Acte communautaire A/SA.1/12/17 · REVISED SUPPLEMENTARY ACT…

Acte additionnel révisé de la CEDEAO adopté à Abuja le 16 décembre 2017 par l'Autorité des Chefs d'État et de Gouvernement, il harmonise les conditions d'accès universel et de service universel aux télécommunications/TIC dans l'espace communautaire. Il définit l'accès universel, le service universel et le groupe de base des services TIC, puis fixe les objectifs et le rôle des États membres dans la création d'un environnement réglementaire favorable.

ECOWAS COMMISSION ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES COMMISSION DE LA CEDEAO COMMUNAUTE ECONOMIQUE DES STATES DE L'AFRIQUE DE L'OUEST

REVISED SUPPLEMENTARY ACT A/SA.1/12/17 ON UNIVERSAL ACCESS AND UNIVERSAL SERVICE

THE AUTHORITY OF HEADS OF STATES AND GOVERNMENT,

MINDFUL of Articles 7, 8 and 9 of the ECOWAS Treaty as amended establishing the Authority of Heads of States and Government and defining its composition and functions;

MINDFUL of Article 33 of the said treaty, which provides that Member States shall, in the area of telecommunications, develop, modernise, coordinate and standardise their national telecommunication networks in order to provide reliable interconnection among Member States, and shall coordinate their efforts with a view to mobilising national and international financial resources through participation of the private sector in the provision of telecommunication services;

MINDFUL of Decision A/DEC.14/01/05 on the adoption of a regional telecommunication policy and development of GSM regional roaming in the ECOWAS Member States;

MINDFUL of Decision A/DEC.11/12/94 on the establishment of an ECOWAS technical advisory committee on telecommunication regulation;

MINDFUL of Decision A/DEC.12/12/94 on tariff-setting and telephone traffic in the area of telecommunications;

MINDFUL of Decision A/DEC.16/5/82 on the telecommunication program of ECOWAS;

CONSIDERING that the direct interconnection of modern telecommunication systems between Member States is a prerequisite for sub-regional economic integration;

NOTING that the Community has resolutely embarked upon a process of liberalizing telecommunication services and infrastructures by 2007;

CONSIDERING that this liberalisation process is giving rise to flourishing markets calling for a framework that is conducive and attractive to investment;

AWARE of the need to provide all of the Community's populations, regardless of geographic location, social and economic circumstances, with a minimum set of high-quality and affordable telecommunication services;

RECOGNISING that the concepts of universal access and service are bound to evolve as a result of technological progress, market developments and user requirements;

WISHING to achieve, as rapidly as possible, the digital opening-up of the Member States;

ON THE RECOMMENDATION of the Seventy-Ninth Ordinary Session of the Council of Ministers held in Abuja from 13 -14 December, 2017;

A/SA.1/12/17

ECOWAS COMMISSION ECONOMIC COMPUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES COMMISSION DE LA CEDEAO COMPUNAUTE ECONOMIQUE DES ETATS DE L'APPEQUE DE L'EUÊST

HEREBY AGREES AS FOLLOWS

CHAPTER I

DEFINITIONS, OBJECTIVES, AND SCOPE

Article 1: Definitions

For the purposes of this Supplementary Act, the definitions contained in Supplementary Act A/SA.1/01/07 shall apply.

The following additional definitions shall also apply:

Universal access: means public availability of and access to a basic group of telecommunications/ICT services, within the territory of the Member States of ECOWAS, are available to and accessible by all citizens, regardless of their gender, ethnic origin, disability status, socio-economic level, or geographic location, at affordable rates.

Universal service: means private or household access to a basic group of telecommunications/ICT services, within the territory of the Member States of ECOWAS, available to and accessible by all citizens, regardless of their gender, ethnic origin, disability status, socio-economic level, or geographic location, at affordable rates.