The ICT Communication Bill was presented to parliament last week by Minister of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Joel Kaapanda, according to The Namibian newspaper. Once it is passed into law, the legislation will establish the Communications Regulatory Authority of Namibia (CRAN) as the country’s regulator, replacing the Namibian Communications Commission (NCC), which was established under the NCC Act of 1992. The Bill, which is available from the NCC, also sets out the licensing framework for both telecommunications and broadcasting, including class and individual licences for telecommunications services, and contains provisions designed to cover interconnection, tariffs, the allocation of frequencies, the promotion of competition and the establishment of a universal service agency.
The new legislation will repeal parts of the Post and Telecommunications Act (1992), Namibian Broadcasting Act (1991), Namibian Communications Commission Act (1995) and several others in whole or part, thus providing an updated policy and regulatory framework to cope with new technological developments and the establishment of a competitive market. The Communications Bill has been a number of years in the making; in July 2007 the draft bill was opened up for consultation with stakeholders.
