Economic Community of West African States
Regulation C/REG.06/06/12 on Condition for Access to Submarine Cables Landing Stations
- Published in official journal 61 on 1 June 2012
- Commenced
- [This is the version of this document at 12 June 2012.]
Article 1 – Definitions
For the application of this Regulation, the definitions set out in Supplementary Act A/SA.1/01/07 on the harmonisation of the policies and regulatory framework of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, Supplementary Act A/SA.3/01/07 on the legal regime applicable to network operators and service providers, and Supplementary Act A/SA.2/01/07 on access and interconnection of networks and services in respect of the ICT sector, shall applyThe following definitions shall equally apply:Access and connection services offered by Submarine Cable Landing Station Operators to Eligible Operators: these are services provided by a CLS operator to an Eligible Operator for the deployment, establishment and maintenance of the connection between the Eligible Operator's co-location equipment located at the landing station site or any other location indicated in the Reference Interconnect Offer concerning the landing station, and the submarine cable system, to enable the Eligible Operator:access capacities belonging to him, or on any one of the cables connected to the landing station system in question; andaccess cable capacities held by third parties on any of the cables connected to the landing station.Backhaul Services: the location of the links between the landing station and the facilities of the Eligible Operator.Cable Landing Station Operator: an operator of a submarine cable landing station (CLS Operator).Co-location: the facilities and resources (including the building space, power, environmental, security and maintenance services) offered by the cable landing station operator to an Eligible Operator;Eligible Operator: a telecommunications operator who can request access to international capacity and co-location on the site of a cable landing station.An eligible operator must:be in compliance with the regulations in the country concerned or another ECOWAS Member State;be a network operator and/or telecommunications service provider;hold beforehand some rights on the international capacity available at the cable landing station either as capacity owner (consortium member), an Indefeasible Right of Use (IRU) holder, or an International Private Leased Circuits (IPLCs) holder.Internet service providers and Internet Exchange Points are also eligible to request such access depending on the scope of the applicable legal regime in their national jurisdictions.RIO: Reference Interconnection OfferSubmarine cable: Any physical, signal-bearing medium installed in a marine environment for the routing of electronic communications or transmission of electric power.Submarine Cable Landing Station or Cable landing station (CLS): Set of technical installations for the landing and operation of the submarine cable in order to provide electronic communication or electric power transmission services.Virtual Co-Iocation:Connection to the cable landing station by a link between a remote or virtual co-location point and the cable landing station.This point shall be located outside the cable landing station, whether adjacent to the station or at a reasonably distant location, depending on the options.The Eligible Operator shall be authorised to install its equipment at that point so as to access the submarine cable capacity from the cable landing station.Article 2 – Objective
This Regulation is aimed at:Article 3 – Scope of application
Article 4 – Grant of landing station licences
Article 5 – Modification of existing licenses
Member States shall amend the existing licenses and corresponding specifications of CLS operators to conform to the principles enshrined in this Regulation, and introduce the obligation of non-discrimination and prohibition of anti-competition practices on the international capacity access market.Article 6 – Withdrawal of restrictions on access to international capacities
Whatever the technology used (terrestrial or submarine fibre, satellite, and microwave links), Member States shall not include any restriction on access to international capacities in any licences or authorisation (including the corresponding specifications) issued to any operator on that Member State's territory.Article 7 – Guarantee of fair and effective access
Article 8 – Co-location service
Article 9 – Minimum period of access and co-location
Article 10 – Backhaul services
The National Regulatory Authority should ensure that the SMP-CLS Operator provides a leasing backhaul facility at cost-oriented prices in order that Eligible Operators do not pay unreasonable charges for the service.Article 11 – Transparency obligations
Article 12 – Tariff monitoring
Article 13 – Guarantees of quality Service Level
National Regulatory Authorities shall ensure that SMP-CLS Operators provide a Service Level Guarantee consistent with international best practices and equivalent to those applied to their own services or to those of their subsidiaries or partners.Article 14 – Dispute resolution
Article 15 – NRA collaboration
National Regulatory Authorities of the ECOWAS Member States shall define a framework for collaboration amongst the regulators regarding the rules or regulations governing sub-marine cable access in the sub-region. The Member States shall inform the ECOWAS Commission about any initiative taken on this matterArticle 16 – Publication
This Regulation shall be published by the ECOWAS Commission in the Official Journal of the Community within thirty (30) days of its signature by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers. It shall also be published by each Member State in its National Gazette within thirty (30) days after due notification by the Commission.History of this document
12 June 2012 this version
Consolidation