He is assisted by the Deputy Director of Legal Services and the Deputy Director of Consumer Affairs. Other personnel of the Directorate include a Consumer Affairs Manager, a Legal Services Officer and an Executive Assistant.

 

Policy and Legislation

The Authority uses the following as its working documents –

1. The Communications Sector Policy Statement of 2013;
2. The Communications Act; and
3. Operator licences.

 

Currently the Communications Act is under review to accommodate technological advances that have occurred since the Act was enacted in 1998. After the revision of the Communications Act, some licences shall also be reviewed to be in tandem with the new law.

 

Apart from review of the Communications Act, the Authority is in the process of developing regulations to enhance the regulatory framework of the ICT industry.

 

Mandate
The mandate of the Legal Directorate s cuts across all the departments of the Authority and includes the following –

1. Preparing for Board meetings, processing Board minutes and resolutions and following up on the execution of Board resolutions;
2. Drafting, telecommunications, radio, broadcasting and postal licences, regulations and guidelines
3. Conducting litigation on behalf of the Authority;
4. Conducting general legal research, and rendering advisory opinions
5. Enforcement of the law, regulations and licences;
6. Arbitration, mediation and conciliation over operator and consumer disputes;
7. Negotiating and executing various contracts on behalf of the Authority;
8. Consumer protection; and
9. Providing overall oversight support to other departments to ensure that decisions are made within the law.

 

Programmes
Currently, the Directorate is involved in several projects including the following –

• Review of the Communications Act;
• Development of broadcasting, postal and telecommunications regulations; and
• Development of new operator licences.

In short, spectrum management is concerned with determining who gets access to how much spectrum, for what purpose or purposes, and under what terms and conditions.

 

The regulated spectrum in Malawi effectively ranges between 9 KHz – 100 GHz. It should be noted that the management of spectrum should be effective as its use is also essential to government functions ranging from defence and public safety to air traffic control and weather forecasting. Spectrum Management is essential for maintaining access to radio spectrum for all users. Under the Communications Act (1998), MACRA is charged with the responsibility of spectrum planning; creating new allocations, fulfilling frequency planning coordination and assignments, issuing licences, regulating and administering the use of radio frequencies; and the monitoring and enforcement procedures. It is further responsible for establishing regulations, frequency fees structure, technical parameters and standards governing the use of each band ensuring that current international regulations are met.

 

Spectrum Management also takes into account economic, political, cultural, health and social considerations so as to deal with the ever increasing demand for the supply of available radio spectrum.

 

Generally Spectrum Management aims at;

1. Providing access to basic communication services to all Malawians through the use of available technologies i.e. wireless.
2. Ensuring effective utilization with equitable access.
3. Accommodating future needs and requirements by careful planning
4. Harmonizing national and regional best practices with international trends
5. Enhancing socio-economic growth of Malawi through better spectrum pricing

 

MACRA is putting in place spectrum management policies that must are flexible and responsive to the needs of the market, recognizing that each class of spectrum user has different requirements. For example, promoting the use spectrum -efficient technologies, such as narrow band transmission, trunking between cells with high mutual traffic loads and digital signaling, can sometimes relieve crowding in the mobile radio frequencies thereby addressing the challenges in the way the radio frequency spectrum is managed.

 

Principles of Assignment

Depending on the type of service to be licensed, frequencies shall be assigned based on “first-come, first-served” basis so long as frequencies are available and that the licensing requirements are satisfied. When spectrum shortage is anticipated or when specific government goals are being pursued to foster competition in a particular business sub-sector or for other specific reasons, this approach may be dropped and selection procedures adopted to ensure that spectrum is efficiently and effectively utilized. In situations of spectrum shortages, preference will also be given to those providing greater public benefits, the spectrum utilization and overall efficiency irrespective of date of receipt of the applications concerned.
Other assignment types that can be followed include Spectrum Auction, Beauty Contest, Spectrum Trading e.t.c.

 

Spectrum Pricing
A full table of prices applicable to terrestrial spectrum services is made available.
All users of frequencies shall be required to pay a fee, including Government Agencies or departments except those that are exempt from paying the applicable fees. The fees paid upon registration shall be renewable annually at a rate to be specified under the licence conditions. The price charged for the spectrum assigned will among other factors be dependent on such factors as size, level of competition and classification of spectrum (prime / non-prime) as well as the administrative overhead costs associated with monitoring and management.

The price that is charged for the spectrum will as much as practically possible be proportional to the derivable benefits and level of usage within the band.

 

Exempt / Waiver categories
Any waiver in part or in full of spectrum fees will only apply under the appropriate legislation and any regulations made there under. Exempt categories, i.e. ISM band (2.4 GHz, 5.8 GHz) shall nevertheless be required to pay a registration fee determined by the Authority.

 

Spectrum Planning
MACRA on a regular basis will review utilization of the spectrum in response to present, emerging and future needs. The plans will be based on the technological and other needs of the country especially in the area of universality. Particular attention will be drawn to promoting and making available the spectrum for use in wireless technologies to be used in rural and under-served communities. This process shall facilitate opening of new bands and re-allocation of frequency spectrum to operators if found necessary to ensure effective and efficient use of the frequency spectrum.

 

MACRA shall take into consideration all relevant key stakeholders in the sector during any review process as well as international radiocommunication conferences i.e. The World Radio Conference (WRC) where major spectrum decisions are taken. In terms of planning, critical issues that are considered include;

1. ITU Table of Allocation (especially for Region 1).
2. Regional Frequency Allocation Plan (SADC region).
3. National Frequency Band Plan.
4. Technology Neutrality.
5. Universal Access / Service requirements.
6. Frequency re-farming options.
7. Government / Security operations.
8. Public Safety and Disaster Preparedness.
9. Coordination needs with neighbouring countries (Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia).

 

Spectrum Monitoring
MACRA continually monitors the usage of the spectrum through the Frequency Management & Monitoring (FMM) equipment that has remote monitoring stations distributed within the country. This is done to ensure;

1. Compliance to specified technical operating standards.
2. Resolving cases of harmful interference.
3. Eliminating illegal / unlicensed operations in the sector.
4. Protecting licensees within the framework of legal operation.