THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION BILL

Jul 24, 2016 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

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…second reading by the Minister of Public Telecommunications, Cathy Hughes
This Bill repeals and replaces the Public Utilities Commission Act, Cap 57:01. It is composed of:

(1) The provisions of the Public Utilities Commission Act 1999 as amended by Public Utilities Commission (Amendment) Act, 2003 (No. 7 of 2003) and Public Utilities Commission (Amendment) Act 2010 (No. 16 of 2010), and (2) the provisions that are required to complement and harmonize with the Telecommunications Bill No. 15 of 2016.
This Bill does not disturb the existing harmony with the Electricity Sector Reform Act (ESRA) or any other law governing “public utilities” under the PUC’s jurisdiction.
Originally, the provisions that are required to complement the Telecommunications Bill No. 15 of 2016 were prepared as yet another amending Bill to the PUC Act. The government, however, formed the opinion that it would be cumbersome for anyone to have to read the PUC Act and still have to refer to the Principal PUC Act of 1999 along with the three Amending Bills.
As such, it was decided to prepare a consolidated PUC Bill that incorporates the PUC Amendment Acts of 2003 and 2010 and the new provisions related to the telecommunications sector. Thus was created the new consolidated PUC Bill that is now before this House for debate and passage into law.
The new provisions incorporated into the 1999 Act as amended that relate to the telecommunications sector cover the areas that I shall now indicate.
These new provisions provide for “Telecommunications undertakings” (i.e., any entity subject to the new Telecommunications Act and regulations) being removed from the provisions of the PUC as a public utility and being regulated in accordance with the provisions set out in the sector-specific Telecommunications Act/regulations.
Under this bill, the PUC will continue to function as the economic regulator of the telecommunications sector with responsibility for ensuring:-
* A competitive environment
* Seamless interconnection and access between and among telecommunications networks
* Price regulation only where required to protect consumers and competition, with the expectation of greater choice, better service quality and lower prices
The PUC will carry out these functions in a manner that is specific to the proper regulation of an open, competitive telecommunications sector – something that the 1999 Act which is more appropriate for the regulation of monopolies, did not provide for.
This new Bill accomplishes this by several means:
1) It creates a new definition for “telecommunications undertakings”, which will now be a different term from “public utility” used for other utilities over which the PUC exercises jurisdiction.
The new term refers to any operator of telecommunications networks, provider of telecommunications services or other person that is subject to the Telecommunications Bill. The Bill ensures that only those telecommunications undertakings that provide services to or for the public will be regulated by the PUC.
2) The Bill ensures that the PUC’s activities with regard to telecommunications are governed by both the PUC Act and the Telecommunications Act.
3) The Bill ensures that the PUC’s functions in areas of rate-setting and regulating service quality are governed by the Telecommunications Act rather than by the provisions of the PUC Act.
4) The Bill provides that the PUC will be required to give effect to the terms of a licence issued to a telecommunications undertaking and any agreement between the Government and a telecommunications undertaking.
The further telecommunications sector related amendments include a clause that seeks to ensure that the rate of interest on customers’ deposits that a telecommunications operator or service provider is required to pay is based on a formula that is fair and consistent with practice in the commercial sector.
For this purpose, the interest rate is proposed to be changed from an annual compound rate of eight percent to a rate that is equivalent to the average Treasury bill rate for the preceding three hundred and sixty-four days.
There is also a provision that ensures that the annual assessment to be imposed on telecom operators and service providers is based on the same formula that applies to the annual assessment imposed on electricity companies that fall under the jurisdiction of the PUC, i.e. a rate of one percent of the gross revenues derived from services or one hundred million dollars, whichever is less.
I wish to say that the Bill is sound and reflect international best practices – the new telecommunications sector-related provisions in the Bill along with the Telecommunications Bill will definitely establish the environment for bringing Guyana to a new exciting frontier – one of full, effective participation into the global information age and one that sets us up to close the digital divide within Guyana, and between Guyana and the developed world.

(To be continued… The General Provisions of the new PUC Bill)

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