PART III EXCLUSIVE PRIVILEGE AND LICENSING, ETC., OF TELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEMS |
| Exclusive privilege with respect to telecommunications |
24.—(1) As from the appointed day and subject to this Act, the Authority shall continue to have the exclusive privilege for the operation and provision of telecommunication systems and services in Singapore.(2) The privilege conferred on the Authority by subsection (1) shall —| (a) | include the rights of establishing, installing, using, working, maintaining, developing, constructing, promoting, hiring and selling telecommunication systems and services; and | | (b) | extend to every vessel or aircraft registered in Singapore and every other vessel, aircraft and any vehicle, whether mechanically propelled or not, in Singapore. |
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25. The privilege conferred by section 24 shall not be infringed by —| (a) | the running by a person solely for his own use or solely for the purposes of his business (but not for providing any telecommunication service to another person) of a telecommunication line system in which all the equipment comprised therein is situated —| (i) | on a single set of premises in single occupation; or | | (ii) | in a vessel, aircraft or vehicle or in two or more vessels, aircraft or vehicles mechanically coupled together; or |
| | (b) | the operation of any telecommunication system —| (i) | in the course of their duties by the officers and men of the Singapore Armed Forces, the Singapore Police Force, the Singapore Civil Defence Force or of any visiting force lawfully present in Singapore; or | | (ii) | by the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation in the provision of any broadcasting and television services under the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation Act (Cap. 297). |
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| Power to license telecommunication systems and services |
26.—(1) A licence may, with the consent of, or in accordance with the terms of a general authority given by the Minister, be granted by the Authority either unconditionally or subject to such conditions as the Authority may impose and specify in the licence and either irrevocably or subject to revocation as therein specified for the running of such telecommunication systems and services falling within section 24 as are specified in the licence.(2) A licence granted under subsection (1) may be granted either to any person, class of persons or a particular person, and may include (without prejudice to the power to impose conditions conferred by that subsection) conditions requiring —| (a) | the interconnection of and access to telecommunication systems of any person, class of persons or a particular person licensed under subsection (1); and | | (b) | the payment to the Authority of a fee on the grant of the licence or the payment to it of periodic fees during the currency of the licence or both of such amount as may be determined by or under the licence. |
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| (3) A payment required by subsection (2) to be rendered to the Authority may be recovered by it in any court of competent jurisdiction as if it were a simple contract debt. |
| (4) No person shall question whether the grant of a licence under subsection (1) was, or was not, effected with the consent of or in accordance with the terms of a general authority given by the Minister, and the validity of a licence granted under that subsection shall not be impugned on the ground that it was granted neither with the consent of nor in accordance with the terms of a general authority given by the Minister. |
| (5) The grant and renewal of licences under this section shall be at the discretion of the Authority. |
| (6) Nothing in this section shall prevent the Minister from directing the Authority to grant a licence in any specific case and any person aggrieved by a refusal of the Authority to grant a licence may within 14 days of the refusal appeal to the Minister whose decision shall be final. |
| (7) Anything done under and in accordance with a licence granted under subsection (1) shall not constitute an infringement of the privilege conferred by section 24. |
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| Designation of public telecommunication licensees |
| 27. The Authority may, with the approval of the Minister, designate any person who has been granted a licence under section 26 as a public telecommunication licensee to perform all or any of the functions relating to the operation and provision of telecommunication systems and services in Singapore within the exclusive privilege of the Authority under this Act. |
| Modification of licence conditions |
28.—(1) Subject to this section, the Authority may modify the conditions of a licence granted under section 26.(2) Before making modifications to the conditions of a licence of a public telecommunication licensee under this section, the Authority shall give notice to the licensee —| (a) | stating that it proposes to make the modifications in the manner as specified in the notice and the compensation payable for any damage caused thereby; and | | (b) | specifying the time (not being less than 28 days from the date of service of notice on such licensee) within which written representations with respect to the proposed modifications may be made. |
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(3) Upon receipt of any written representation referred to in subsection (2), the Authority shall consider such representation and may —| (a) | reject the representation; or | | (b) | amend the proposed modifications or compensation payable in accordance with the representation, or otherwise, |
| and, in either event, it shall thereupon issue a direction in writing to such licensee requiring that effect be given to the proposed modifications specified in the notice or to such modifications as subsequently amended by the Authority within a reasonable time. |
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| (4) Any public telecommunication licensee aggrieved by the decision of the Authority under subsection (3) may, within 14 days of the receipt by it of the direction, appeal to the Minister whose decision shall be final. |
