The Uganda Communications Commission Guidelines on National Roaming

THE UGANDA COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

GUIDELINES ON NATIONAL ROAMING

AUGUST 2019

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Uganda Communications Act of 2013 (the Act) seeks to develop a modern

Communications sector, which includes Telecommunications,

broadcasting, radio communications, postal communications, data

communication and infrastructure by, among others:

(b) enhancing national coverage of Communications services; and

(f) introducing, encouraging and enabling competition in the

Communications sector through regulation and licensing of

competitive Operators to achieve rapid network expansion,

standardisation as well as operation of competitively priced and

quality services.

Mobile Communications services have today become an integral part of

everyday life and increasingly critical to various aspects and services of

the economy. Uganda Communications Commission (the Commission)

has, therefore, determined it necessary to require Operators to offer

National Roaming Services on their respective networks to the other

licensees engaged in the provision of mobile communication services in

Uganda.

2.0 OBJECTIVE OF THE GUIDELINES

These guidelines seek to ensure that National Roaming between the

Operators in Uganda takes place on a fair, transparent and economically

efficient basis, for the benefit of consumers, Operators and the overall

economy.

The objectives of these guidelines are to:

a) improve the resilience of Mobile Communications networks and

services for improvement in the quality of Communications services

in Uganda;

b) promote fair competition among Operators;

c) encourage infrastructure sharing

d) promote the availability and seamless nationwide access by

consumers to mobile services in Uganda; and

e) promote innovation and investment to facilitate the development of

related Communications markets.

3.0 INTERPRETATIONS

“Act” means the Uganda Communications Act of 2013;

The Uganda Communications Commission Guidelines on National Roaming

“Commission” means the Uganda Communications Commission

established under section 4 of the Act;

“Communications services” means services performed consisting of the

dissemination or interchange of audio, visual or data content using postal,

radio, or telecommunications media, data communication, and includes

broadcasting;

“Hosted Operator” means the Operator with which a subscriber has a

direct contractual relationship for access to and use of mobile services;

“Host Operator” is an Operator on whose system or network a subscriber

roams by means of roaming arrangements by the hosted Operator.

“Mobile Communications services” means Communications services

provided to end-users by licensed Operators that are interconnected with

the public switched network which enables the Operator to reuse

frequencies and accomplish seamless handoff of end-user calls. This

includes making and receiving voice calls, sending and receiving SMS

messages, sending and receiving data, or access to other electronic

communications services;

“National roaming” means the ability of a customer to automatically make

and receive voice calls, send and receive data, or access other services,

even when travelling outside the geographical coverage area of his service

provider, by means of using the service of the other service provider’s

network in Uganda.

“Operator” means a person licensed to provide a communication or

broadcasting service;

“Public switched network” means collection of interconnected public

telecommunication networks that deliver switched telecommunication

services, whether by wire or radio, to the public.

“SMS” means short messaging service;

“Telecommunication” means the emission, transmission or reception

through the agency of electricity or electromagnetism of any sounds,

signals, signs, writing, images or intelligence of any nature by wire, radio,

optical or other electromagnetic systems whether or not such signs,

signals, writing, images, sounds or intelligence have been subjected to

rearrangement, computation or other processes by any means in the

course of their transmission, emission or reception;

“Telecommunications service” means a service consisting of the

conveyance or reception of any sounds, signs, signals, writing or images

by wire, optical or other electronically guided media systems whether or

not the signs, signals, writing, images, sounds or intelligence have been

subjected to rearrangement, computation or other processes by any means

in the course of their transmission, emission or reception;

The Uganda Communications Commission Guidelines on National Roaming

“Would-be host Operator” is an Operator to whom a request is made for

roaming arrangements.

4.0 APPLICABLE LEGISLATION

The legal and regulatory provisions taken into consideration and which

shall govern the implementation of these guidelines:

Section 5(a), (k), (m), (n), (o), and (y) of the Uganda Communications Act of

Section 58 of the Act on Interconnection of network facilities.

The Uganda Communications (Licensing) Regulations, 2019.

The Uganda Communications (Competition) Regulations, 2019.

