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Specification for the
Submission of Applications for the
Provisional Licence of Public Mobile Services in the
Macau Special
Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China
Section 1. Introduction
1.1 As a result of the revision of the
concession contract on public telecommunications services, carried out in
December of 1999, some services which had been previously provided in monopoly
were open to competition.
1.2 Mobile service, as the world witnesses its
tremendous pace of growth, is one of the areas liberalized and open to
competition.
1.3 On the other hand, due to the exclusive
provision of public telecommunications services over the past two decades, the
majority of prevailing legislation and regulations in areas of
telecommunications and radiocommunications is not catered to the environment
after the revision of the concession contract.
1.4 As a reference, the major related
legislation and regulations are as follows:
1.5 The major concession contracts and licences
related to area of telecommunications are as follows:
1.6 Recognizing the potential benefits to be
brought to the general public by the introduction of competition in mobile
service, the Government of MSAR, through this Specification, invites
applications for the provisional licence of public mobile services.
1.7 Depending on the adequacy of the submitted
applications, the justification on the market share and the availability of
radio spectrum, the Government of MSAR will issue in maximum three Provisional
Licences.
1.8 Each Provisional Licence is associated with
one type of technology and no licensee is entitled to own more than one
Provisional Licence, taking also into consideration the requirement mentioned in
point 2.3 .
1.9 The Provisional License entitles the
licensee to install and operate in the MSAR a mobile service network, including
also the possibility of building its own mobile service international gateway,
which will provide services to mobile customers, on a fair competing and
non-discriminatory ground with the incumbent operator and other licensees.
1.10 The mobile service international gateway
shall in no case be engaged in the practice of refiling without the prior
consent in writing by the Government.
1.11 Definitions of technical terms used in this
Specification should be referenced to the relevant International
Telecommunication Union documents, regulations and recommendations.
1.12 Proposals should be submitted in
triplicate under sealed confidential cover and must reach the address
shown below not later than 5 o' clock in the afternoon of 1st
September, 2000:
Office for the Development of Telecommunications
and Information Technology
Avenida da Praia Grande, no. 789, 3o andar,
Macau Special Administrative Region
1.13 Receipt of proposals will be acknowledged
individually. Late applications will not be considered.
1.14 Inquiries of clarification with respect to
any of the aspects mentioned in the current Specification should be made in
writing and sent by post to the address shown in point 1.12 above or by fax to
the number +853 356328, before 10th August, 2000, the response of
which will be given in the shortest period of time.
1.15 All valid proposals received before
deadline will be open at 3 o' clock in the afternoon of 2nd
September, 2000, and the Office for the Development of Telecommunications and
Information Technology will immediately proceed to evaluate these proposals.
1.16 The Government of MSAR reserves the right
to disclose, in the act referred in point 1.15 above, the names and composition
of the parties who have submitted the proposals.
1.17 When considered necessary, the Government
of MSAR may request the valid interested parties to supply explanation and/or
further information on materials already submitted or considered in deficiency
for evaluation.
1.18 The submitted proposals should remain valid
for a period of 90 days, counting from the date mentioned in point 1.15 above.
1.19 Proposals will be evaluated on their
merits, having regard to the information provided as requested and to the broad
selection criteria outlined at Section 4 of this Specification, notwithstanding
other pertinent aspects to the interest of the Government of MSAR.
1.20 This Specification is intended to give the
basic information and procedures of the applications for the Provisional
Licence. It does not, in any case, bind the Government of MSAR to grant any
Provisional Licence.
Section 2. Eligibility of candidates for the
provisional licence
2.1 Companies which are interested in obtaining
the provisional licence should either be incorporated in the MSAR, under the
legal requirement stipulated in the prevailing legislation, or otherwise in
countries or territories outside the MSAR, with proof of registration duly
certified by public or private notary.
2.2 Eligibility of candidates extends to the
form of consortium.
2.3 The company or the constituent party of
consortium, when submitting a proposal, is not allowed to hold a share or have
any other interest in any other applicants for the Provisional Licence.
2.4 Interested parties should be financially and
technically sound. In supporting this, interested parties (if as consortium,
each of the constituent parties) are requested to supply the company's past
financial demonstration as well as annual audit report and cite the past
experience in installing and operating systems of telecommunications,
preferably, in the field of mobile telephone services.
2.5 The Provisional Licence shall be awarded
only to a company, consortium or the branch of a foreign company or consortium
duly registered in the MSAR.
Section 3. Content to be
included in the applications and proposals
3.1 The Government of MSAR, when considering to
issue the provisional licence, is technology neutral. Interested parties can
propose a technological platform for the mobile services, observing
simultaneously the radio spectrum available as referred in point 3.3 below,
which is either well proven as a world standard or would adopt a forthcoming and
emerging standard.