(5) The Authority shall not enforce its direction —| (a) | during the period referred to in subsection (4); and | | (b) | whilst the appeal of the public telecommunication licensee is under consideration by the Minister. |
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| (6) If no written representation is received by the Authority within the time specified in subsection (2) or if any written representation made under subsection (2) is subsequently withdrawn, the Authority may forthwith carry out the modifications as specified in the notice given under subsection (2). |
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| Suspension or cancellation of licence, etc. |
29.—(1) If the Authority is satisfied that —| (a) | a person who is granted a licence under section 26 or any regulations made under this Act is contravening, or has contravened and is likely again to contravene, any of the conditions of the licence or the provisions of this Act or any regulations made thereunder; or | | (b) | a person who operates a telecommunication system which he is authorised to operate by a licence granted under section 26 —| (i) | has connected to the system any other telecommunication system or equipment which is not authorised by the licence to be so connected; or | | (ii) | has provided by means of the system any telecommunication service which is not authorised by the licence to be so provided, |
| the Authority may, by notice in writing and without any compensation, do either or both of the following: |
| (A) | cancel the licence or suspend the licence for such period as it thinks fit; or | | (B) | require the payment of a fine in such amount as it thinks fit. |
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| (2) Any person who is aggrieved by any decision of the Authority under this section may, within 14 days after such person has been given the notice in writing referred to in subsection (1), appeal to the Minister whose decision shall be final. |
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30.—(1) Any equipment to be used for connection to any telecommunication system or equipment belonging to a public telecommunication licensee shall be approved by the Authority before use.| (2) A person applying for an approval under this section may be required by the Authority to comply with such requirements as the Authority may think appropriate; and those requirements may include a requirement to satisfy some other person with respect to any matter. |
| (3) An approval under this section may apply either to particular equipment or to any equipment of a description specified in the approval, and may so apply either for the purposes of a particular telecommunication system or for the purposes of any telecommunication system of a description so specified. |
| (4) An approval under this section may specify conditions which must be complied with if the approval is to apply, for any purposes specified in the approval, to any telecommunication system or equipment which is so specified or is of a description so specified; and any such condition may impose on the person to whom the approval is given a requirement from time to time to satisfy some other person with respect to any matter. |
| (5) The Authority or any other person by whom any matter falls to be determined for the purposes of any requirement imposed in pursuance of subsection (2) or (4) may charge a fee in respect of the carrying out of any test or other assessment made by the Authority or other person. |
(6) A public telecommunication licensee may, with the approval of the Authority (except in cases of emergency), cease or refuse to supply a telecommunication service to any person by means of a telecommunication system or telecommunication line operated by the licensee if, through the use of such telecommunication service, there is or is intended to be connected to the telecommunication system or telecommunication line, equipment or cabling that is a threat to —| (a) | the safety or proper functioning of the telecommunication system or telecommunication line; or | | (b) | the safety of any person. |
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| Vesting of telecommunication undertaking in telecommunication successor company |
31.—(1) On such day as the Minister may by order published in the Gazette appoint (referred to in this Act as the transfer date), all the property, rights and liabilities comprised in the Authority’s telecommunication undertaking (other than the designated telecommunication property) to which the Authority was entitled or subject immediately before that date shall become, by virtue of this section and without further assurance, the property, rights and liabilities of a company nominated for the purposes of this section by the Minister (referred to in this Act as the telecommunication successor company) which shall be designated in accordance with section 27 as a public telecommunication licensee.| (2) In this Act, “designated telecommunication property” means property of any description, whether movable or immovable, which the Minister for Finance may designate as necessary to be retained by the Authority for the exercise of its duties and functions relating to telecommunications under this Act. |
| (3) Any immovable property to be transferred to and vested in the telecommunication successor company under subsection (1) shall be held by the company upon such tenure and subject to such terms and conditions as the President may determine. |
| (4) If any question arises as to whether any particular property, right or liability has been transferred to or vested in the telecommunication successor company under this Act, a certificate under the hand of the Minister for Finance shall be conclusive evidence that the property, right or liability was or was not so transferred or vested. |
