Usage Charges for different categories of licenses?
Page 114 of 133

India:
In India regulatory fee is payable as:

A one-time non-refundable Entry Fee for Unified Licence for all licensed service areas is
150.00 Million. The entry fee varies as per service authorization requirements as given
below:
Service Entry Fee

(Rs. Million.)
Access Service (Telecom 10.00 (5.00
Circle / Metro Area) for NE & J&K)
NLD (National Area) 25.00

ILD (National Area) 25.00
VSAT (National Area) 3.00
PMRTS (Telecom 0.05
circle/Metro)
GMPCS (National Area) 10.00
INSAT MSS-R (National 3.00

Area)
ISP "A" (National Area) 3.00
ISP "B" (Telecom 0.20
circle/Metro Area)
ISP "C" (SSA) 0.02
Resale IPLC(National Area) 10.00
In addition to entry fee, an annual license fee as a percentage of Adjusted Gross

Revenue (AGR) ( Revenue Sharing Basis) shall be paid by the operator License service-
area wise, for each authorized service from the effective date of the respective
authorization. Since 2014 the License fee shall be 8% of the AGR, inclusive of USO levy
which is presently 5% of AGR. Further, from the second year of effective date of
respective authorization, the license fee shall be subject to a minimum of 10% of the
entry fee of the respective authorized service and service area as discussed in above
table.
After the license fee, if the telecom service provider acquires the spectrum through
auction then he is entitled to pay the spectrum related charges, including payment for
allotment and use of spectrum.
The spectrum Usage charges for spectrum acquired by Telecom service provider
(licensee) through auction are 5% of AGR, provided that minimum AGR shall not be less
than 5% of bid amount.
Presently Access Service Licensees are operative in India:

Licensee having only administrative allotted spectrum (with Bundled with License)
Licensee having spectrum acquired through auction. License to be taken /
Renewed separately
Licensee having mix of spectrum (administrative allotted with license) and
acquired through auction.
Page 115 of 133

Service specific telecom licenses granted prior to UL regime are also continuing.
Government as a policy is encouraging service providers to migrate to UL.
However, there is difference in SUC rate and presumptive AGR for the purpose of LF.
SUC: (a) Slab rate for administratively allotted spectrum
(b) 5% for auctioned spectrum
(c) Weighted Average Rate (mixed spectrum)
Afghanistan:
According to law for regulating telecommunication services of Afghanistan, the open

bidding process specifies all fees of telecom licenses.
The following fees are levied / recovered from the telecom operators.
1. One time 3G-license fee is 25 million USD and annual regulatory fee is
250000 USD.
2. Unified license is issued free of cost.
3. One time CDMA license is one million USD and annual regularity fee is
180000 USD.
4. First Frequency Block Fee: Four Thousand United States Dollars
(USD$4,000) or Afghani equivalent annually in respect of each duplex 200
kHz channel assigned to the Licensee in the First Frequency Block as
amended by the New Frequency Assignment Schedule B.
5. Second Frequency Block Fee: Two Hundred Thousand United States Dollars
(USD$200,000) or Afghani equivalent annually per 10 Mhz duplex frequency
band assigned to the Licensee in the Second Frequency Block.
Bangladesh
The licensee must have to pay 5.5% of its annual gross revenue as revenue and 1% of
its annual gross revenue as Social Obligation Fund to the government.
Bhutan:
o Licence fees and regulatory fees are charged to cover administrative cost.
Initially licence fee for mobile service was charged based on the auction that was held
while privatizing the telecom sector. The regulatory fee charged is 1% of Adjusted Gross
Revenue annually.
- Licence fee for ICT facility Licence is Nu. 100,000.00 (One Hundred Thousand) and
Licence fee for ICT service Licence is Nu. 10,000.00 (Ten Thousand).
Iran:
- License fee: income, net profit value, usage of limited resources.

