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Tariff regulation.
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7.—(1) In this section—
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“basket of telecommunications services” means any telecommunications service or a grouping of such services as prescribed by order made from time to time by the Minister in accordance with this Act for the purpose of regulating charges for those services;
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“price cap” means an overall limit on the annual percentage change in charges that can be imposed for any basket of telecommunications services, provided by any provider of telecommunications services, which is calculated in accordance with the following formula:
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“overall limit” [html] (Δ CPI) — X, where:
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“(Δ CPI)” means the annual percentage change in the CPI;
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“CPI” means the consumer price index number as compiled by the Central Statistics Office;
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“X” means the adjustment specified by the Minister;
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“telecommunications service” includes—
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(a) any communication service or combination of such services of any kind, whether delivered by wire, radio, fibre optics or any other means, and
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(b) all connections, equipment, facilities, apparatus or other delivery or receipt mechanisms within a connected system or network or individually operated to furnish such services or the making available of such connections, equipment, facilities, apparatus or other delivery or receipt mechanisms individually or collectively.
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(2) Subject to subsection (3), the Minister may make an order specifying—
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(a) a price cap in respect of one or more than one basket of telecommunications services, and
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(b) any restrictions or adjustments that may apply to each such basket or baskets or to the price cap formula concerned.
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(3) An order under this section shall not be made unless the Minister is of the opinion that—
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(a) there is no competition in the market for the supply of the telecommunications services concerned, or
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(b) the provider of the telecommunications services concerned holds a dominant position in the market for the supply of those services.
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(4) For the purposes of this section, the Minister may request in writing a provider of telecommunications services to provide information to him or her about the services provided by that provider.
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(5) On or after the expiration of a period ending two years after the making of an order by the Minister under this section, the Minister may direct the Director to review the order and if such a direction is given and the Director sees fit he or she may modify the order.
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(6) The Director may not make an order modifying an order made by the Minister under this section until the expiration of the period ending five years after the making of that order unless he or she has been directed to review such order by the Minister.
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(7) Before making an order under this section the Director shall—
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(a) inform each provider of telecommunications services to be affected by the order of the intention to make an order and of the right to make representations to the Director on the terms of the proposed order, and
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(b) take into consideration any representations made by or on behalf of the provider, if received within two months of the date on which the Director informs the persons concerned of his or her intention to make an order.
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(8) For the avoidance of doubt, where the value of a price cap is negative that value shall represent the minimum percentage reduction which shall take place in charges that can be imposed for any basket of telecommunications services provided by any provider of telecommunications services.
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