HASHEMITE KINGDOM OF J ORDAN

Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC)

Regulatory Decision on the Provisioning of Mobile Virtual
Network Operator (MVNO) Services in Jordan





TRC Board Decision No (8-16/2008) Date (29/7/2008)












1
Regulatory Decision on the Provisioning of Mobile Virtual
Network Operator (MVNO) Services in Jordan

1 Citation

1.1 The following terms constitute the TRC's Regulatory Decision on the
Provisioning of Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) Services in J ordan
and shall come into effect as of the date of its approval by the Board of
Commissioners of TRC.
2 Definitions

2.1 The following words and phrases shall have the meanings assigned thereto
hereunder, unless the context indicates otherwise. Any words and phrases not
defined hereunder shall have the meanings ascribed thereto in the Law and the
Regulations issued pursuant thereto:

2.2 Customer means any Person who has indicated willingness to the Licensee to
receive telecommunications services from the Licensee on the Licensees terms
and conditions, or has entered into a contract with the Licensee for the provision
of such services.

2.3 Class License means a License to provide Public Telecommunications
Services and/or operate Public Telecommunications Networks (i) not requiring
the use of Scarce Resources, or (ii) requiring the use of Scarce Resources that
have been specifically exempted by the TRC from an Individual License
requirement.

2.4 General Spectrum License means the TRC General Radio Spectrum License
for Radiocommunications Systems Related to the Integrated Licensing Regime
granted by the TRC to use certain radio frequencies associated with the Licensed
Activities undertaken pursuant to the Operating License and the License
Agreement.

2.5 Individual License means a License to provide Public Telecommunications
Services and/or operate Public Telecommunications Networks that use in the
provision of some or all services or operation of networks Scarce Resources that
have not been specifically exempted by the TRC from an Individual License
requirement.

2.6 Interconnection Services means the services identified in the Interconnection
Instructions that may be provided by interconnected Licensees to each other in
accordance with the Interconnection Instructions.

2.7 Licensee means the holder of an Individual License or a Class License.

2.8 Licensed Activities means the activities the Licensee is allowed to conduct
under the terms of the License Agreement and the Operating License.
2

2.9 License Agreement means any License Agreement issued by the TRC in
accordance with the Telecommunications Law.

2.10Mobile Network Operator (MNO) means a Licensee that provides Public
Mobile Wireless Services and holds a General Spectrum License for the provision
of such services.

2.11Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) means an operator which may
own or control infrastructure and which is licensed to resell Public Mobile
Wireless Services under its own name using the network, in full or in part, of
licensed MNO(s).

2.12MVNO Services means Public Mobile Wireless Services that are provided by
an MVNO.

2.13Operating License means the Public Telecommunications Services Individual
License granted by TRC to the Licensee, as amended or modified in accordance
with the terms stated within the License Agreement.

2.14Person means any individual, company, corporation, partnership, joint venture,
consortium, government or governmental entity.

2.15Public Mobile Wireless Services means Public Telecommunications Services,
as defined by the Telecommunications Law, that (i) permit two-way
communications between users terminals (radio stations) and other similar radio
stations, as well as with any apparatus, station or service connected to any of the
Public Telecommunications Networks in J ordan, and (ii) are supplied by means
of multiple cells of radio communication transceivers, configured so as to permit
full mobility of customer radio stations, with hand-off between adjacent cells.

2.16Regulations means any instructions and regulatory decisions issued by the
TRC in accordance with the Telecommunications Law.

2.17Scarce Resources include radio frequencies and/or public rights of way and/or
numbering that have not been exempted from an Individual License requirement
by the TRC and as defined in the Regulations.

2.18Telecommunications Law means the Telecommunications Law (Law No. 13
of 1995) of J ordan, and its amendments.

2.19 TRC means the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of J ordan.

2.20 Telecommunications System means any transmission or switching device or
other device or instrument used to convey, receive or transmit
telecommunications signals for the purpose of providing public
telecommunications services.
3
3 Provisioning of MVNO Services in Jordan
3.1 Types and Characteristics of MVNO

3.1.1 The MVNO Services as defined in Article 2.12 above could have, but are not
limited to, the following characteristics:

3.1.1.1 Full responsibility of the MVNO for the relationship with its subscribers in
accordance with terms and conditions of its License Agreement and any
related Regulations.

3.1.1.2 Differentiated tariff schemes and business strategies of MVNO from those
of its host MNO.

3.1.2 MNOs and MVNOs shall be free to negotiate the model that best fulfils their
interests and business strategies. Consequently, more than one type of MVNO
can be implemented in J ordan depending on how far an MVNO wishes to rely
on the facilities of the host MNO, the adopted segmentation of the market, and
the proposed product sets.
3.2 Licensing

3.2.1 The MVNO is a provider of Public Telecommunication Service (as defined
within Article 2 of the Telecommunications Law). Thus, any Person intending
to provide MVNO Services is required to acquire a License in accordance with
the existing licensing and regulatory regime.