The Telecommunications (Interconnection and Access) Regulations, 2019

The Telecommunications (Pricing and Accounting) Regulations, 2019

The Telecommunications (Consumer Protection) Regulations, 2019

5.0 SCOPE OF THE GUIDELINES

These guidelines stipulate the obligations with respect to national roaming

and the associated regulatory oversight.

6.0 APPLICABILITY AND EXEMPTIONS

This guideline shall apply to all Operators licensed in Uganda that are

engaged in the provision of Mobile Communications services.

The application of these guidelines shall not include any service that is not

interconnected with the public switched network.

7.0 NATIONAL ROAMING REQUIREMENTS

7.1. Roaming arrangements

a) An Operator that seeks to have national roaming arrangement with

another Operator must send the other Operator a written request for

roaming. This request should be copied to the Commission.

b) Upon receipt of a request, an Operator is obliged to provide roaming to

any technologically compatible Operator, on terms and conditions

contained in a roaming agreement that are mutually agreed upon, just,

commercially viable and non-discriminatory.

c) Both the Would-be Host and the Host operators shall be obliged to

uphold the principles of good faith in negotiating national roaming

The Uganda Communications Commission Guidelines on National Roaming

agreements. Both parties shall not intentionally mislead each other or

coerce the other into making national roaming agreements or

intentionally obstructing the negotiation process.

d) A Would-be Host or Host operators who breach the duty or obligation

to negotiate in good faith shall be considered to have engaged in unfair

completion and to have committed an anti-competitive act or a breach

of fair completion under the Act.

e) The negotiations of such roaming arrangements shall be completed

within thirty (30) calendar days from the date of receipt of a request for

roaming by the Would-be host Operator.

f) This roaming obligation shall apply to each of its currently deployed

networks and any future networks (all spectrum bands and

generations of technologies used by the Would-be Host Operator to

provide Mobile Communications services to its own subscribers/end

users). This obligation shall also apply to all the geographic areas (in

any specified area or location in Uganda) where the Would-be Host

Operator has a cellular mobile network footprint or coverage or if the

Would-be Host Operator does provide international roaming services

in the specified area or location.

g) Requests for roaming arrangements shall be dealt with by each

Operator according to a non-discriminatory process. The roaming

arrangements and the conclusion of an associated agreement shall not

be conditioned on reciprocity or exclusivity.

h) National Roaming services shall be limited to the network and/or

services of the Would-be Host or Host operators.

i) National roaming agreements shall contain all the terms and

conditions that affect the provision of National Roaming services to be

provided to the Hosted Operator, including but not limited to:

 the legal provisions, including commencement, termination,

breach and suspension, force majeure, review of national roaming

agreement, confidentiality of information, and governing law

 a description of the National Roaming services to be provided by

the Hosting Operator

 a description of the technical arrangements for providing National

Roaming services, including a definition of the areas in which

National Roaming services are to be provided,

 operational and maintenance responsibilities and processes,

including testing arrangements

 billing, including billing procedures and processes for resolving

billing disputes

The Uganda Communications Commission Guidelines on National Roaming

 processes for resolving disputes between operators, including a

process for the referral of disputes to the Commission

 prices for National Roaming services.

 Support for licence obligations of Hosted Operator such as lawful

interception, emergency services and quality of service

j) The Commission shall produce, maintain and update a reference

national roaming agreement that may be used by the Operators in

negotiating a roaming agreement and which shall be used by the

Commission in addressing a dispute.

7.2. Information for consideration of a request

a) Effective the date of these guidelines, each Operator shall maintain a

compendium that shall be availed to any other Operator that expresses

an interest for roaming arrangements. This compendium shall

comprise:

i. the information required by the Operator for consideration of a

request for roaming arrangements, including but not limited to,

technical data, engineering information, network requirements,

and other information relevant to formulate a roaming

agreement,

ii. information to facilitate the potential Hosted Operator in

preparing a request for roaming arrangements including, but not

limited to:

a. information on areas covered;

b. technical characteristics of voice, data, and SMS

services, including the technologies available in each

area;

c. security requirements and confidentiality of proprietary

information, including, among others, standards and

measures that must be complied with by both parties to

ensure network integrity and safety standards;

b) Information required by the Operator towards the consideration and

implementation of roaming arrangements shall be limited to the

minimum necessary to allow the Host Operator to provide an efficient

roaming service.

