MINISTRY OF WORKS, TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION
customers from exploitation, too rapid price changes and poor quality of
equipment and services.
Implications. As the liberalisation of the telecommunications market will
not immediately ensure that free and fair competition is established there
is a need to indicate what type of behaviour is not acceptable and a
violation of the principles that uphold a liberalised market economy. In
the absence of a Fair Trade Act and of measures to stimulate competition
and protection of consumers, these principles need to be incorporated in
the proposed new telecommunications legislation.
In order to advance free and fair competition and the provision of
telecommunications services on a competitive and non-discriminatory
basis, practices such as e.g. collusion, forming of cartels, providing of
false or misleading information and charging of unreasonable prices
should be considered as offenses and be included in the proposed
Telecommunications Act.
The telecommunication sector could be in the forefront for development
of consumer protection legislation and customers could exercise influence
for instance through representation in the Regulatory Authority. It is
proposed that a person representing the business community and another
person representing domestic users should be appointed to the board of
the Regulatory Authority. The Regulatory Authority should have the
function of receiving complaints from users and the power to require
service providers to submit comments on such complaints.
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY FOR BOTSWANA