THE ELECTRONIC AND POSTAL COMMUNICATIONS (RADIO COMMUNICATION AND FREQUENCY SPECTRUM) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS, 2022

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Electronic and Postal Communications (Radio Communication and Frequency Spectrum) (Amendment) Regulations, 2022 and shall be Electronic and Postal Communications (Radio Communication and Frequency Spectrum) Regulations, 2018 hereinafter referred to as the “principal Regulations”. read as one with

2. The principal Regulations are amended in regulation 27, by- (a) deleting subregulation (8) and substituting for it the following GN No.59/2018 “(8) Save for spectrum sharing arrangement authorised by the Authority under the Electronic and Postal Communications (Access, Infrastructure and Co-location Sharing) Regulations, 2018, a licensee shall not enter into any 1 Electronic and Postal Communications (Radio Communication and Frequency Spectrum) (Amendment) Regulations GN. NO. 643 (Contd) frequency arrangement to lease, pledge or sell radio spectrum or frequency channels assigned or allocated.”; and (b) deleting subregulation (9) Addition of section 27A and 27B

3. The principal Regulations are amended by adding immediately after regulation 27 the following: “Review of spectrum upon merger or acquisitio n

27A.-(1) Subject to sub regulation (2), where companies the Act and licensed under assigned frequency spectrum enter into merger or acquisition, the Authority shall review spectrum allocated to the companies and consider re-assignment of the radio frequency the spectrum acquirer. to (2) Save for microwave frequency spectrum, the acquirer shall only be entitled the following spectrum cap – to (a) Not more than 2 x 35 MHz of below 1 GHz spectrum bands 800MHz (700MHz, and 900MHz); (b) The intra band cap of 35% of the spectrum 1800MHz, in 2100MHz and 2600MHz FDD band; or (c) The intra band cap of 40% of the spectrum in 2300MHz, 2600MHz, 3300MHz and 3500MHz TDD: 2 Electronic and Postal Communications (Radio Communication and Frequency Spectrum) (Amendment) Regulations GN. NO. 643 (Contd) Provided that, where there are frequencies in excess of the cap described in paragraphs (a) to (c), and such excess frequencies cannot be re-allocated for provision of services, the Authority may re- allocate such frequencies to the acquirer. In (3) the case frequency per of Frequency Modulation (FM) radio broadcasting spectrum, an acquirer shall only be entitled to not more than one the licensed service area: Provided that, where as the result of merger or acquisition the merged entity or the acquirer gains more the existing licensed service areas, the merged entity or the acquirer shall be obliged to apply for upgrade of the licence. service areas than the under (4) Any extra spectrum above sub cap regulations (2) and (3) shall be for retained by allocation and assignment at the manner provided under these Regulations. the Authority (5) Where a merger involves licensees with Microwave frequency spectrum, the acquirer may keep the spectrum which was held before the merger. (6) An acquirer shall be required to submit a revised roll out plan to the Authority (7) For efficient utilization of Class A of spectrum, the acquirer assigned any spectrum (700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100MHz) shall be 3 Electronic and Postal Communications (Radio Communication and Frequency Spectrum) (Amendment) Regulations GN. NO. 643 (Contd) required to meet the following mobile coverage broadband obligations- (a) population coverage of not less than 60% by end of the third year of the merger; (b) population coverage of not less than 90% by end of the sixth year; and (c) the quality of service requirements as set out in the Electronic and Postal (Quality of Service) Regulations. (8) The tenure of the spectrum user licence for spectrum obtained through the merger shall be same as the tenure of the the spectrum user acquirer. licence of (9) The spectrum acquired upon merger or acquisition shall be subject to fees as prescribed in the Schedule to these Regulations. Powers to issue Guidelines

27B. The Authority may issue guidelines on review of spectrum or acquisition.” upon merger Addition of Schedule

4. The principal Regulations are amended by adding immediately after regulation 38 the following Schedule: 4 Electronic and Postal Communications (Radio Communication and Frequency Spectrum) (Amendment) Regulations GN. NO. 643 (Contd) “___________ SCHEDULE ___________ Made under Regulation 27A (9) ______________ SPECTRUM FEES ON MERGER OR ACQUISITION

1. Where a merger or acquisition involves a licensee with spectrum obtained through auction, the spectrum shall not be subjected to any fees.

2. Where a merger or acquisition involves a licensee with spectrum obtained administratively, the following fees will be paid to the Authority: - a) USD 160,000 per 1MHz for Class A spectrum (700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, 2100 MHz); b) USD 50,000 per 1MHz for Class B spectrum (2300MHz, 2600MHz); c) USD 10,000 per 1MHz for Class C spectrum (1850MHz, 1900Mhz, 3.3GHz, 3.5GHz, 4GHz and above.

3. After merger or acquisition, the merged entity or acquirer will continue to pay the annual spectrum user fees as prescribed in the Electronic and Postal Communications (Licensing) Regulations and Licence conditions.” Dodoma, 21st September, 2022 NAPE MOSES NNAUYE Minister Information, Communications and Information Technology 5