3.2 Systems and networks adopting the IMT-2000
standards, or more commonly known as 3G, will not be considered at this
licensing process.
3.3 In designing the network and preparing for
the proposals, take good note of the following radio spectrum available in MSAR:
- 824 ---- 849 MHz
869 ---- 894 MHz
(accommodate a maximum of 4 operators)
- 890 ---- 897.5 MHz
935 ---- 942.5 MHz
905 ---- 915 MHz
950 ---- 960 MHz
(accommodate a maximum of 2 new operators)
- 1710 ---- 1745 MHz
1805 ---- 1840 MHz
1750 ---- 1785 MHz
1845 ---- 1880 MHz
(accommodate a maximum of 3 new operators)
3.4 If the candidate is interested in providing
a dual-band service based on the fact that the two systems involved adopt the
similar technical platform and the measures to avoid interruption during signal
interchange (for example, GSM 900/1800), the intention as such must be clearly
indicated in the proposal to be submitted, and the Provisional Licence hereby
granted is considered as a single licence.
3.5 The proposal should explicitly indicate the
system capacity and capacity for expansion.
3.6 Specifications on the radio interface used
in the proposed system should be provided.
3.7 Applicants should propose a system building
plan with the objective to achieve a good quality territory wide coverage of the
MSAR in a period of 18 months, counting from the date of starting to provide
commercial service.
3.8 It is necessary to provide the network
design and configuration, namely, among others, number and location of base
station, number and location of mobile switching centre, point of
interconnection, channel arrangement, antenna type, effective radiated power,
features supported by the network etc., as well as the equipment listing.
3.9 The corporate structure and the estimated
job opportunities should be included when submitting the proposal.
3.10 Regarding the operational aspects of the
interested parties, it is necessary to elaborate, at least, a business plan for
the first year and a 5-year business plan.
3.11 Along with the business plan, it is
important to submit the investment plan, taking into consideration the period
stated in point 3.7 above.
3.12 A promotion and marketing plan is also
required.
3.13 The billing and operation supporting
systems to be adopted, including the customer care services, need to be
described with sufficient profoundness.
3.14 As a general principle adopted by the
Government of MSAR, the ways and charges of interconnection between the networks
of the new operators and the incumbent operator should be settled between these
two, based on commercial negotiation. However, no discrimination should be
practiced by the incumbent operator on the charges of interconnection to be
levied from all the licensees. The agreement reached should then be submitted to
the Chief Executive for approval. Should there be dispute arisen and no
conclusion is to be reached, the Government of MSAR reserves the right to
arbitrate and fix the charges for the interconnection on a cost basis.
3.15 In order to foster fair competition in the
market, applicants should make number portability as an inherent feature in
their networks proposed. They are also required to reflect in their proposals
the architecture and costs of implementing their preferred methods for number
portability and the possible inter-operator charges.
3.16 A proposal of tariff to be applied, giving
sufficient rationalization of the basis of formulating the local, international
and roaming service charges is required.
3.17 Types of basic and value-added services to
be offered should be clearly stated.
3.18 If there are field surveys to be conducted,
the results of which should be attached to the proposals.
3.19 Applicants should attach an overview of the
potential benefits that their investment projects could contributed to the
society and economy of the MSAR.
Section 4. Criteria of
selection
4.1 In evaluation of the quality of applications
and proposals for obtaining the provisional licence of mobile service, the
following listed criteria will be duly considered:
- The commitment of providing state-of-the-art
and sophisticated system capability.
- Investment committed and financial
background.
- Clearly outlined corporate structure.
- Technical aspects with regard to the
infrastructure of the proposed networks.
- Implementation schedule for achieving a good
quality territory wide coverage.
- Grade of service to be offered and system
performance standards.
- Management and technical expertise of the
corporation.
- Research in a sense that aspects stated in
the applications and proposals should be substantiated by well-researched
facts and comprehensive independent market survey.
- Tariff to be adopted for the proposed
services.
- Training programs and facilities to be
provided to local personnel.
- Economic and social benefits delivered to the MSAR.
- Clearly presented and easy to follow
proposals.
4.2 The above-mentioned points of consideration
do not limit the Government of MSAR to include other factors, which would lead
to the selection of successful candidates.
Section 5. Other terms and conditions to be
observed
5.1 Numbering blocks for each licensee will be
allocated by the Government of MSAR.
5.2 The Constitution and Convention of the
International Telecommunication Union as well as the ITU-T and ITU-R
Recommendations and Reports should be closely observed by the licensee.
5.3 The proposal should be signed by legal
representative of the interested party, whose signature must be recognized by a
public or private notary.
5.4 The validity of the Provisional License is
of one year. Once the legal framework and associated regulations in area of
telecommunications are in place, the Provisional Licence will be converted to
Definitive Licence if and only if the legal procedure as well as the conditions
and requirements by then stipulated are duly fulfilled. The system operated
under the Definitive Licence should not be different from that of the
Provisional Licence. If there is any deficiency found with respect to the
referred conditions and requirements, the licensee holding the Provisional
Licence should first rectify the situation.
