Rwanda
Ministerial Order determining Radio Communications License Fees
Ministerial Order 1 of 2022
- Published in Official Gazette 21 on 23 May 2022
- Assented to on 20 May 2022
- Commenced on 23 May 2022
- [This is the version of this document from 23 May 2022.]
Chapter One
General provisions
Article One – Purpose of this order
This Order determines payable fees by a holder of radio communications license in order to promote economic growth and effective management of frequency spectrum in Rwanda.Article 2 – Definitions
In this Order, the following terms are defined as follows:1°mobile service: radio communication service between mobile and land stations or between mobile stations;2°mobile station: station in the mobile service intended to be used while in motion or during halts at unspecified points;3°fixed station: a station in a fixed service;4°occupied bandwidth: the width of a frequency band such that, below the lower and above the upper frequency limits, the mean powers emitted are each equal to a specified percentage β/2 of the total mean power of a given emission;Unless otherwise specified in an ITU-R Recommendation for the appropriate class of emission, the value of β/2 should be taken as 0.5%;5°Regulatory Authority: national organ in charge of regulation of certain public utilities.Chapter II
License fees
Article 3 – Payable fees
A holder of a radio communication license pays the following fees:1°fee for evaluation of the application of a license;2°annual fee related to the use of radio frequency channel.Article 4 – Licence and renewal application fees
Fees for evaluation of an application file for radio communication license are paid once.License renewal is free of charge. However, in the event of modification in the value of the license, the initial application fee is only paid for the new stations and new frequencies.If the assessment of the application of license renewal implies more fees than the initial application fee, the Regulatory Authority requests the applicant to pay additional fee.Article 5 – Time to pay annual license fee
The annual license fee is paid not later than 20th December of each year. The Regulatory Authority sends invoices to a licensee before November 15th of each year.If the validity of a licence commences during the course of a year, the annual fee is calculated in proportion to the remaining months of the year. The minimum duration of a license is two (2) months.The annual fee, for applicants of a short time license, is calculated based on the duration of the license.Article 6 – Recipient of fees
Fees provided by this Order are paid to the Regulatory Authority.Article 7 – Exempted frequency bands
The following frequency bands are exempted from payment of the application and annual fees:1°frequency bands used by the Army in its dedicated frequency bands;2°frequency bands determined by the Regulatory Authority by means of special regulations.Frequency bands that the Regulatory Board decides to assign via public auction is exempted from application fees.Article 8 – Radio communication license of less than one year
Granting of a radio communication license for a period of less than one year is subject to the prior payment of non refundable application fee. When the license is granted, the license fee is calculated on the basis of the license duration.The minimum fee payable is equivalent to two (2) months.Article 9 – Causes of termination of a radio communication license validity
The validity of a radio communication license may be terminated upon one of the following reasons:1°the will of the license holder;2°upon decision by the Regulatory Board, in case of violation of conditions provided for in the license.Article 10 – Reductions of fees and determining factors
The following factors constitute the basis for reduction of fees for radio communication licenses:1°eighty per cent (80%) reduction on fees listed in the Annex of this Order is granted to only radio communication systems exclusively used for the general interest services operating on the territory of the Republic of Rwanda;2°location and coverage factors referred to in tables of the Annex to this Order.Article 11 – Low power and low range applications
Based on the national table of frequency allocations, regulations and guidelines into force, the Regulatory Authority determines frequency bands which are dedicated to low-power and low-range applications exempted from licences applications and payment of related fees.Applications referred to in Paragraph One of this Article include the use of low-power devices such as remote control, cordless phones, wireless local area computer networks and other devices used for home use such as heating or cooling houses as the Regulatory Authority may approve it.Equipment duly authorised in Rwanda operating in the specifically allocated frequency bands can be used for applications referred to in Paragraph One of this Article.Chapter III
Final provisions
Article 12 – Repealing of order
Ministerial Decree n° 03/RURA/2005 of 14/07/2005 determining fees for radio communications licenses is repealed.Article 13 – Commencement
This Order comes into force on the date of its publication in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Rwanda.History of this document
23 May 2022 this version
Commenced
20 May 2022
Assented to