(5) It is hereby declared for the avoidance of doubt that —| (a) | any reference in this Act to property comprised in the Authority’s telecommunication undertaking is a reference to such property (other than the designated telecommunication property) of the Authority whether situated in Singapore or elsewhere; and | | (b) | any such reference to rights and liabilities comprised in the Authority’s telecommunication undertaking is a reference to such rights to which the Authority is entitled or, as the case may be, such liabilities to which the Authority is subject, whether under the laws of Singapore or any country outside Singapore and includes rights and liabilities arising under loans raised in relation to the Authority’s telecommunication undertaking. |
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| (6) It shall be the duty of the Authority and of the telecommunication successor company to take all such steps as may be requisite to secure that the vesting in the company by virtue of this section of any foreign property, right or liability is effective under the relevant foreign law and until such time it shall be the duty of the Authority to hold that property or right for the benefit of, or to discharge that liability on behalf of, the company. |
| (7) Nothing in subsection (6) shall be taken as prejudicing the effect under the laws of Singapore of the vesting in the telecommunication successor company by virtue of this section of any foreign property, right or liability. |
| (8) Any expenses incurred by the Authority under subsection (6) shall be paid by the telecommunication successor company. |
| (9) In subsections (6) and (7), references to any foreign property, right or liability are references, respectively, to any property, right or liability comprised in the Authority’s telecommunication undertaking as respects which any issue arising in any proceedings would have been determined (in accordance with the rules of conflict of laws) by reference to the law of a country or territory outside Singapore. |
| (10) Before the transfer date, the Authority shall take steps to separate its telecommunication undertaking from the remainder of its undertaking. |
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| Initial Government holding in telecommunication successor company |
32.—(1) As a consequence of the vesting in the telecommunication successor company by virtue of section 31 of the property, rights and liabilities comprised in the Authority’s telecommunication undertaking (other than the designated telecommunication property), the telecommunication successor company shall issue such securities of the company as the Minister for Finance may from time to time direct to any company wholly owned by the Government.| (2) The Minister for Finance shall not give a direction under subsection (1) at a time when the telecommunication successor company has ceased to be wholly owned by the Government. |
| (3) Securities required to be issued in pursuance of this section shall be issued or allotted at such time and on such terms as to allotment as the Minister for Finance may direct. |
(4) Shares issued in pursuance of this section —| (a) | shall be of such nominal value as the Minister for Finance may direct; and | | (b) | shall be issued as fully paid and treated for the purposes of the Companies Act (Cap. 50) as if they had been paid up by virtue of the payment to the telecommunication successor company of their nominal value. |
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| (5) Section 69 of the Companies Act (which provides that where a company issues shares for which a premium is received by the company whether in cash or in the form of other valuable consideration a sum equal to the aggregate amount or value of the premiums on those shares shall be transferred to a share premium account) shall not apply in relation to the issue of shares by the telecommunication successor company in pursuance of this section, notwithstanding that such shares may be regarded as having been issued by the company at a premium. |
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| Financial structure of telecommunication successor company or postal successor company |
33.—(1) If the Minister for Finance so directs at any time before the telecommunication successor company ceases to be wholly owned by the Government, such sum (not exceeding the accumulated realised profits of the Authority in connection with its telecommunication undertaking) as may be specified in the direction shall be carried by the telecommunication successor company to a reserve (referred to in this section as the statutory reserve).| (2) The statutory reserve may only be applied by the telecommunication successor company in paying up unissued shares of the company to be allotted to members of the company as fully-paid bonus shares. |
(3) For the purposes of any statutory accounts of the telecommunication successor company —| (a) | the vesting effected by virtue of section 31 shall be taken to have been a vesting of all the property, rights and liabilities comprised in the Authority’s telecommunication undertaking (other than the designated telecommunication property) to which the Authority was entitled or subject on the transfer date; and | | (b) | the value of any asset and the amount of any liability of the Authority taken to have been vested in the telecommunication successor company by virtue of paragraph (a) shall be taken to be the value or, as the case may be, the amount assigned to that asset or liability in the statement of accounts of the Authority as at the transfer date. |
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| (4) For the purposes of any statutory accounts of the telecommunication successor company, the amount to be included in respect of any item shall be determined as if anything done by the Authority (whether by way of acquiring, revaluing or disposing of any asset or incurring, revaluing or discharging any liability, or by carrying any amount to any provision or reserve, or otherwise) had been done by the company. |
| (5) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (4), the amount to be included in any reserves of the telecommunication successor company as representing its accumulated realised profits shall be determined as if any profits realised and retained by the Authority in connection with its telecommunication undertaking had been realised and retained by the company. |
