A second mobile cellular licence was officially issued in June 2001 to
Econet Wireless Services; the licence was ‘de facto’ part of the
package Econet acquired as part of its investment in Telecom Lesotho through
the Mountain Consortium.
Currently, there are numerous applications for licences for telecentres
and ISPs, all of which are reviewed and either approved or rejected by the
regulatory authority.
A licence will possibly be issued in 2001 for bandwidth provider(s).
The Lesotho Telecommunications Authority Act 2000 (Act No. 5 of 200),
passed on June 9th, 2000 effectively separates the telecommunications services
provider from telecommunications market regulatory functions by establishing
the Lesotho Telecommunications Authority. The Board of the Telecommunications
Authority consists of candidates nominated by the Ministry of Communications,
Finance, Trade or the Attorney-General’s Office. A board member is
selected for a three-year term in office with the possibility of reappointment.
The primary function of the Telecommunications Authority is to “promote,
develop, and supervise the provision of efficient local, national, regional,
and international telecommunication services in Lesotho.” To this extent,
the organisation:
- takes steps to promote network development, universal services and
access to telecommunications services
- ensures efficient and effective use of the radio frequency
spectrum
- promotes the range and quality of telecommunications services as well
as other consumer interests
- promotes efficient management and human resource development in the
communications industry
- promotes private ownership of telecommunications operations
- promotes sustainable and fair competition between the various service
providers
- takes steps to promote telecommunications services for the least
privileged member of the society, such as for instance emergency services,
public telephony services, and directory information services
The authority is able to execute its mandate through a comprehensive set
of powers and responsibilities, which include:
- licensing of all telecommunication services providers, including
Internet Service Providers and Value-Added Service Providers
- frequency management of the radio frequency spectrum and satellite
orbital locations;
- setting of technical standards and procedures and monitoring adherence
to such standards;
- establishment of procedures and principles of interconnection
- establishment and amendment of fees and other applicable charges
- investigation of violations and enforcement of provisions of the
Telecommunications Act
Moreover, in matters of international flavour, the Telecommunications
Authority is responsible for any intergovernmental telecommunications
agreements, represents the country at international meetings related to
telecommunications, radio frequency spectrum, etc., and designates either
operator(s) or service provider(s) to participate in and be signatory to
operating agreements relating to international telecommunications
organisations, to which Lesotho belongs.
Services which are licensed by the Authority include: exchange services,
national long distance services, international public switched novice and data
services, international telex and telegraph services, public pay telephone
services, private telecommunications services. It also has the power to
determine, which if any, services may be provided without the requirement of
licensing. The authority also established standards applicable to
telecommunications equipment used in the country, in order to prevent any
possible harm done to existent telecommunications networks or services, or to
public health, safety or the environment.
In order to advance the Basotho society at large, it is within the powers
of the Telecommunications Authority to develop objectives to be achieved by
services providers, which would ensure that public telecommunications, and in
particular basic telephone services, are available to the widest possible
number of users. The Act also contains a provision for potential future
establishment of a Universal Access Fund, to which both public and private
service providers would have to contribute a portion of their profits, and
which would then be utilised for universal access development fees.
The Telecommunications Act also imposes certain duties on the
telecommunications services providers. All services providers (both licenced
and delisted) must provide a reasonable level of telecommunications services at
a reasonable cost. Upon request, they are obliged to establish physical
connections with other telecommunications service providers, share networking,
signalling, and databases with provider of value added services for the
transport and termination of telecommunication and information. Service
providers are also required to enter into agreements governing the
interconnection of their facilities, sharing of infrastructure, local number
facilities, as well as other internetworking facilities, which the authority
may deem to be in the public interest, including value added service providers.
All rates, tariffs, and charges intended to be implemented by
telecommunications service providers must be submitted to the
Telecommunications Authority for approval.
Mountain Communications (MC) comprising Econet Wireless International,
Eskom Enterprises and Mauritius Telecom, acquired a 70% stake in LTC in
November 2000. LTC was renamed as Telecom Lesotho Limited. The partnership has
a five-year exclusivity period and a second GSM cellular network licence.
