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The Afghanistan
Telecom Regulatory Authority (ATRA) would like to contract a
Consultant who will provide the required Technical Assistance for
the reform of the existing Licensing Regime of ATRA. The TOR of this
Consultancy is attached to this announcement.
Instructions for Applicants:
Experts who are interested in this Consultancy should submit their
proposals and CVs by e-mail to
secretary@atra.gov.af
by the deadline; 1600 hours 20th April 2008. Hard copies of the
proposals and CVs can be sent to the following address:
Secretary, Afghanistan Telecommunications Regulatory Authority
(ATRA), 10th Floor of MCIT Building, Mohammad Jan Khan Watt, Kabul,
Afghanistan.
The proposals for this Consultancy should have the following
information:
1. The approaches of the Consultant for the completion of this
Consultancy within the framework as outlined in the TOR.
2. Time Schedule for the implementation of the Project, which should
include all the activities that are needed for the completion of the
work plus on the job training for the personnel of ATRA. The
Consultant is free to propose a shorter implementation period.
3. Detailed CV of the Consultant and Monthly Salary or the total
amount of cost for the complete Consultancy in (US$) and should
indicate whether the amount shown in the proposal is negotiable or
not.
4. Verifiable references for the projects that are completed by the
Expert in the past. Each reference should include the name of the
Referee, his role in the project, name of the organization, duration
of the project with start and finish dates, address of the project,
e-mail and telephone number of the Referee.
5. Cover Letter which will briefly states the interest of the
consultant in this consultancy.
Enquiries on specific issues can be sent to
secretary@atra.gov.af
The required information will be provided within 2-3 days after the
receipt of the enquiry. This line of communication should be kept to
a minimum.
Terms of Reference for a Consultant on Licensing Reforms
(Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority (ATRA))
The Afghan telecommunications sector is expanding rapidly in a
post-conflict environment. Now, there are over 4.7 million
subscribers, with current investments of US$1.05 Billion and
expected to reach US$1.5 billion by 2010. It is essential for the
sector to have a defined and stable policy framework for it to
continue growing. The licensing regime is a critical component of
such a framework. The Telecommunications Services Regulation Law was
introduced after the issuance of the majority of licenses and
therefore all the licenses need to be updated in accordance with the
provisions of this law.
There are three specific problems confronting the current licensing
regime:
• The three GSM mobile licenses allow the licensees to offer “all
services under the ‘GSM services’ umbrella as defined by the GSM
Association.” This definition includes voice and data services. The
question arising now is that the license does not allow the
connection of GSM network to ISP network.
• The current ISP license does not permit operation of international
gateways or provision of voice services (through VoIP, for example).
However, ISPs are engaged in both, making them unlawful.
• Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority (ATRA) has licensed
Afghan Telecom and three other operators to offer any “voice,
internet/data, and video telecommunications,” using “its choice of
technologies.” As such, this is a unified license. However, it is
necessary to define a unified license and to provide clarity on its
meaning regarding frequency spectrum and in the Afghan context and
the frequency spectrum issues.
ATRA would like to hire a consultant to assist it develop a
licensing regime that addresses these specific issues and to develop
a complete licensing regime that avoids similar problems in the
future.
The proposed consultant would review the existing telecom licensing
framework in Afghanistan and would assist ATRA in resolving license
related issues and recommend a roadmap for migration from the
existing licensing regime to the new one.
The consultant will be engaged for 04 months in 2008.
Deliverables:
(1) The consultant will prepare a report for ATRA that will study
and assess the current licensing regime including the TSRLA, license
conditions, the situation on the ground that is practiced by telecom
operators, identify areas of conflicts between them and other
deficiencies in the licensing regime and provide solutions to
resolve the current problems, as well as recommend a regime that is
future-proof and enables competition and growth.
(2) This report will:
a. Have specific and concise assessment and analysis of the current
licensing regime and the associated issues and challenges.
b. Have a brief summary of the options available to ATRA to address
these current issues based on international experiences and best
practices.
c. Evaluate these options in the Afghan context and present the best
option for ATRA to implement.
d. Have specific, clearly defined and actionable recommendations
based on the assessment and analysis to resolve current issues and
create a new licensing regime.
e. Have a specific and clearly defined recommendation on a migration
methodology from the current to the proposed licensing regime.
Methodology/Tasks:
The consultant should:
(1) Review the legal framework and the license conditions; identify
areas of conflicts between the Law, the license conditions and the
actual practice of the licensees.
(2) Interact with ATRA and other stakeholders to understand the
specific issues and challenges and potential benefits and costs for
the involved parties from the current and proposed licensing
regimes.
(3) Assess the current licensing regime and its implications for the
sector now and in the future considering technology and market
developments (e.g. convergence).
(4) Perform a cross-country survey and comparison of different
options for licensing.
(5) Recommend the best licensing regime arrangement based on this
survey and comparison and considering the specific context of
Afghanistan’s telecom sector and growth prospects.
(6) Develop a mechanism for migrating current licensees to the
proposed regime.
(7) The consultant should interact and engage with the ATRA to
ensure that the quality of the output at the end of the consultation
period is very high.
Specific terms of reference:
The consultant should:
(1) Create a specific and concise report that will assess and
analyze the licensing regime and provide actionable recommendations.
(2) Recommend both the licensing regime and the migration mechanism
– should be set to a time-line for implementation, with specific
milestones and evaluation mechanisms to gauge successful
implementation.
(3) Update the existing licenses of GSM Services, Unified License,
ISP License in accordance with the proposed licensing regime and the
available legal framework.
(4) Work with translators to create a summary version of the final
report in Pashto or Dari.
Qualifications of the Consultant:
(1) A qualified candidate will have significant experience in the
analysis of ICT regulation. The consultant should have experience in
issues related to legal and policy analysis of licensing issues.
Further, it is desirable that the consultant should be familiar with
assessing the implications of market and technical developments.
(2) Working experience in either Afghanistan or South Asian or
Middle Eastern markets is desirable. Fluency in English is
necessary, while knowledge of Pashto or Dari is desirable.
(3) Consultant should be willing to travel to Afghanistan for the
accomplishment of this task.
Level of Effort:
The consultancy is expected to require a level of effort of four
months.
Timetable:
The consultant will complete the assignment in four months from the
joining date at Kabul. Main milestones of the assistance are as
under:
• Methodology/Inception Report (Joining Date + 20 days)
• Progress Report 1 (Joining Date + 60 days)
• Progress Report 2 (Joining Date + 90 days)
• Final Report and the Concluding Work (Joining Date + 120 days)
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