Next Generation Networks

Licensing in an NGN Environment

In order to achieve and maintain competitive advantage, service providers want to reduce costs, increase the number of services offered and improve the speed of launching new services. Users want to be able to access a wide selection of high-quality communications, information and entertainment services, and increasingly on a mobile basis. Next Generation Networks offer the potential for achieving all these aims.

For regulators, however, the advent of the NGN environment poses a range of significant challenges. NRAs must consider how licensing frameworks can equitably apply key obligations both to established network operators and to new NGN service providers without unduly distorting market development or posing the risk of vulnerable user groups suffering diminution or even loss of service. In addition, they need to exercise clarity as to the likely nature of the future regulatory environment if confidence in the market is to be maintained and key strategic and investment decisions facilitated.

For their part, content and service providers need to understand how their operations might be affected by regulatory activities and how to comply with existing regulatory obligations governing the supply of communications services, especially when expanding these into new geographical territories.

With our global regulatory experience, InterConnect consultants can advise regulators in all aspects of constructing an NGN-friendly licensing regime or overhauling existing practices and requirements to accommodate emergent business models. Areas in which we can help include:

Review of existing licensing procedures for fitness of purpose;
Definition of business areas to determine what NGN services need to be covered by licence obligations, and what form those licenses should take (i.e. individual licenses or general authorisations);
Definition of Significant Market Power and other applicable competition indicators for NGN activities;
Determination of obligations relating to matters such as universal service provision, emergency call handling and co-operation with the security services, and how they should be applied to both conventional and new service providers;
Benchmarking licensing regimes against international best practice (including relevant national policy, EU and ITU-GSR recommendations), identifying areas where further development would be beneficial, and suggesting suitable solutions.

For service providers, we can undertake an audit of present and/or proposed operations for compliance with statutory licence requirements and, if necessary, advise on how to meet such requirements in the most cost-effective fashion consistent with achieving business development objectives. We can also review the licence obligations of established network operators and identify how the licensee should respond to likely NGN developments, both in terms of internal strategies and relations with the regulator.

28 Feb 2008InterConnect News

NGN Master Class

The first NGN Master Class of 2008 will take place on 12 - 16 May 2008.

More Information?

For more information about InterConnect's NGN services, please contact Eric Tyson by phone on +44 (0) 1291 638400.