No. 4378
Government Gazette 16 November 2009
Act No. 8, 2009
55
COMMUNICATIONS ACT, 2009
(7)
The Authority must ensure that its regulation of equipment and any
standards it prescribes under this section are no more than the minimum necessary to
ensure safe and efficient telecommunications in the country.
(8)
In setting standards under this Act, the Authority must take into account
the standards promulgated in other states in the region, and where feasible coordinate
with other states in the region in the setting of standards, either through participation in
international standards-setting bodies, or through consideration of the views of industry
participants in industry standards-setting organisations.
(9)
The Authority may seize any telecommunications equipment that does
not comply with any standard prescribed under this section or that belongs to a category
of telecommunications equipment for which type approval is required as contemplated
in subsection (3) and that has not been approved as contemplated in that subsection.
Numbering administration
81.
(1)
The Authority must after having followed a rulemaking procedure prescribe a national numbering plan for use in the provision of
telecommunications services.
(2)
In preparing the numbering plan, the Authority must take account of
existing numbering plans or schemes.
(3)
The numbering plan must require mobile number portability by
all technology and service neutral licensees within two years from the date of
commencement of this Act.
(4)
The Authority may include additional requirements in the numbering
plan relating to number portability, the lengths of numbers, indications to consumers
of the network through which calls are routed, regulation or prohibition of the transfer
of subscribers between licensees and any other matter relating to numbering that will
promote competition or protect consumers.
(5)
The Authority must allocate to licensees adequate prefixes, numbers
and numbering ranges without unreasonable delay, in an objective, non-discriminatory,
proportionate and transparent manner, in return for a fee that is no greater than necessary
to compensate for the management costs of the numbering plan and the control of its
use.
(6)
The Authority must ensure that no customer of any licensee is
unnecessarily inconvenienced by alterations in the numbering plan, and the allocation
of numbers does not confer any competitive advantage to any particular licensee.
(7)
The conditions under which prefixes, individual numbers and number
ranges may be used must be specified in licences or in a decision allocating numbering
resources.
(8)
Licensees must include the necessary provisions to meet number
portability or other obligations contemplated in this section in their interconnection
agreements.