c) The Would-be Host Operator shall not, during consideration of the

request, seek information on the commercial nature of the services

which the Operator that has made a request for roaming or plans to

offer other than to verify that the roaming requested shall not be used

SMS – short messaging service/text messaging

The Uganda Communications Commission Guidelines on National Roaming

for purposes other than the provision of Mobile Communications

services.

d) A Would-be Host Operator shall inform the Operator that has

requested roaming of any additional information required in respect of

the request promptly and in a timely manner (in not more than fifteen

(15) calendar days from receipt of a request).

7.3. Pricing of national roaming

a) All prices shall be filed with the Commission at all times for approval.

b) The Operators shall negotiate the prices of national roaming. If the

Operators fail to agree on the prices to be charged, either Operator may

refer the dispute to the Commission for resolution.

c) The prices for national roaming shall be cost-oriented, non-

discriminatory below retail levels.

d) Roaming rates should be openly available to all Operators as reference

offers

7.4. Billing of National Roaming

a) The generation of Call Data Records (CDRs) shall be in accordance with

the internationally accepted GSM

Association format to facilitate the

billing of National Roaming services. The CDRs shall be collected and

rated by the Host Operator and forwarded to the Hosted Operator

within the file transfer timelines stipulated by GSMA to enable monthly

billing of usage, fraud detection and usage monitoring. However,

operators may agree on an appropriate file format.

b) The operators shall share such information as signalling protocol(s)

used in their Intelligent Networks (IN) to enable real-time billing

services, and fraud control.

7.5. Refusal of a request for roaming arrangements

a) A refusal of a request for roaming arrangements shall be made in

writing to the Operator that requested within thirty (30) calendar days

of the receipt of the request by the Would-be host Operator. The refusal

shall be copied to the Commission.

b) Such refusal shall include objectively justified reasons, backed up by

evidence, as applicable, to support the reasons put forth for the

refusal.

c) Reasons for which a Would-be Host Operator may decline a request for

roaming arrangements may include the following:

GSM means Global System for Mobile Communications and GSMA means GSM Association

The Uganda Communications Commission Guidelines on National Roaming

i. the network of the Operator requesting roaming arrangement is

not technologically compatible;

ii. it is not technically feasible to provide roaming for the particular

mobile service for which roaming is requested, and any changes

to the Host Operator’s network necessitated to accommodate

roaming for such mobile service are not economically

reasonable

;

iii. the Would-be Host Operator does not offer the mobile services for

which roaming is sought to its end-users

d) An unfounded suspicion of a particular behaviour or outcome of the

roaming arrangements shall not be a justifiable reason to warrant a

decline of a request for roaming arrangements.

e) If the Commission reviews the reasons for refusal and finds that these

are not justified, then the Would-be Host Operator shall respond to the

request for roaming with an offer to enter into a roaming agreement.

7.6. Regulatory supervision of roaming arrangements

a) The parties to a roaming agreement shall file the agreement with the

Commission within fifteen (15) calendar days from signing the

agreement, for the review to ensure compliance with the law,

regulations, these national roaming guidelines and other regulatory

requirements. The Commission may require the Operators to amend

any terms and conditions in the roaming agreement.

b) Review and approval by the Commission shall also seek to prevent

anti-competitive practices or consequences and protect interests of

consumers in respect of matters such as quality of service, access to

services and tariffs.

c) The Operators may amend their roaming agreements from time to time

but must submit the changes to the Commission for approval within

fourteen (14) calendar days of their signature.

d) The Commission may itself require the Operators to amend their

roaming agreement to accommodate any changes in the regulatory or

legal environment, Government policy, technology, markets and

competition, national security requirements, or for any other reason.

e) Neither Operator shall terminate or suspend the approved roaming

agreement for whatever reason without prior approval of the

Commission unless both parties mutually agree to this. In case of

Economically reasonable is deemed to apply where the investment costs cannot be recovered

in a reasonable period and consideration shall be limited to terms of the current agreement or

request.

