9) “Retail Telecommunications Service” means a Telecommunications Service that is provided directly to the end user but not to another Telecommunications Operator. 10) “Working Days” means business working days only and shall not include Saturday, Sunday and any day that has been declared to be a public holiday by the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. 3. Objective The primary purpose of this Directive is; to 1) Provide a framework to govern interconnection agreements; 2) Provide clarity on the rules and procedures the Authority shall follow to regulate interconnection agreements, pursuant to Articles 42 and 43 of the Proclamation.; 3) Enable Telecommunications Operators to provide integrated telecommunications services throughout the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. 4) Allow each end user of a telecommunications network to communicate with any other end user of another telecommunications network or service provider. 4. Scope of Application This Directive shall apply to all Telecommunications Operators in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. PART TWO ROLE OF THE AUTHORITY 5. Role of the Authority 1) The Authority shall: a) Resolve interconnection disputes, and endeavor to secure adequate interconnection of Telecommunications Operators’ networks within the time-frames as defined in this Directive; b) Provide a high degree of certainty on the rules governing interconnection between Telecommunications Operators; request all Telecommunications Operators to submit a Reference Interconnection Offer (RIO) to the Authority for approval; and, c) Review and approve RIOs to ensure conformity with provisions in the Proclamation, this Directive, and any applicable Directive adopted by the Authority. 2) Pursuant to Article 43 of the Proclamation, the Authority may, a) Review interconnection agreements to ensure conformity with provisions in the Proclamation, this Directive, and any other applicable Directive adopted by the Authority; b) Intervene at its own initiative, or if requested by a party to an agreement, and make binding decisions, changing provisions in interconnection agreements that are inconsistent with provisions in the Proclamation, this Directive, or any applicable Directive adopted by the Authority; c) Intervene on its own initiative, or if requested by a party to an agreement, whenever parties fail to achieve consensus on the terms and conditions of interconnection, or 2