MINISTRY OF WORKS, TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION
Authority. International experience shows that the more autonomy and
political latitude given to the regulator, the more successful the
liberalisation process has been. This implies that an authority as
independent of the Ministry as is legally possible should be established.
However, considering the limited availability of professional expertise,
and to enable both the Ministry and the regulator to operate effectively
and avoid duplication of work, division of roles and responsibilities along
the following lines should be made.
Establishment of a Regulatory Authority reporting to the Minister
responsible for Communications with its own Board of Directors to
perform all the regulatory functions and handling some policy functions
on behalf of the Ministry.
The underlying principle is to separate overall long term policy making
from practical regulatory activities and at the same time avoid building up
expertise in more than one organisation by making available to the
Ministry expertise in the Regulatory Authority for its policy formulating
role.
In order to emphasise the regulator's independence from the ministry in
its day-today regulatory activities, the Board of Directors should appoint
its own Chief Executive and be given the power to issue regulations and
licenses as well as settling of disputes. Furthermore, decisions of the
Regulatory Authority should not be able to be overruled by the Minister
but could be appealed against to the High Court.
Liberalisation of the telecommunications sector requires new legislation
as well as amendment of the existing Act. The Botswana
Telecommunications Corporation Act of 1980 needs to be amended as a
first step and could at a later stage be repealed if Government wishes to
change the status and/or ownership of BTC. The first step wlll entail
amendment of the sections of the Act dealing with BTC's exclusive
privileges to provide telecommunications services in Botswana and
power to issue licences and regulations. This amendment will enable the
enactment of new legislation for introduction of competition and
establishment of the Regulatory Authority. Those parts of the Act which
establish BTC as a Government corporation will not be an obstacle for
the liberalisation process.
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TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY FOR BOTSWANA