Highlights and Activities for Weeks 47 & 48

International Meetings

During the past two weeks, officials from the Authority attended:

  1. The Telecoms Working Party meeting held in Brussels.
  2. The UniteIT project initiation meeting held in Romania.
  3. The 3rd public workshop on postal services held in Brussels.
  4. A naming and numbering meeting held in Stockholm.
  5. A Communications Committee (CoCom) meeting held in Brussels.
  6. A workshop on the state of the industry – Telecommunications and Content organised by the Florence School of Regulation in Florence.
  7. A meeting organised by the Expert Working Group on termination rates held in Brussels.

Publications:

1.       Estimating the Cost of Capital – Response on Consultation and Decision: This Decision follows a public consultation on the parameters making up the cost of capital calculation as well as other specific aspects related to the MCA’s proposed methodology and approach. This Decision contains a summary of the feedback received from respondents, the Authority’s position in relation to those comments, and subsequently, the Authority’s decisions on the proposed methodology and approach in estimating the weighted average cost of capital. Click here to view Decision http://www.mca.org.mt/service-providers/decisions/estimating-cost-capital-response-consultation-and-decision

Events

1.       eBiz awards:  The MCA held its 2nd edition of the eBusiness awards on Tuesday 27th November 2012 at the Phoenicia hotel in Floriana.  These awards are aimed at acknowledging unique and innovative local web-based solutions applied by businesses for businesses and society at large.  During the final ceremony the 18 shortlisted solutions were presented and the winners under each category were announced.  The awards presented included:

·         The Best eGovernment Initiative

·         The Best eCommerce Site (B2C)

·         The Best use of Technology in the Tourism Sector

·         The Best use of Social Media

·         The Best B2B Application

·         The Best Mobile Application (Mobile Phone & Tablet) and finally,

·         The Best eBusiness Idea of the Year

 

Furthermore, the adjudication committee deemed fit to award the solution which they considered to be the most innovative out of all the nominated solutions. This year, the MCA received 54 submissions which translates into a 50% increase when compared to the first edition held last year. The adjudication was conducted by an independent committee comprising representatives from industry, Government and academia, which assessed each nominated solution against criteria on which the committee based its final judgements. To view list of winners click here http://www.mca.org.mt/ebusiness-awards-2012/finalists-winners-2012

Legal Update:

  1. On the 23 November 2012 – two legal notices were published – Legal Notice 408 and Legal Notice 409.  The first amends the Postal Services [General] Regulations.  In the main, these amendments relate to the liberalisation of the postal services market come 1st January 2013 providing for rules on market regulation.  On the other hand,  the second legal notice (LN409) relates to the designation of MaltaPost plc as the universal service provider detailing the services that MaltaPost is to provide in this regard.
  2. On the 29 November 2012, the appeals filed before the Administrative Review Tribunal related to the postal sector continued to be heard.  The cases are now adjourned for January 2013.