5.5 The Provisional Licence shall be invalidated
if the deficiency is not rectified by the licensee before the expiration of
validity of the Provisional Licence, and in this case, the Government of MSAR
will not indemnify the licensee.
5.6 In preparing the legal framework and
associated regulations as referred in point 5.4 above, the Government of MSAR
will study the situation, with due consideration, in order to reduce, as much as
possible, the steps taken, and thus facilitating the process, to convert the
Provisional Licence to the Definitive Licence.
5.7 The Definitive Licence will be valid for a
period of 8 years, the renewal of which is subject to the approval in accordance
with conditions to be fixed by the Government of MSAR.
5.8 The provisional licence are issued with a
charge of 100,000 patacas (one hundred thousand patacas).
5.9 The charge mentioned in point 5.8 above is
paid to the Government of MSAR, or an entity designated by the Government of
MSAR.
5.10 The provisional licence will convey the
general rights and obligations for all public mobile service operators, with
additional key aspects from the proposal considered as special terms and
conditions.
5.11 The selection of successful candidates will
be based on the broad criteria defined in Section 4.
5.12 On granting the Provisional Licence, the
Government of MSAR shall request the licensee to submit a bank guarantee at the
amount of two million patacas, with validity maintained for the full period of
the Provisional Licence. Under the Definitive Licence, the bank guarantee will
have to be renewed in accordance with the applicable legislation.
5.13 If the licensee, by any reason, withdraws
of its own accord from installing the network, the bank guarantee referred in
point 5.12 above will be reverted to the favor of the Government of MSAR.
5.14 Prior to the provision of commercial
services to the public, the licensee is not entitled to transfer the licence to
a third party. After the launching of commercial services and with the prior
approval of the Government of MSAR, the licence is transferable if so solicited
by the licensee.
5.15 If any of the licensees decides not to go
ahead with the project, the Government of MSAR reserves the right to choose from
the list of unsuccessful candidates the most appropriate one to take up the
Provisional Licence, before the expiration of the period mentioned in point 1.18
above.
5.16 The financial statement and annual audit
report with respect to activities carried out by the licensee in a given year
should be submitted to the appreciation of the Government of MSAR or an entity
designated thereof by the Government of MSAR, before 15thMarch of the
following year.
5.17 The licensee is levied 5% on the annual
gross revenue, as royalty paid to the Government of MSAR, resulting from the
activities specified in the framework of the Provisional Licence, with the
exception of handsets and accessory sales.
5.18 The payment mentioned in point 5.17 above
does not exempt the licensee's obligation to pay other taxes to the Government
of MSAR as the laws require as well as the applicable radio spectrum usage fees.
5.19 The Government of MSAR, when justifying the
licensee's not fulfilling the implementation schedule as referred in point 3.7
above and no acceptable justification is put forward by the licensee in a period
of at least 30 days before the deadline of the referred schedule, has the right
to impose a penalty of 100,000 patacas (one hundred thousand patacas) for every
month's delay until a maximum delay of six months.
5.20 When the justification has been put forward
by the licensee during the specified period, the Government of MSAR could
authorize, in accordance with the actual situation, the prolongation of the
deadline for the licensee to fulfill the obligation stated in point 3.7 above.
If the licensee fails to fulfill its obligation when the prolonged period has
expired, the Government of MSAR has the right to impose a penalty of 100,000
patacas (one hundred thousand patacas) for every month's delay until a maximum
delay of six months.
5.21 When the maximum period of six months
specified in point 5.19 or 5.20 above has passed and the incompliance has been
judged imputable to the licensee by the regulator, the Government of MSAR has
the right to suspend or revoke the licence and by so doing, no indemnification
will be given to the licensee.
5.22 It is the obligation of the licensee to
provide good quality services to its customers in compliance with generally
accepted quality and system performance standards.
5.23 As part of the responsibility of the
licensee, emergency calls and assistance calls made by users should not be
charged.
5.24 The Government of MSAR, according to the
situation and the justification formulated by the licensees, could concede to
the licensees the right of access to buildings for the purpose of base station
and antenna installation and/or the right of access to public roads for the
objective of laying cables to connect the base stations to the mobile switching
centers of the same network. However, the licensees are responsible for any
charges thereby incurred.
5.25 The licensee shall indemnify the Government
of MSAR against any losses, which the Government of MSAR incurs or which may be
made against the Government of MSAR as a consequence of or in relation to the
activities of the licensee, with regard to the provision of services or the
installation, maintenance and operation of the network.
5.26 In the event of any discrepancy between the
Chinese version and its English translation of this Specification, the Chinese
version shall prevail.
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