- Spectrum usage charge: Kind of services, band width, type of geographical zone, Time of
usage and coverage
Pakistan:
Page 116 of 133

- LL License Fee: 10,000 USD/license per region (total 14 regions)
- LDI: Rs.500,000/- (five lac) for nationwide
- License fee is decided after thorough consultation with stake holders and notified in a
policy directive by Government of Pakistan.
- Spectrum Price: Auction Based
Maldives:
- 5 percent of the gross turnover is being charge as the licence fee of licence base
service.
Sri Lanka
No comments
Q.7 What are the Rules and Regulations with regard to spectrum
sharing/infrastructure sharing?
India:
DoT issued Guidelines on Spectrum sharing on 24th September, 2015. Followings are
the rules and regulations with regards to spectrum sharing-
1. Spectrum sharing shall be allowed only for the access service providers holding
Cellular Mobile Telephone Service (CMTS)/Unified Access Service License (UASL)/
Unified License (Access Services) (UL(AS))/ Unified License (UL) with authorization of
Access Service in a Licensed Service Area where both the licensees are having spectrum
in the same band.
2. Spectrum sharing is permitted between two Telecom Service Providers utilizing the
spectrum in the same band. Leasing is not permitted.
3. Both the licensees shall ensure that they fulfill the specified roll-out obligations and
specified quality of services norms.
4. If a licensee is in the breach of terms and conditions of the license and the licensor
has ordered for revocation/termination of its license, in this case, licensee shall not be
eligible to share spectrum.
5. The use of technology shall be governed by the terms and conditions of the respective
license.
6. Both the licensees will be individually and collectively responsible for complying with
the sharing guidelines, including interference norms.
7. Spectrum usage charges (SUC) rate of each o the licensees post-sharing shall
increase by 0.5% of Adjusted Gross Revenue. the sharing of spectrum for part of a
month, full one month period shall be counted for the purpose of levying SUC.
8. Spectrum sharing shall be available for upto the balance period of the license or upto
the period of right to use spectrum, whichever is earlier.
9. A non-refundable processing fee shall be payable individually by each licensee for
each service area at the time of intimation to WPC wing. At present, processing fee of
Rs. 50,000/- is to be paid.
In India Infrastructure Sharing among the service providers is being encouraged.
Afghanistan:
We dont have any regulations with regards of spectrum sharing/ infrastructure sharing.
Bangladesh
In Bangladesh Spectrum sharing is not allowed. BTRC issued a guideline regarding

Infrastructure Sharing between the operators. All the telecom licensees are allowed to
share passive infrastructure with others as per Infrastructure Sharing guidelines.
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Bhutan:
- In Bhutan, Spectrum sharing is not mandatory or implemented. However, all licensee are
required to share passive infrastructure as per the Rules governing ICT infrastructure
sharing.
Iran:
- Infrastructure sharing is regulated but the management is under the licensee control,
spectrum sharing is not regulated yet.
Pakistan:
- At present only passive infrastructure sharing is allowed. Also, a separate license

(Infrastructure license) is also being issued.
- Active Sharing and spectrum sharing is not covered in the current regulatory framework,
but it is being considered in the upcoming telecom policy review.
Maldives:
- At presents no regulations for spectrum sharing
Sri Lanka
Spectrum Sharing is carried out between two licensed operators wherever possible and
only the tariff s are being regulated.
Sharing of Antenna Structures [Guidelines on Antenna Structures based on the
National Policy on Antenna Structures]
1.1 Antenna structures should be used on sharing basis for which the tariff
schedule will be determined by TRCSL in consultation with the TISPs. The minimum
number of antenna structures that conform to the technical requirements will be
approved for an identified Antenna Structure Farm.
1.2 The TRCSL will initiate the formation of a new Antenna Structure Farm when the
necessity arises. TISPs may propose such locations to TRCSL.
1.3 The antenna structure shall be designed and constructed to accommodate a
minimum of 20 square meters of additional design antenna area (from the top portion)
for at least two other TSPs. Physical space required for fixing of the additional antenna
shall be reserved at top portion. This allocation of additional design antenna area will be
encouraged through incentive schemes.
1.4 Initially up to three requests will be considered to construct separate antenna
structures within the Antenna Structure Farm. Subsequent applicants should share one
of the available antenna structures. Applications for additional antenna structures will be
considered only under special circumstances and such applications will be referred to
the TAC with justification for such request.
1.5 The Antenna Structure Farm will be confined to a minimum feasible area by the
TRCSL, subject to a maximum radius of 250 m.
1.6 The distance between Antenna Structure Farms will be kept at a minimum
separation of 4 km.
1.7 Both TSPs and TISPs may obtain approval to erect roof top masts of height not
exceeding 20 meters from the roof top within or in between Antenna Structure Farms.
1.8 Broadcasting antenna structures are exempted from the clauses 1.3 and 1.4
provided that application is initially forwarded for an Antenna Structure to be used only
for broadcasting purposes.
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1.9 Cumulative radio frequency power density due to Antenna Structure Farm should
be within the limits defined by ICNIRP and adopted by TRCSL provided that the maximum
RF power levels allowed are as per Annexure I
TRCSL to insist sharing of existing facilities and develop projects for common
antenna structures with the help of investors and operators.
Q8. Which technology(s) is being presently used for wireline and

