• Delicious




Bermuda To Amend Telecommunications Act

Mairi Mallon, Royal Gazette

02 November 2000

This story is reproduced by kind permission of the Royal Gazette at http://www.accessbda.bm

The Telecommunications Act is to be amended in the next seven months to bring the legislation in line with modern technology, according to the Minister of Telecommunications, Renee Webb.

But no details of the first draft will be made public until it has been scrutinised by lawyers and local carriers.

The Act has been criticised for being flawed, and a whole host of law suits have resulted from omissions and sections of the law that are considered outdated.

The first mention of any changes came last week in the Throne Speech when Governor Thorold Masefield announced that "as promised" the Ministry of Telecommunications and E-Commerce will introduce a new Telecommunications Act during this session of the House of Assembly.

He said: "Consultation with the Bermuda International Business Association (BIBA), the Chamber of Commerce and other relevant organisations will continue to ensure that legislative proposals and changes are communicated to the relevant stake holders."

Last night Minister Webb said she could not reveal the details of the amendments to the 1986 legislation as it was only in its first draft and it was "too soon".

"We are amending the Act," she said. "The Act itself is being revised and the first draft has gone to the stakeholders. We are just trying to modernise the act."

When asked if the amendments would cover voice over the Internet, she said it would. She said: "It has to be made more open. There have always been problems with the Act. I can't predict where technology is going to go or what the challenges will be."

The Telecommunications Minister said that the changes would make the Act "broader to reflect what is happening in the market place."

In July this year a legal loophole in the act was blamed for allowing people to eavesdrop on mobile phone conversations.

Intercepting other kinds of communications is banned, but the 1986 act upholds privacy of communication, covering just cable and fibre optic transmission and not wireless communication such as cell phones.

The act has been quoted in several writs in legal wrangles between different carriers on the Island. And the provision in the act which requires a carrier to establish connections with other carriers has been called unconstitutional.

.

 

 






Write a comment