| (6) References in this section to the statutory accounts of the telecommunication successor company are references to any accounts prepared by the company for the purposes of any provision of the Companies Act (Cap. 50). |
(7) Subsections (3) to (6) shall apply mutatis mutandis to the postal successor company as it applies to the telecommunication successor company and the references in those subsections to —| (a) | telecommunication successor company shall be read as references to postal successor company; | | (b) | telecommunication undertaking shall be read as references to postal undertaking; | | (c) | section 31 shall be read as references to section 46; and | | (d) | designated telecommunication property shall be read as references to designated postal property. |
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| Application of law in relation to offer of shares or debentures of telecommunication successor company or postal successor company |
34.—(1) This section shall apply where the Minister for Finance or the company to which securities of the telecommunication successor company are issued at the direction of the Minister for Finance under section 32(1) offers for sale to the public shares or debentures of the telecommunication successor company; and in this section “full prospectus” means a prospectus which complies, or is deemed to comply, with the requirements of a prospectus under the Companies Act (Cap. 50).(2) If the shares or debentures are offered by a full prospectus as respects which the conditions mentioned in subsection (3) are fulfilled (referred to in this section as the offer prospectus), any form of application for the shares or debentures may (instead of being issued with a full prospectus) be issued with a notice given by the Minister for Finance which includes —| (a) | a brief description of the shares or debentures offered, the terms of the offer, the telecommunication successor company’s business and its financial position; | | (b) | an indication of the places in Singapore where copies of the offer prospectus are to be available to members of the public; and | | (c) | a statement of the effect of subsection (4). |
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(3) The conditions referred to in subsection (2) are —| (a) | that a copy of the prospectus has been delivered to the Registrar of Companies in pursuance of section 50 of the Companies Act; and | | (b) | that arrangements have been made with a view to securing that on or before the date of receipt of the form of application by a member of the public copies of the prospectus are generally available in Singapore to members of the public. |
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(4) Where a form of application is issued without a full prospectus but with a notice given by the Minister for Finance under subsection (2), then, for the purposes of any enactment or any rule of law —| (a) | the notice shall be taken to have incorporated the offer prospectus; and | | (b) | any application for the shares or debentures which is made in pursuance of the notice shall be taken to have been made in pursuance of that prospectus. |
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(5) This section shall apply mutatis mutandis to the postal successor company as it applies to the telecommunication successor company in respect of any offer or intended offer for sale to the public of shares or debentures of the postal successor company and the references in this section to —| (a) | telecommunication successor company shall be read as references to postal successor company; and | | (b) | section 32(1) shall be read as references to section 47(1)(a). |
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| Application of Trustees Act in relation to investment in telecommunication successor company or postal successor company |
35.—(1) For the purpose of applying paragraph 1(1)(b), (c) and (d) of Part IV of the First Schedule to the Trustees Act (which provide that securities of a company shall not count as authorised investments within the meaning of that Act (Cap. 337) unless the company has a shareholders equity of not less than $30 million and has paid dividends in each of the 3 financial years, and has reported a profit in the financial year, immediately preceding that in which the investment is made) in relation to investment in securities of the telecommunication successor company during the financial year in which the transfer date falls (the first investment year) or during any financial year following that year, the company shall be deemed —| (a) | to have paid a dividend as mentioned in the said paragraph 1(1)(b) in each financial year preceding the first investment year which is included in the relevant 3 years, and in the first investment year, if that year is included in the relevant 3 years and the company does not in fact pay such a dividend in that year; | | (b) | to have had a shareholders equity of not less than $30 million as mentioned in the said paragraph 1(1)(c); and | | (c) | to have reported a profit as mentioned in the said paragraph 1(1)(d) in the financial year preceding the first investment year, and in the first investment year, if the company does not in fact report such a profit in that year. |
| (2) In subsection (1), “the relevant 3 years” means the 3 financial years immediately preceding the financial year in which the investment in question is made or proposed to be made. |
| (3) This section shall apply mutatis mutandis to the postal successor company as it applies to the telecommunication successor company and the references to telecommunication successor company in this section shall be read as references to the postal successor company. |
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| Transfer of employees to telecommunication successor company |