wireless service?
India:
In India, wireless services are categorized as follows-
2G (Second Generation): The technology used to provide second generation
services are- GSM (Global System for Mobile) and CDMA (Code division multiple
access).
3G ( Third Generation): the 3G services are provided through W-CDMA

(wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), HSPA (High Speed
Packet Access )
4G (fourth Generation): the 4G services are provided using LTE (Long-Term

Evolution), FDD (Frequency Division Duplex), LTE-TDD ((Long-Term Evolution-time
division duplex)
Afghanistan:
The License is technology neutral thereby permitting the Licensee to utilize any current
and future wireless mobile technology standard.
Bangladesh
- For wire-line the technology used is a combination of Fiber, microwave and copper
cables, while GSM, CDMA and VSAT (very limited) are used to provide mobile and
internet service. ADSL is are also used for the provision of broadband services.
Bhutan:
- For wireline the technology used is a combination of Fiber, microwave and copper cables,
while GSM and VSAT are used to provide mobile and internet service. ADSL and DSL are
also used for provision of broadband services.
Iran:
- Wireline: DSL, FTTx, Hybrid, cable.
- Wireless: GSM, CDMA, WiMax, LTE, 3G,
Pakistan:
- Wireline: OFC, DSL, FTTH, Hybrid

- Wireless: WCDMA, HSPA, GSM, CDMA, Rev-A, Rev-B, WiMax
Page 119 of 133

Maldives:
- The licence is technology neutral and operators are permitted to choose any proven
technology.
Sri Lanka
Wireline: IPTV, ADSL, Cable TV,
Wireless: CDMA, LTE, WiMAX, WIFI, Analog Broadcasting (Sound and TV), Satellite TV
B. Emerging Licensing Frame work
Q9. Whether Unified license is proposed to be issued to provide number

of telecom service under one license or still continue with individual
license to provide telecom services?
India:
Unified licence (UL) is issued to provide number of telecom services under one licence.
Different services can be provided by Unified Licensee by taking appropriate service
authorization under it as explained above.
Since 2012, the licensing framework in India is based on Unified License. It contains all
the provision that the licensee should comply with. TRAI has also recommended the
introduction of MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) which is seen as natural
progression towards enhancing free market principles and contributing to the efficient
use of existing telecommunication infrastructure. It is an entity that provides mobile
phone service but does not have its own radio spectrum nor does it necessarily have the
entire infrastructure required to provide mobile telephone service. MVNOs operate
through commercial arrangements with licensed mobile network operator and buy bulk
minutes of traffic and resell them to their own subscribers in their own brand. The
recommendation is under consideration of DoT.
Afghanistan:
- One Unified license has been already issued to Afghan Telecom and the licensee can
provide number of telecom service under that licence.
Bangladesh
- Till date individual licenses are issued to provide telecom services. But BTRC is working
on this issue.
Bhutan:
- We have a converged Act and authorizes Authority to license both individual (ICT service
and ICT facility service) licence and unified ( consolidated) licence.
Iran:
Page 120 of 133
- From the liberalization of telecom, unified license is issued, also recently some other
individual sectors are issued and also some are studied to go to unified licence.
Pakistan:
- Telecom Policy is being revised. Once notified, then it will be known whether UL is in line.
Maldives:
- One operation has granted unified licence. However, we continue to issue service based
individual licence.
Sri Lanka
Unified licence is proposed to be issued. Currently TRCSL is reviewing the licensing