The Uganda Communications Commission Guidelines on National Roaming

mutual agreement to terminate or suspend, the Operators shall inform

the Commission within seven (7) days of this decision.

f) A Hosting Operator may not interrupt, block, discontinue or otherwise

impair any national roaming service it provides to any other Operator

without the prior written consent of the Commission.

g) Where the Hosting Operator encounters an unexpected failure/break

down on its network which results in interrupting, blocking, or

otherwise impairing any of the roaming arrangements/agreement and

is unable to obtain prior consent from the Commission, the Hosting

Operator shall immediately inform the Commission on the occurrence

and update the Commission on action to be taken and undertaken to

restore service.

h) The Commission may inspect the facilities of or request any

information from the Operators from time to time that it deems

relevant for the purposes of monitoring and ensuring compliance with

the Act, the regulations, license terms and conditions, and these

guidelines.

i) Each Operator shall be obliged to comply with such inspections or

requests by the Commission for information in the manner set out by

the Commission.

7.7. Obligations associated with the provision of mobile services

a) Although service provision obligations such as legal interception, and

quality of service shall be supported under such roaming agreements,

these obligations shall at all times remain the responsibility of the

Hosted Operator.

b) Consideration shall be done of evidence of inadequate service

performance by a Host Operator to a Hosted Operator under the

roaming arrangements before determining sanctions and remedial

action for shortfalls in associated licence obligations.

7.8. Dispute resolution

a) The Commission shall adjudicate all National Roaming disputes

referred on a case by case basis.

b) Where there is a dispute in relation to national roaming, either party

to the dispute may refer the dispute to the Commission for

adjudication mediation or resolution and the issuance of binding

resolutions.

c) If after the stipulated period of forty five (45) calendar days for

negotiation of a roaming agreement, the Operators have not entered

into a roaming agreement or have not agreed to any interim

The Uganda Communications Commission Guidelines on National Roaming

arrangement. In that case, the matter shall be submitted to the

Commission for arbitration.

d) Where the failure to agree a roaming agreement is referred to the

Commission as a dispute, or if the Commission on its own volition

decides to intervene at any time, the decision of the Commission or

results of the arbitration shall be final and binding. This may include

imposing a roaming agreement between the Operators, or imposing

particular terms and conditions on them, or requiring the Operators to

undertake specific steps in order to conclude a roaming agreement.

8.0 STAKEHOLDER RESPONSIBILITIES

8.1. Host Operator and the Would-be host Operator

a) When a roaming request is made, the Operator to whom the request is

made has a duty to respond to the request and avoid actions that

unduly delay or block the negotiations regarding that request.

b) The Host Operator shall not alter the technical characteristics of

mobile services in such a way as to make them differ from the technical

characteristics of the same services provided to its own end-users

unless otherwise agreed under the roaming agreement.

8.2. Hosted Operator

The Hosted Operator shall:

a) Promptly honour all payment dues prescribed in the roaming

agreement.

b) Ensure its Roaming Agreements are in conformity with its licence

scope of services and geographical area

c) Ensure transparency to and safeguards for roaming consumers.

8.3. Host and Hosted Operators

The Operators shall:

a) ensure the storage, treatment and transfer of personal data of end

users is in conformity with the national laws and regulations on data

protection.

b) avoid duplication of costs that will ultimately be passed on to the

end-users of the roaming services

9.0 ENFORCEMENT AND REMEDIAL MEASURES

The Uganda Communications Commission Guidelines on National Roaming

a) Any Operator who fails to comply with the requirements and obligations

contained in these guidelines or fails to submit information as required

to be submitted by these guidelines shall be deemed guilty of

contravening the Act.

b) Remedial action by the Commission in respect of such contravention

may include:

i. issuance of a written warning with a deadline for compliance by

the respective Operator;

ii. imposing fine in accordance with the Act;

iii. take any other measure the Commission deems as reasonable in

the circumstances in accordance with the Act.

10.0 AMENDMENT

These guidelines shall be reviewed regularly to ensure continued relevance

and revised to accommodate developments in the industry.