3.2.2 The type of License required for the provision of MVNO Services shall be an
Individual License. This is due to the use of Scarce Resources (numbers) as
detailed in Article (3.5) hereunder.
3.3 Interconnection

3.3.1 Individual Licensees intending to provide MVNO Services shall be eligible to
interconnect and negotiate their interconnection arrangements with other
Licensees in accordance with their License Agreements and any related
Regulations.

3.3.2 If the operational arrangements between the host MNO and the MVNO
implies wholly or in part using one or more of the identified Interconnection
Services, then the host MNO and the MVNO are free to use such
Interconnection Services within such arrangements provided that such services
are implemented in accordance with their License Agreement and the
Interconnection Instructions.
3.4 Access to the MNO Facilities

3.4.1 Individual Licensees intending to provide MVNO Services shall be eligible to
negotiate their operational arrangements with the intended host MNO fairly
4
and without unfair discrimination or preferences in order to obtain access to
the MNO's underlying network infrastructure and Telecommunications
System for the purpose of conveying the traffic originated by and/or destined
to the MVNO subscribers.

3.4.2 Traffic generated by the subscribers of the MVNO on the host MNO network
is not considered within the scope of the Traffic Origination Services as
defined within the current Interconnection Instructions
1
. Therefore, the
provision of any service by the MNO to the MVNO that is not identified
within the current Interconnection Instructions, such as access to MNO's
underlying network infrastructure and Telecommunications System necessary
for MVNO operation, shall be subject to commercial negotiations between the
MNO and the MVNO.
3.5 Numbering and Network Code Requirements

3.5.1 The TRC shall allocate MVNOs with unique blocks of 100,000 numbers from
number capacity designated for cellular mobile radio telephone services in
accordance with the National Numbering Plan (NNP)
2
and the Regulations for
Allocation and Reservation of Number Capacity
3
. Sub-allocation from number
ranges of the host MNO shall not be allowed.

3.5.2 When required by the MVNO, the TRC shall allocate Mobile Network Codes
(MNCs) to MVNOs in accordance with the National Numbering Plan (NNP)
provided that the MVNO has the capacity to authenticate a roamed subscriber.
That is to say in order to be eligible for an MNC allocation, the MVNO must
have a Home Location Register (HLR), switching capacity and an
authentication centre as stated in the NNP.
3.6 Quality of Service Obligations

3.6.1 The MVNO shall be subject to the Quality of Service (QoS) obligations for
Public Mobile Services where applicable. To ensure that the Quality of
Service (QoS) obligations for Public Mobile Services are fully met the MVNO
and the host MNO are encouraged to sign a Service Level Agreement (SLA).
3.7 General Provisions

3.7.1 Win-back campaigns by the host MNO shall be prohibited in relation to any
Customer for a period of Six (6) months starting from the day the MVNO
starts providing MVNO Services to that Customer.

3.7.2 There will be no undue restriction upon the number of Individual Licensees to
provide MVNOs Services.


1
TRC Board Decision No. (2-1/2005) Date (5/1/2005)
2
TRC Board Decision No.(1-14/2003) Date (18/3/2003)
3
TRC Board Decision No.(1-29/2004) Date (22/6/2004)
5
3.7.3 Revenue share obligations that are imposed on the MNOs shall also be
applicable to the MVNOs. Therefore, the MVNO shall pay to the TRC
annually in arrears on each anniversary of the Effective Date 10% of its
operating revenues from its MVNO Services net of service tax, calculated in
accordance with the following formula as amended modified or replaced by
TRC:

Operating Revenue from MVNO Services =A' +(B - C), where:

A': Total annual sales of the licensed MVNO Services to its Customers net
of service tax.
B: The annual aggregate receivables from interconnected licensees and
international carriers for the interconnection capacity or traffic
originating from their customers and destined to customers on the
MVNOs network.
C; The annual aggregate payables by the MVNO to interconnected
licensees and international carriers for interconnection capacity, traffic
originated form MVNOs network or its customers' traffic originating
using the host MNOs network.

3.7.4 Providing MVNO Services by an MNO shall be subject to TRC pre-
assessment, evaluation and determination on a case-by-case basis so as to
ensure that this shall not give rise to any anti-competitive practice or market
distortion.

3.7.5 Mobile Number Portability (MNP) regulations shall be applied to the MVNO
as soon as they are implemented.

3.7.6 All agreements between the MVNO and the host MNO that govern the
MVNO operation shall be filed with the TRC and shall contain provisions that
govern disputes between the two parties. Such provisions shall ensure that the
provision of MVNO Services to the Customers may not be withheld as a
consequence of disputes between the two parties, except in accordance with
the Telecommunications Law and the procedures outlined in such agreements.

3.7.7 Any dispute or difference arising between the host MNO and the MVNO
relating to or arising out of any agreement(s) that govern the MVNO operation
shall be resolved in accordance with the dispute resolution mechanisms stated
within such agreement(s).

3.7.8 Without prejudice to Article (3.7.7) above, if both parties fail to resolve such
dispute or difference, it shall be resolved in accordance with Article 60 of the
Telecommunications Law and any Dispute Resolution Instructions issued by
the TRC.

3.7.9 TRC shall continually review this Regulatory Decision to ensure that MVNO
Services adequately meet Customer needs.


-- End of Regulatory Decision --