framework with the assistance of ITU experts.
Q10. Is the same technology is being in use or some new technology is

considered to be used by the telecom companies in future? Whether the
Government is providing any support for the use or migration to new
technology? Please explain.
India:
At present the licence as well the use of auctioned spectrum is technology-neutral. The
licensee can also liberalize its administrative spectrum holding by paying market
determined price of the spectrum.
Afghanistan:
- According to the provision of telecom operators licenses, the telecom operators can
provide any future technology but there is no support for the use or migration from the
government.
Bangladesh
- Bangladesh telecommunication Act, regulation and rules are not fully technology neutral.
Operators must have the prior permission from BTRC to use technology neutrality.
Bangladesh Government took several initiatives to promote broadband services. Such as
the government has invested in building fiber network by incumbent operator and reduce
the bandwidth price for data/internet services.
Bhutan:
Our telecommunication Act, regulation and rules are based on technology neutrality and
service sector neutrality. The choice of the technology is left to the operators to decide.
However in order to promote broadband services, government has invested in building

national fiber network and made it an open access network for other licensed service
providers to plug and play.
Page 121 of 133

Iran:
Some new technologies are considered for example 4G.
Yes, Government supported for migrating to new technology, for example relicensing for
allowing mobile operators to deliver service natural technology. In fact, technology
natural was chosen for supporting migration to new technology.
Pakistan:
All licenses are technology neutral.
For example, recently Warid Telecom which was operating cellular license for GSM in
1800 MHz has shifted to LTE in same license with a few modifications in the license.
Maldives:
Ref. response to Q8.
Sri Lanka
In few cases the TRCSL and GOSL has provided some assistance.
Q11. Whether the new license or renewal of license is being issued

bundled with spectrum or the spectrum has to be acquired through
auction or at market price?
India:
No. Spectrum has been delinked from the licence. Spectrum has to be obtained
thorough auction / at market determined price only.
Spectrum allotted administratively put on auction after expiry of licence period. No
priority is accorded to licenses whose license is expiring.
In 2010, first time spectrum in 2100 MHz and 2300 MHz bands was allotted through
auction. So far auctions for spectrum in different bands (800/900/1800/2100 MHz)
have taken place between November 2012 to March 2015.
Afghanistan:
Service license is subject to bidding process for the key public services. All other
services on demand, spectrum is part of the service license.
Bangladesh
BTRC issued license with the bundled spectrum, which includes license acquisition fee
and spectrum fee. For other licensee, the spectrum is issued in accordance with the
National Frequency Plan and relevant guidelines.
In some cases spectrum sold by auction procedure.
Bhutan:
The Authority only issued bundled spectrum (2 x 10 MHz spectrum in any GSM band ) to
the two consolidated licensee along with the licence.
Page 122 of 133
For other licensee, the spectrum is issued in accordance with the National Radio Rules
at market price, on first come first basis.
Iran:
The new license or renewal of license is being issued bundled with spectrum but it is
decided to set auction in near future for license with spectrum.
Pakistan:
New License is issued with Spectrum attached for cellular.
- Only auction winners are then issued licenses.
- WLL Spectrum is separately given to LL licensees through an auction.
Maldives:
Service based licence is subject to bidding process and spectrum is acquired as part of
the licence.
Srilanka
Scarce and highly valued spectrum where demand exceeds supply will be assigned to
the users through market-based spectrum management techniques such as auctions,
competitive bidding, spectrum trading.
E.g.:- Sri Lanka auctioned its mobile 4G LTE spectrum at a base price of 800 million
rupees become the first country in South Asia to roll out a full nationwide mobile 4G
network. Dialog Axiata sealed the deal with a 3.2 billion Sri Lanka rupees ($25.22
million) bid at auction.
C. Exit Policy
Q12. What are the Rules and Regulations with regard to merger &
acquisition, spectrum sharing/ sale of business and exit from the telecom
service?
India:
DoT has issued guidelines for transfer/merger of various categories of

