Decree-Law no. 15/2012 of 28 March 2012 ON THE REGULATION OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR Telecommunications are essential to Timor-Leste’s future development - for creating wealth and employment, for delivering services in vital areas such as health, education and law and order, and for ensuring an adequate functioning of the administration. International experience has demonstrated that telecommunications growth and development are fostered in a competitive market. The outcome of competition has been a wider range of services made available to a larger portion of the population, at lower cost, higher quality and with customer support services more responsive to user needs. Recognising the importance of a competitive telecommunications market to the social and economic future of Timor-Leste, the Government has embarked upon a process aimed at liberalising the telecommunications market and introducing effective competition through private sector participation. As part of that process, the Government thus establishes a new legal framework for telecommunications and creates a new national authority for communications, with the functions, duties and powers necessary to ensure its implementation. Thus, pursuant to subparagraph e) of article 115.1, and to subparagraph d) of article 116, both of the Constitution of the Republic, the Government enacts the following to have the force of law: CHAPTER I GENERAL PROVISIONS Article 1 Scope The present Decree-Law establishes the legal regime applicable to the provision of telecommunications services, the operation of telecommunications networks and the use of radio-frequency spectrum in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. Article 2 Object The objective of the present Decree-Law is to promote the long-term social and economic wellbeing of the population of Timor-Leste by ensuring the availability, affordability and quality of telecommunications services through: a) Establishing and maintaining an open, non-discriminatory, technologically neutral, objective, transparent and proportionate telecommunications regulatory regime;