PART I | Short title and commencement |
| 1. This Act may be cited as the Telecommunications Act 1999 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint. |
2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —| “appointed day” means the date of commencement of this Act; |
| “Authority” means the Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore established under the Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore Act 1999; |
| “Chief Executive” means the Chief Executive of the Authority and includes any temporary Chief Executive of the Authority appointed under section 10 of the Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore Act 1999; |
| “code of practice” and “standard of performance” mean, respectively, a code of practice and a standard of performance issued or approved under section 26; |
“earthworks” includes —| (a) | any act of excavating earth, rock or other material (by whatever means) in connection with —| (i) | any works for or relating to the construction, reconstruction, extension, renovation, alteration, demolition or repair of any building, road, railway, bridge, viaduct, flyover, sewer or sewage works; | | (ii) | any works for or relating to the laying, inspecting, repairing or renewing of any mains, pipes, cables, fittings or other apparatuses; | | (iii) | any soil investigation works; or | | (iv) | such other works as are usually undertaken by a person carrying on business as a contractor in the construction industry or as a professional civil or structural engineer; |
| | (b) | any act of boring, dredging, jacking, levelling, piling or tunnelling on or under any premises or street by any mechanical means; and | | (c) | the driving or sinking of any earth rod, casing or tube into the ground; |
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| “equipment” includes any appliance, apparatus or accessory used or intended to be used for telecommunication purposes; |
| “Hertzian or radio waves” means electro-magnetic waves of frequencies not exceeding 1,000 terahertz propagated in space without any artificial guide; |
| “installation or plant used for telecommunications” includes all buildings, lands, structures, machinery, equipment, cables, poles and lines used or intended for use in connection with telecommunications; |
| “master”, in relation to a vessel or aircraft, means any person for the time being in charge or command of the vessel or aircraft but does not include a sea pilot; |
| “message” means any sign, signal, writing, image, sound, intelligence or information of any nature transmitted by telecommunications; |
| “public telecommunication licensee” means a person designated by the Authority under section 6; |
| “public telecommunication licensee’s installation or plant” means any installation or plant used for telecommunications belonging to or used by a public telecommunication licensee; |
| “radio-communication” means any telecommunication by means of Hertzian or radio waves; |
| “radio-communication service” means any service for radio-communications; |
| “radio-communication system” means any system used or intended to be used for radio-communications; |
| “repealed Act” means the Telecommunication Authority of Singapore Act (Cap. 323) repealed by the Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore Act 1999; |
| “securities”, in relation to a company, includes shares, debentures, bonds and other securities of the company, whether or not constituting a charge on the assets of the company; |
| “street” includes any way, road, lane, path, passage or open space, whether a thoroughfare or not, over which the public have a right of way and also the roadway and footway over any public bridge and includes any road, footway or passage, used or intended to be used as a means of access to 2 or more holdings, whether the public has a right of way thereover or not; |
| “TAS” means the Telecommunication Authority of Singapore reconstituted by the repealed Act; |
| “telecommunication cable” means any cable of a telecommunication system belonging to or under the management or control of a telecommunication system licensee; |
| “telecommunication cable detection work” means any work of detecting or locating any underground telecommunication cable; |
| “telecommunication cable detection worker” means any person whose trade or occupation requires or includes the personal performance by him of telecommunication cable detection work; |
| “telecommunication cable detection work licence” means a licence granted under section 29; |
| “telecommunication licensee” means a person to whom a licence has been granted under section 5; |
| “telecommunication line” means a wire or cable used for telecommunications with any casing, coating, tube or pipe enclosing the same and any appliance and apparatus connected therewith for the purpose of fixing or insulating the same; |
| “telecommunication service” means any service for telecommunications but excludes any broadcasting service; |
| “telecommunication system” means any system used or intended to be used for telecommunications; |
| “telecommunication system licensee” means a person licensed under section 5 to operate a telecommunication system; |
| “telecommunications” means a transmission, emission or reception of signs, signals, writing, images, sounds or intelligence of any nature by wire, radio, optical or other electro-magnetic systems whether or not such signs, signals, writing, images, sounds or intelligence have been subjected to rearrangement, computation or other processes by any means in the course of their transmission, emission or reception; |
| “vessel” includes any ship, boat, air-cushioned vehicle or floating rig or platform used in any form of operations at sea or any other description of vessel. |
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