telecommunication service licenses/authorization under Unified License on
compromises, arrangements and amalgamation of companies on 20th February 2014.
Afghanistan:
- We havent any rules and regulations with regard to merger and acquisition.
Bangladesh
At present, the Authority has not come out with any Rules on exit policy, merger,
acquisition and/or sale of business. One can only transfer company shares to other
company/persons.
Page 123 of 133
Bhutan:
At present, the Authority has not come out with any rules on exit policy, merger,
acquisition and/or sale of business.
Iran:
Spectrum sharing: no regulation yet.
Sale of business and exit from the telecom service: It is written in the licenses context,
and it is different to some extent according to the kind of license and under some
regulation license can transfer.
Pakistan:
- Merger/Acquisition covered in the Section 5(2) of Telecom Act 1996.

o For upto 10% Ownership change, notification is required
o For more than (>) 10% Ownership change, approval of PTA is required.
- Rule 11 (5) Telecom Rules 2000 & PTA Regulations Functions & Powers Regulation 23
also covers the same.
- F&P Regulation 23
Maldives:
- Business mergers are not allowed if it has substantial effect on competition but subject
to approval from CAM.
Sri Lanka
Licence conditions regarding the Ownership of the Licensed System are as follows:-
The Operator shall at all times own and operate the Licensed System and shall not sell,
lease or transfer to any person, the whole or part of the Licensed System without the
written approval of the TRCSL.
Where the Operator seeks to transfer its Licensed System to another person, it shall
comply with all terms and conditions of its Licence as at the date of transfer; and shall
have paid all outstanding fees to the TRCSL.
A person to whom a Licensed System is to be transferred shall apply to the Commission

for a Licence to carry on the relevant telecommunications undertaking on the prescribed
application form and shall satisfy the conditions set down by the Commission before any
transfer of licence may be considered.
Q13. Whether partial exit (surrender of spectrum only-in part) from

business is allowed or complete exit has to be done?
India:
Partial sale of spectrum is permitted under the spectrum trading guidelines issued by the
Department of Telecommunications subject to fulfillment of certain conditions.
Afghanistan:
- Subject to ATRA board decision on case by case bases.
Bangladesh
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- Complete exit has to be done.
Bhutan:
- Partial exit shall be allowed
Iran:
- Just complete exit and issuing it to another legal person.
Pakistan:
- Partial in the form of change in share holding / transfer of share can be done. However
all cases are processed on a case-to-case basis.
Maldives:
- Subject to approval from CAM on case by case basis.
Sri Lanka
Partial exit could be considered but full exit is encouraged
Q14. What are the rules & regulations / procedures about refund of part
of entry fee, release of bank guarantees, pending non-compliance of roll-
out obligations at the time of exit, time frame for exit and settlement of
liabilities/claims?
India:
As such, there is no exit policy in place. However, DoT has issued guidelines on
spectrum trading. If an operator is willing to exit the market, it can sell its acquired
spectrum to other operator and leave anytime. The rights, roll-out obligations and liability
associated will be transferred to the buyer. Spectrum Trading will not alter the original
validity period of spectrum assignment as applicable to the traded block of spectrum.
Afghanistan:
- No Comments
Bangladesh
- Complete exit has to be done.
Bhutan:
- There are no rules and regulations. Such cases shall be determined by the Authority.
Iran:
- About the sooner than expire time of license, CRC (Communication Regulatory Authority)
should decide It is depend on the services.
- Release of bank guarantees is promptly after exiting if no debt or penalty.
- No time frame for exit or settlement.
Page 125 of 133

Pakistan:
- Entry Fee Non refundable
- Bank Guarantee linked with Rollout compliance
- Exit, cancelation etc governed by Rules, which require advance notification, settlement of
dues etc.
Maldives:
- Refer response to Q13.
Sri Lanka
Licensing Procedure (issuance/renewal): http://www.trc.gov.lk/2014-05-12-12-36-

