Copying and distributing are prohibited without permission of the publisher
Cambodia appoints telecoms regulator
14 February 2012
Cambodian government aims for clear and transparent rules from new telecoms regulator
Read more:
Cambodia
Phnom Penh
regulator
government
Mekong Net
Mobitel
Cambodia’s government has approved the establishment of a telecoms regulatory authority aimed at making rules more transparent and clear, reports the Phnom Penh Post. The approval has been granted in a draft rule from the government in Phnom Penh.
A Ministry of Post and Telecom release said: “The establishment of the Cambodia Telecom Regulator will improve the telecom sector’s present management system by separating the functional roles of the Ministry of Post and Telecom.”
The government will authorise the regulator to be autonomous in terms of establishment, operations, technical and administrative controls, and network and telecom service usage.
Industry observers applauded the move, with the Phnom Penh Post quoting insiders as saying that the absence of such an organisation in the country had been leading to disputes on frequency and pricing.
It quoted Kay Lot, operations manager at Mobitel, as saying: “It is a positive development in the telecom sector to have established a transparent telecom law that finally makes clear distinctions between the ministry and regulators.”
The Phnom Penh Post also quoted Sok Channda, CEO of Mekong Net: “We have been waiting for this for a long time. Previously, it had been difficult to do business because we didn’t have an exact law.” He said that following Mekong Net’s purchase of a WiMax services frequency licence in 2005, the ministry kept selling licences for the same frequency, leading to overlapping claims from several ISPs. He also said that the ministry failed to respond to claims submitted by Mekong Net earlier. GTB
Further reading from Global Telecoms Business:
VimpelCom retains brands but aims to save $2.5bn in ... 09 Feb 2012
Xinwei set for entry into Cambodia 23 Jan 2012
PT Telekomunikasi may buy CamGSM 16 Dec 2010
CamGSM gets $591m Chinese loan 08 Nov 2010
Huawei in $200m Cambodia network deal 19 Mar 2010