THE government will today issue its consultation paper for the licensing of additional mobile and fixed line providers, a major step in ending the island’s decades-long telecommunications monopoly.
The 28-page paper seeks the advice of interested parties, inside and outside the island, on the technical, commercial, economic and regulatory issues associated with the licensing of additional providers to compete with the semi-government Cyprus Telecommunications Authority (CyTA).
“This consultation is an important step for the people of Cyprus as it marks the introduction of competition in the provision of mobile telecommunications networks. The people of Cyprus have shown that mobile communications is important to them and the introduction of competition will provide users with additional choice, will provide for innovative services and will allow the Cyprus market to grow,” said Communications and Works Minister Averoff Neophytou.
“This initiative will further harmonise our mobile services with the European market, allowing economies of scale and scope.”
It will also allow increased data rates facilitating new high-speed mobile services and promoting Internet access and new applications to support the competitiveness of Cypriot industries, the Minister added.
The Cyprus government plans later this year to offer UMTS, which stands for Universal Mobile Telecommunications System, a member of the IMT-2000 global family of “third generation” mobile communications systems. UMTS will play a key role in creating the future mass market for high-quality wireless multimedia communications that will approach 2 billion users worldwide by the year 2010. That, together with awarding additional GSM mobile licences, is the government’s main aim.
First generation networks provided simple analogue voice telephony. Second generation added some data services like fax and email to basic voice services, short message service (SMS) and WAP. Third generation mobile communications (3G), in addition to conventional voice, data and fax services, promises to offer multimedia services, mobile office, virtual banking and Internet access.
“Wireless networks in general, and 3G/UMTS networks in particular are expected to play key roles in the development of Cyprus as it moves from a monopoly environment to a competitive market. The rise of the Internet and the demand for telecommunications services is growing at unprecedented rates,” the document said.
As of 2000, Cyprus had 650 telephone lines per 1,000 persons among a population of close to 700,000. The current mobile telephone operator reports a penetration of 47 per cent at the end of 2001, and offers advanced services such as short message service and WAP. This represents a growth of 20 per cent over year 2000 penetration rates. As of 2000 there were six Internet Service Providers (ISP) and 80,000 Internet users.
World mobile leader Vodafone and Greece’s number one operators CosmOTE have already made enquiries into the progress towards liberalising the telecommunications market in Cyprus
Telecommunications Commissioner Vassos Pyrgos told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that the government had no idea yet how many licenses it would give until they had received the feedback from the public consultation.
The EU’s Licensing Directive provides that there should be no limitations on the number of licences granted, but the public consultation document said there could be exceptions to this rule, one of which applies to wireless systems where there may be a physical limitation within a frequency band.
“In Cyprus there is also a unique situation pertaining to the fact that in the occupied territories there are public mobile telephone networks in operation. Consideration should be given to withholding some spectrum in Cyprus until the situation with the occupied territories is resolved,” the paper said.
The government is keen on issuing licences for up to 15 years with a high expectation of renewal, with public consultation being held two years prior to the end of the licensing term.
Concerns include a proliferation of antenna towers, and site sharing will be encouraged wherever possible, particularly as some sites currently used by the telecommunications carrier are already on government properties, the document said.
Operators will also be required to ensure they comply with the international guidelines for general public exposure to radio frequency fields in accordance with the recommendations of the European Union.
Following the receipt of comments in response to the public consultation document, the government expects that the competition for the licensing of additional providers would begin in the third quarter of this year.
“We are looking for the inputs of any people who are interested, consumers or possible service providers,” Pyrgos said. “This input will assist us in finalising the number of licences, the type of licences and the way in which they will be issued.”
Comments must be submitted in writing, preferably in English, to the Communications and Works Ministry before 5pm on April 25, 2002.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