13/system-licence/licensing-procedure-issuance-renewal.html
D. Relicensing Policy
Q15. What is license holding Period i.e., for how many years telecom
license is issued to provide telecom service?
India:
Initially, the licence had a validity of 10 years extendable by a period of five years at a
time. Since 1999 the Licences validity period was extended from 10 years to 20 years
and after that extendible by 10 years.
Afghanistan:
- All telecom licenses have been issued for 15 years.
Bangladesh
- All the licenses are issued for 15 years time period. ISPs and Vehicles Tracking Service
provider licences have been issued for 5 years time period. All the licenses are
renewable.
Bhutan:
- ICT Facility Licence are issued for a period of 10 years, ICT Service for 5 years and the
consolidated for 15 years and all the license are renewable.
Iran:
- It depends on the application and differs from 1 to 10 years.
Pakistan:
- Cellular = 15 Years
- LDI/LL/WLL = 20 Years
- VAS = 15 Years
- Registration = 5 Years
Page 126 of 133
Maldives:
- All telecom licences are being issued for 15 years except the 2nd ISP licence.
Sri Lanka
Renewal /issuance of Section 17 System Licence

Category of Service Period of Licence
1. Fixed Wireline 10 Years

2. Fixed Wireless 10 Years
3. Mobile 10 Years
4. Data Communications 05 Years
5. Internet Service Providers 05 Years
6. Trunking 05 Years
7. External Gateway 10 Years
8. Cable TV / Direct to Home 05 Years
(a) Licence fee for renewal of Section 17 Licence, in categories 1 to 6 above should be 3%
of the past 3 years annual average turnover or the licence fee applicable in the table
above (Whichever is more)
(b) Licence fee for renewal of External Gateway (Category 7) and Cable TV / Direct to Home
(Category 8) above to be revised as Rs.100 million and 25 million respectively.
(c) Licence fee for new licensees (being new entrants) should be as per the current table
above.
Renewal /issuance of Frequency Licence
Category of Service Period of Licence
- Aeronautical Services 1 Year

- Amateur Services 5 Years
- Broadcasting Services 1 Year
- Cellular Services 1 Year
- Data / Telemetry Services 1 Year
- Fixed Services 1 Year
- Land Mobile Services 1 Year
- Low Power Device 1 Year
Q16. What are the Rules and Regulations with regard to renewal of
license, entry of new telecom operator? Is there any preference to the
existing operators as compared to new entrants about granting of license,
allocation of spectrum through auction etc.?
Page 127 of 133

India:
Licence can be renewed before its expiry. All eligible companies can get the Unified
Licence and also can get it renewed. There is no requirement of according priority to
incumbents or existing operators over the new telecom operator. Spectrum has been
delinked from the licence. On renewal of the licence Spectrum has to be obtained
thorough auction only.
Afghanistan:
-For the sake of protection of the investment existing operators are preferred.
Bangladesh
The rules and regulations are decided by the government is applicable for all operators.
There are no preferences given to existing operators.
Bhutan:
- The Rules on the provision of ICT Facilities and CIT Services. There are no preferences
given to existing operator.
Iran:
No general rule, in some situation, however existing operator manage the before license
is effective in granting new license.
Pakistan:
Renewal - Rules 2000, advance notice, license condition- settlement of dues- provision
of services
Entry - Not restricted for major licenses LDI, LL, Cellular
For new entrants, concessions can be considered through Policy Directive of

government, e.g. in Spectrum Auction 2014, new entrants could directly participate for
850 MHz directly, existing players had to first win 2100 Mhz spectrum.
Maldives:
Existing licensees are given preference and renewal of licence is subject to new terms
and conditions.
Sri Lanka
Licensing Procedure of the System Licence (issuance/renewal):

http://www.trc.gov.lk/2014-05-12-12-36-13/system-licence/licensing-
procedure- issuance-renewal.html
Procedure for Issuance of Spectrum Licences: http://www.trc.gov.lk/frequency-
assignments.html
Q17. Whether the spectrum is being allotted at administrative price or is

being sold through auction or is there any other method to allot spectrum
to at the time of renewal of existing license or issue of new license?
Page 128 of 133

India:
Initially the spectrum is being allotted at administrative price and bundled with licence.
The allocation of spectrum is delinked from the licence and has to be obtained
separately. At present the Spectrum can only be acquired through auction. However,
spectrum sharing has been permitted subject to fulfillment of certain conditions.
Afghanistan:
Applicant can apply for renewal under same terms and conditions.
Bangladesh
Spectrum is being allotted at administrative price. But in some cases the spectrum price
is decided by auction procedure.
Bhutan:
Spectrum is being allotted at administrative price.

