THE SIXTH APEC MINISTERIAL MEETING ON THE
TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION INDUSTRY (TELMIN6)
(1-3 June, 2005 Lima, Peru)
Annex C
Compliance and Enforcement Principles
Effective compliance and enforcement regimes are essential to
enhancing the ICT regulatory, investment and user environment in any economy.
1. The Regulator
1.1. A regulator must be effective and empowered to convince
the industry to comply with rules, and to enforce compliance:
1.1.1. The regulator should be independent -- separate and
not accountable to any telecommunications supplier -- to ensure that regulated
entities cannot intervene or influence decisions.
1.1.2. The regulator should be empowered with clear
authority and jurisdiction over the telecommunications market.
1.1.3. The regulator should be granted a range of
enforcement tools to enforce the decisions that it issues. These should
include sanctions such as financial penalties, warnings, interim directions,
and modification, suspension, and revocation of licenses.
1.1.4. The regulator should be fair and transparent in its
rulemaking as well as its enforcement decisions.
2. Compliance
2.1. A compliance framework promotes industry self-regulation
and would include:
2.1.1. A compliance statement that explains to operators
the benefits of self-regulation;
2.1.2. A transparent set of instructions informing
operators what constitutes both compliance and non-compliance;
2.1.3. A set of actions to be adopted by suppliers to
demonstrate compliance; and
2.1.4. A process to oversee compliance and enforcement
actions.
2.2. A compliance framework, or industry self-regulation,
needs to be supported by an effective enforcement regime as a means to encourage
industry to comply with a set of behaviours and practices as determined by the
regulator.
3. Enforcement
3.1. An effective enforcement regime should embrace four
principles:
3.1.1. Fast: Enforcement decisions must be made
quickly, decisively and clearly to reduce uncertainty in the market, and deter
future violations.
3.1.2. Firm: Penalties must be severe enough to
deter violations.
3.1.3. Fair: The enforcement system should be perceived as fair and
transparent and decisions for enforcement action must be based on evidence and
made publicly available.
3.1.4. Flexible: The regulator must also have a wide variety of
tools available to it to ensure that the severity of the punishment matches
the severity of the violation.
3.2. To let the regulator enforce its rules effectively,
there should be the following provisions:
3.2.1. The regulator should have the power to investigate
the actions and records of all telecommunications providers. The regulator
should be able to initiate an investigation where it has complete control over
the process from start to end.
3.2.2. A timely way for carriers to bring complaints
against other carriers with the regulator as the adjudicator.
3.2.3. A mechanism to appeal a decision to a higher level
in the hierarchy, whether within the regulatory body, or to the court system.