36.—(1) As from the transfer date, every person employed by the Authority in connection with the Authority’s telecommunication undertaking immediately before that date (other than the excepted telecommunication employees) shall be transferred to the service of the telecommunication successor company on terms no less favourable than those enjoyed by him immediately prior to his transfer.| (2) In this Act, “excepted telecommunication employees” means any officer or employee which the Authority may specify as necessary or expedient to be retained by the Authority for the exercise of its duties and functions relating to telecommunications under this Act and any other officer or employee who is not transferred to the telecommunication successor company on the transfer date by virtue of section 38(1). |
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37.—(1) Until such time as contracts of service are drawn up by the telecommunication successor company, the schemes and terms and conditions of service in the Authority shall continue to apply to every person transferred to the service of the company under section 36 as if he were still in the service of the Authority.| (2) Where any person who is transferred to the service of the telecommunication successor company under section 36 is a contributor under the Widows’ and Orphans’ Pension Act (Cap. 350), he shall for the purposes of that Act continue to make contributions under that Act as if he had not been transferred to the service of the company and for the purposes of that Act, his service with the company shall be deemed to be service with the Government. |
| (3) Notwithstanding the provisions of the Pensions Act (Cap. 225), no person who is transferred to the service of the telecommunication successor company under section 36 shall be entitled to claim any benefits under that Act on the ground that he has been retired from the service of the Government on account of abolition or reorganisation of office in consequence of the incorporation of the company. |
| (4) The Authority shall continue to be liable to pay to former officers or employees of the Government, the former Telecommunication Authority or the Authority, as the case may be, who have retired on or before the transfer date such pension benefits payable under the Pensions Act as they are entitled to and the Government shall be liable to pay to the Authority such portion of any such pension benefits payable to such former officer or employee as the same shall bear to the proportion which the aggregate amount of his pensionable emoluments during his service with the Government bears to the aggregate amount of his pensionable emoluments during his service under the Government, the former Telecommunication Authority and the Authority. |
| (5) In this section, “former Telecommunication Authority” means the Telecommunication Authority of Singapore established under the repealed Telecommunication Authority of Singapore Act 1974 (Act 1/74). |
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| Continuation and completion of disciplinary proceedings |
38.—(1) Where on the transfer date —| (a) | any disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against any officer or employee of the Authority in connection with its telecommunication undertaking and such proceedings are pending before the Authority or in the course of being heard or investigated by the Authority or had been heard or investigated by the Authority and no order or decision had been rendered thereon; or | | (b) | any such officer or employee has been interdicted, the Authority shall —| (i) | in the case of paragraph (a), carry on and complete the hearing or investigation and make an order or render a decision, as the case may be; and | | (ii) | in the case of paragraph (b), deal with such officer or employee in such manner as it thinks appropriate having regard to the evidence against him, including the institution and completion of disciplinary proceedings and the making of an order or the rendering of a decision, as the case may be, |
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| and until such time any such officer or employee shall not be transferred to the telecommunication successor company under section 36 but may, at the discretion of the Authority, be so transferred by an instrument in writing under the hand of the Chief Executive if he is acquitted of the charges or allegations brought in such disciplinary proceedings or where no disciplinary proceedings are initiated against him, as the case may be. |
| (2) Where on the transfer date, any penalty (other than dismissal) has been imposed on any officer or employee of the Authority in connection with its telecommunication undertaking pursuant to disciplinary proceedings against him and the penalty has not been, or remains to be, served by such officer or employee, he shall on his transfer to the telecommunication successor company under section 36 serve or continue to serve such penalty to its full term as if it had been imposed by the company, and the penalty shall remain valid against the officer or employee on his transfer and shall continue in full force and effect until he has served the penalty in full. |
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| Existing agreements and pending proceedings |
39.—(1) All deeds, bonds, agreements, instruments and working arrangements subsisting immediately before the transfer date affecting the telecommunication undertaking (other than the designated telecommunication property) transferred to the telecommunication successor company under section 31 or affecting any officer or employee of the Authority (other than the excepted telecommunication employees) transferred to the service of the company under section 36 shall continue in force on and after that date and shall be enforceable by or against the company as if instead of the Authority or any person acting on behalf of the Authority, the company had been named therein or had been a party thereto.| (2) Any proceedings or cause of action relating to the Authority’s telecommunication undertaking (other than the designated telecommunication property) or to any officer or employee of the Authority (other than the excepted telecommunication employees) transferred to the service of the telecommunication successor company pending or existing immediately before the transfer date by or against the Authority or any person acting on its behalf may be continued and shall be enforced by or against the company. |
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