Iran:
The spectrum is being allotted at administrative price, but if auction is chosen in near
future, just the base price of spectrum is being allotted at administrative price.
Pakistan:
- Auction based.
- Backhaul Spectrum on administrative rates.
- At renewal, auction and winning price of same spectrum to be paid
- Also, all of above depends on policy of the Government at that time
Maldives:
Refer response to Q11.
Sri Lanka
Both options are followed
Q18. What are the rules & regulations / policies with regard to level
playing field for new entrants?
India:
There is no discrimination between the existing players and new entrants in terms of
grant of licence or sale of spectrum through auction.
Afghanistan:
- New technologies will go to the open bidding process, according to the

telecommunication law.
- Telecom operators have to take approval of ATRA for any new entrants.
Page 129 of 133

- New entrants for providing any type of telecom services have to apply and provide the
required documents according to the rules and regulations.
Bangladesh
- There are no special rules & regulations/policies for new entrants. They must follow
relevant rules & regulations/policies which are applicable to them.
Bhutan:
- The General Mandate and guiding regulatory principles of the Authority specified in the
Act.
Iran:
- Competition in telecom sector.

Pakistan:
- Act section 62(e) w.r.t competition in telecom sector.
- New entrants for cellular will be encouraged to have infrastructure sharing and National
roaming with existing CMTOs on negotiable basis for speedy Rollout.
Maldives:
CAM makes best efforts to maintain fair competition and market conduct. For details,
please Chapter: 3 of Maldives Telecommunications Regulation, 2003
(www.cam.gov.mv)
Sri Lanka
In order to encourage maximum participation in the sector, the regulators licensing

regime will be non-discriminatory, and transparent. It is recognized that some licensees
would require the use of scarce resources, which the regulator in its assessment
considers should be assigned restrictively. The better relationship and cooperation
between the public and private sectors lead to a rapid development of the
telecommunication sector. Hence private sector investment is further encouraged
and facilitated by creating a conducive level playing field
E. General
Q19. Any other issue, which has not been included in the questionnaire.
India:
Issue of Cross holding among the Operators

In the event of holding/obtaining Access spectrum, no licensee or its promoter(s) directly
or indirectly shall have any beneficial interest in another licensee company holding
Access Spectrum in the same service area.
Beneficial interest shall mean holding of any equity directly or indirectly including through
chain of companies in the licensee company
Recent Developments in India

Page 130 of 133
DoT has decided recently to auction spectrum in 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800
MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz Spectrum Bands.
DoT has sought Recommendation of TRAI on Valuation of spectrum afore-mentioned
spectrum Bands. TRAI has given its recommendation to DoT and these bands shall be
placed for bidding by service providers for commercial use probably in the Second
Quarter of 2016.
Critical Issues / Challenges If Any _
India:
The auction spectrum in 700 MHz and 2500 MHz Spectrum Bands are proposed for the
first time India.
Afghanistan:
- No comments
Bangladesh
- No comments
Bhutan:
- No comments
Iran:
- No comments
Pakistan:
- Whether there is any watch hold period for a specific license, e.g. In Pakistan
from 2006 till 2013 a watch hold on further licensing of LDI/LL was imposed
keeping in view the market. The same is now again open.
- Is there any waiver of regulatory fees for licensees in special cases, such as loss
of business or any other events. In Pakistan, the same is on a case to case
basis and subject to approval of the government.
- Are licensees encouraged/obliged/mandatory/voluntarily on provisioning of

services in rural areas? In Pakistan, the licensees contribute annually to a USF
fund, and the USF Fund then allocates amount to winners of a project in which
the same operators had participated. This way, it is ensured that USF fund is
given payments as well as projects are also assigned.
Maldives:
- No comments
Sri Lanka
- No comments
Page 131 of 133

