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Electronic Communications Act, 2005 (Act No. 36 of 2005)

Regulations

Call Termination Regulations, 2014

Annexures

Annexure B : Minimum content of a Reference Interconnection Offer ("RIO")

 

Those licensees listed in Regulation 7(4) must develop their own RIO for the Authority's approval. The RIO must include at least the following:

 

1.1 General Legal Principles

 

• Definitions of terms and abbreviations;
• Requirements concerning the exchange and use of information for the purpose of interconnection; and
• Data exchange formats.

 

1.2 Initiating Negotiations and Proposing Amendments

 

• Procedure for initiating negotiations as well as that for amending interconnection agreements, including:
• how a request for interconnection is to be made;
• to whom a request for interconnection is to be sent; and
• the information that needs to be included in the application.

 

1.3 Description of Interconnection Services to be provided

 

• List of interconnection services offered;
• Full description of each interconnection service; and
• Conditions governing access to services.

 

1.4 Schedule of Charges for Interconnection Services

 

• Commercial and financial matters, including billing and collection procedures, and payment terms and conditions;
• The full charge for each interconnection service. Where relevant charges should:
• be broken down into or built up from the charges for the network components;
• include an indication of any surcharges; and
• include an indication of charging unit/s (e.g. per second);
• Mechanisms for the review of charges; and
• Billing services for third parties, where relevant (e.g. if operator is billing on behalf of resellers, other individual ECS or other individual ECNS).

 

 

1.5 Technical Characteristics

 

• Comprehensive technical description of the interconnect interface(s), including the signalling protocol(s) used;
• Full details of the availability and location of points of interconnection which shall include public Internet exchange points (IXPs) at which the licensee has a presence;
• Description of the physical arrangements for interconnection;
• Description of traffic routing arrangements;
• Details regarding access to numbers by the parties;
• Requirements to ensure network security or integrity; and
• The quality, availability, security, efficiency, and synchronisation of the services provided.

 

1.6 Arrangements for the Establishment of Interconnection

 

• Conditions governing service provision;
• Traffic forecasting requirements and arrangements;
• Arrangements for testing the operation of interfaces and the interoperability of services;
• Fault management procedures (recording and clearing); and
• Conditions governing bank guarantees, if any.
•
1.7 Other Legal and Procedural Issues

 

• Provisions on procedures for review, termination, and amendment of interconnection agreements;
• Limitation of liability and indemnity between licensees;
• Penalty clauses; and
• Dispute resolution arrangements and procedures, including the right of either party to request the Authority to intervene to resolve a dispute.