Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and
R 385
Electronic Communications Act, 2005 (Act No. 36 of 2005)Chapter 7 : Interconnection37. Obligation to interconnect |
| (1) | Subject to section 38, any person licensed in terms of Chapter 3 must, on request, interconnect to any other person licensed in terms of this Act and persons providing service pursuant to a licence exemption in accordance with the terms and conditions of an interconnection agreement entered into between the parties, unless such request is unreasonable. |
| (2) | Where the reasonableness of any request to interconnect is disputed, the person requesting interconnection may notify the Authority in accordance with the regulations prescribed in terms of section 38 and the Authority must, within 14 days of receiving the request, or such longer period as is reasonably necessary in the circumstances, determine the reasonableness of the request. |
| (3) | For the purposes of subsection (1) a request is reasonable where the Authority determines that the requested interconnection— |
| (a) | is technically and economically feasible; and |
[Section 37(3)(a) substituted by section 19(a) of the Electronic Communications Amendment Act, 2014 (Act No. 1 of 2014)]
| (b) | will promote the efficient use of electronic communications networks and services. |
| (4) | In the case of unwillingness or inability of a licensee to negotiate or agree on the terms and conditions of interconnection, either party may notify the Authority in writing and the Authority may— |
| (a) | impose terms and conditions for interconnection consistent with this Chapter; |
| (b) | propose terms and conditions consistent with this Chapter which, subject to negotiations among the parties, must be agreed to by the parties within such period as the Authority may specify; or |
| (c) | refer the dispute to the Complaints and Compliance Committee for resolution on an expedited basis in accordance with the procedures prescribed in terms of section 38. |
| (5) | For purposes of subsection (4), unless otherwise agreed in writing by the parties, a party is considered unwilling to negotiate or unable to agree if an interconnection agreement is not concluded within the time frames prescribed. |
| (6) | The interconnection agreement entered into by a licensee in terms of subsection (1) must, unless otherwise requested by the party seeking interconnection, be non-discriminatory as among comparable types of interconnection and not be of a lower technical standard and quality than the technical standard and quality provided by such licensee to itself or to an affiliate or in any other way discriminatory compared to the comparable network services provided by such licensee to itself or to an affiliate. |
[Section 37(6) substituted by section 19(b) of the Electronic Communications Amendment Act, 2014 (Act No. 1 of 2014)]