******************************************
----------------------- End of Report on Combined Responses -----------------------
Page 132 of 132

Post-Visit Report SATRC Workshop Dec 2015 v2 03 May 2016

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POST-VISIT REPORT ON

SATRC WORKING GROUP MEETING ON POLICY,

3.2 Working Group Proceedings:-..........................................................................................5

3.3 Work Plan.........................................................................................................................6

3.4 Questionnaires on Work Items and Pakistan Responses................................................10

3.4.3 Questionnaire on Work Item PRS-03: Emerging Licensing Framework including

3.4.4 Questionnaire on Work Item - PRS-04: International Connectivity for the

4. Pakistans Contribution In SATRC Working Group Meeting At Maldives, 23rd 24th,

5. Conclusions & Way Forward.................................................................................................38

Annex-C....................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

2. STRUCTURE OF THE WORKING GROUP

b. Working Group on Spectrum: to deal with the issues related to spectrum

2.2 The chairmanship of the Working Groups is as follows:-

3. WORKING GROUP DETAILS

3.2 Working Group Proceedings:-

a. Measures to protect the interests of consumers of telecom services

Work Item PRS-01: Measures to protect interests of consumers of telecom

Background The fast growth of mobile subscribers, increasing telecom penetration in

Work Item Mr. Shaji Punnose (TRAI),

Background Incumbent telecommunications operators that offer services such as

OTT services are enabled by the de-layering of the industry. IP has

It is not only telecommunications that is affected. Internet television over

Scope Identify the different types of OTT services currently being

Work Item NTA, Nepal (Mr. Bijay Kumar Roy)

Work Item PRS-03: Emerging Licensing Framework including exit and

Responsible WG Policy, Regulation and Services

Issues of re licensing, co-existence of licenses and exit of licenses are

Scope The suggested scope of study is:

Utilization Policy makers, Regulators, Service providers

Work Item Mr. Anil Dhingra, TRAI ( India) Lead Expert

Work Item PRS-04: International Connectivity for the Provision of Providing

Background In order to promote broadband services within the SATRC region, it is

Due to the diversified demographic/geographic, land-locked and sea-

In order to bridge this divide, an analyses to be carried out to explore the

Scope To assess the current situation in relation to the cost of providing

Review the current cost of international internet connectivity in

Explore alternative options of getting connected to international

Time Frame Action Plan Phase V.

Work Item Mr. Abdulla Nafeeg Pasha, CAM, Maldives

3.4 Questionnaires on Work Items and Pakistan Responses

3.4.1 Questionnaire on Work Item 1.1: PRS-01- Measures to

Questionnaire: Consumer protection measures in the Telecom sector of the region

1. Name of the Country/Administration

Indicators Minimum Target

Response to Assistance Requested. The response to the requested assistance

Web based Complaint Monitoring System

In Pakistan, PTA has issued Telecom consumer Protection Regulations 2009

ii. In case of non satisfactory redressal of the complaint, or non response,

iii. In addition, PTA also promulgated regulations namely, Protection from

iv. For the purpose of proper documentation and issuance of SIMs,

vi. Moreover, consumers may also approach Ombudsman (Wafaqi

Key Performance Indicator Benchmark Remarks

Network Down-time <1%

Network Accessibility > 99%

Call Connection Time <= 5 sec

Call Completion Ratio > 98 %

End to End SMS Delivery < 8 seconds

c. To ensure quality of service and to monitor the performance of service providers

MOBILE NUMBER PORTABILITY (MNP)

3.4.2 Questionnaire on Work Item - PRS-02: Policy, Regulatory

Ans: Pakistan, Ministry of IT & Telecom

2. Is OTT defined or classified by your administration?

3. Is it necessary to formulate regulatory framework for OTT services at present?

6. What is the network architecture of OTT applications/services and how it is