Untitled DocumentOften, a regulator’s responsibility is to establish quality of service (QoS) guidelines or parameters, as well as the methods and procedures for monitoring operators’ performance against these established parameters. The fundamental objective in establishing QoS targets and reporting is to ensure that the general public (i.e., the consumer) is served and, at the same time, that the operator is not impeded from carrying out day-to-day operating routines as a result of excessive reporting requirements. The level of regulatory intervention with respect to QoS is often dependent on the degree of competitiveness that is present in the market. Generally, the regulator takes a more hands-off the approach with respect to QoS monitoring and reporting requirements if a market is highly competitive. Nonetheless, the reporting and the report analysis process should not be too onerous for either the operator or the regulator irrespective of market conditions. In addition, it also should be developed in consultation between the operators and the regulator to establish realistic benchmarks and make the process manageable and useful in identifying areas where the consumer is receiving inadequate service levels.
Although different approaches have been adopted in various jurisdictions, the regulatory goal should be to ensure: (i) the delivery of acceptable service for the telecommunications user; and (ii) that consumers are aware of the variations in performance from various service providers/operators thereby allowing them to make an educated choice regarding their preferred service provider. QoS indicators are one of the most effective regulatory tools in this regard.
Ultimately, consumer should reap the benefits from the enforcement of QoS regulations. In certain instances, for example, operators opt to run the risk of incurring a penalty as opposed to investing to improve the QoS. In such cases, the imposition of monetary fines does not result in any direct benefit to consumers. On the other hand, consumers may benefit directly when the penalty for violating QoS standards is, for example, to provide consumers with services free of charge; to give the consumer retroactive rebates as compensation for the poor QoS; or to move them up to the top of a waiting list for the provision of services.