The Telecommunications Authority has decided to deploy a single, streamlined licensing regime for regulation of all service-based public telecommunications services.

The new licensing regime will be implemented October 30. The licences of all existing public non-exclusive telecommunications services and service-based operators will be gradually replaced with the new one. The exercise will be completed in a year.

Services provided under these two licences include external telecom services, Internet access and Internet Protocol telephony services. In March the authority consulted the industry on the proposed merging of the two licensing regimes.

The Office of the Telecommunications Authority said the merger enables the use of one single licence with harmonised licence conditions and fees for regulating relevant public telecom services.