Regulatory bodies such as the MofC must face the tests of changing times and emerging best practices and regulatory changes to support trends in consumer demands and technological changes including the seamless connectivity and integration and fixed wireless and fixed networks.

General Issues

• convergence and its impact on the telecommunications environment
• “level playing field” for competition
•  the need for some control in the public interest by most countries through licensing
• licensing in terms of regulation by government authorities and also in the context of privately operated telecommunications carriers holding franchises or concessions
• allocation of scarce resources in a converged environment opportunities to license to obtain government revenue

Emerging Telecom Regulation in selected global regions

• Review of the November 2009 Telecom Reform In Europe and its applicability to the MofC
• Review of  regulatory reform in selected global regions
• Review emerging paradigm shifts in charging policies given convergence being an important factor and which is driving the need to assess which interconnection regime is appropriate for the long-term.
• Related to the above, review, the EU Common Position (CP) which assesses Bill & Keep (BaK) as an alternative to the currently used regime for voice in Europe: calling Party Network Pays (CPNP).
• Applicability of reform and best practices to the CCK environment
• Review of the current and emerging regulatory changes in the MofC
• Identification of significant gaps
• Alternatives and solutions applicable for the MofC (will take the form of a major discussion and group activity including the basis of group presentations identifying alternative way forward in terms of regulatory reform.

Scenarios for Discussion

The scenarios and impact assessments are intended to provoke deeper and more rigorous discussions about the future Internet and the scope for policy. The issues identified as crucial for the MofC and its stakeholders to investigate, including among others:

• How can content providers be initiated and integrated into the mainstream of the telecom sector or should be remain as “outsiders”;
• What does privacy mean in a changing virtual environment and how can it be assured?
• How can the right kinds of openness, Net neutrality, quality of service, etc. be identified and promoted?
• How should sufficient bandwidth be provided and allocated in Ghana for a seamless mobile Internet?
• How can/should governance arrangements take into account new Internet ‘public goods’ and ‘public bads?’
• How (if at all) should governments promote or seek to influence Internet architecture development?
• How are concepts of identity as associated institutions and societal conventions affected by the evolution of the Internet, and what kind of Identity management systems does the Ghanaian or African development require?
• How much (and what kinds of) trust are needed, and should they be promoted through active investment and trust enhancing activity like trusted 3rd parties; effective cross border (legal) redress and enforcement?
• To what extent is early and public promotion of common standards desirable; in particular, how can standardization and innovation be reconciled e.g. by pre-competitive procurement?
• What are the positive and negative effects of (enterprise) interoperability; how can efficient interoperability be strengthened, in particular across borders?
• How can technology and market-based complements to traditional policy be implemented?

Types of Licensing

• Individual operator licenses
• General authorizations
• Open entry

Licensing Practices

• Transparency
• Public consultation
• Licensing fees
• Qualification criteria
• Selection criteria

Contents of Licenses

• Meeting the needs

Costing Methodologies

·         Principles of incremental costing

·         Forward looking economic models (Long Run Incremental Costing methodologies – LRIC)

·         Practical application and review of framework

·         Best practices in the use of LRIC by regulatory regimes in selected regions

Other Issues

• Regulatory approaches to enforcing interconnection in converged environments
• Implementing Service Level Agreements (SLA) and measuring Quality of Service (QoS)
• Reference Interconnect Offers (RIO) in the 21^st century
• Principles of wholesale price regulation in telecommunications
• Approaches to determining Telco operators’ costs – from the chart of accounts to LRIC
• The impact of convergence on price regulation and cost determination
• International best practices in the pricing of interconnection in converged telecommunications environment – the twin legacies of LRIC and BAK
• Significant market power determination and remedies including the need for consistency in the remedies that are imposed

• Need for the MofC and other Regulatory agencies to fully institute cost-based interconnection charges as one way of enhancing competition in the telecommunications industry

Learning Environment: Traditional classroom including collaborative learning. Use of presentations, group learning, class exercises, and problem solving. 

1. Describe impact of convergence on telecommunications networks and services in a multivendor supply environment (interconnection of many suppliers of services, networks and content). 
2. Determine the need for licensing of converged telecommunications services.

3.  Examine the best licensing practices for interconnection in a converged multi-operator, multi-platform telecommunications environment in selected market environments (e.g. EU, Canada, and Malaysia with high penetration of converged services)
4. Identify methods for regulating interconnection prices and determining interconnection costs under a unified licensing framework
5. Examine emerging network costing methodologies being adopted as best practices to support harmonization of costs to end users in a competitive market environment.
6. Develop a practical implementation plan for transitioning to unified licensing regime in Kenya.

• Examine licensing in a converged environment with particular emphasis on network technology convergence within emerging and transitional economies including the Kenyan context as a base line 
• Review the current and emerging trends in Europe and select bench mark countries with a view to compare, contrast, and identify gaps that merit further study and adoption by CCK
• Analyze the emerging drivers for change in regulatory governance and licensing in a converged environment 
• Examine licensing types that will economic sense in a converged environment
• Study the current and emerging best practices to implement transparent forward looking pricing frameworks to support innovation, competitiveness, and reduced consumer rates for telephony and emerging applications
• Examine the strategic question in terms of what does the future of a connected Information Society look like and how should we prepare our overall ICT strategy and related policies to become a globally leading knowledge society?
• Analyze global practices of unified licensing, pricing, and consumer protection. 
• Analyze best practices to support harmonization of rates for converged services including the provision of content in fully interconnected fixed and wireless networks.