TELECOMMUNICATIONS INTERCONNECTION DIRECTIVE WHEREAS it is necessary to formulate a legal framework, including rules and procedures that govern interconnection agreements between Telecommunications Operators; CONVINCED of the need to enable Telecommunications Operators to provide integrated telecommunications services throughout the country in order to allow Telecommunication Services subscribers to enjoy high quality services at affordable prices; UNDERSTANDING the need to create a system where subscribers can receive additional services from other Telecommunication Service providers they are not subscribed to; NOW, THEREFORE, the Authority hereby issues this Telecommunication Interconnection Directive in accordance with Ethiopian Communication Service Proclamation No.1148/2019 Articles 6(2), 6(13), 43(1) and 54(2) PART ONE GENERAL 1. Short Title This Directive may be cited be as the Telecommunications Interconnection Directive No. 791/2021. 2. Definitions In this Directive, unless the context otherwise requires: 1) “Authority” means the Ethiopian Communications Authority established under the Communications Service Proclamation No. 1148/2019. 2) “Interconnection” means the physical, technical and logical linking of the Telecommunications Networks of different Telecommunications Operators, to allow users of one operator to communicate with users from another, or to access services provided by another operator, regardless of the network to which they are connected to. 3) “Interconnecting Operators” means Telecommunications Operators that interconnect their respective networks. 4) “Interconnection Provider” means a Telecommunications Operator that provides Interconnection Services to another Telecommunications Operator. 5) “Interconnection Services” means services provided by one Telecommunications Operator to another for the purpose of achieving interconnection of their respective networks. Annex A provides a list and definitions of some of these services as an illustration. 6) “Point of Interconnection” means a mutually agreed point in a Telecommunications Network where the networks of two or more Telecommunications Operators are interconnected. 7) “Reference Interconnection Offer (RIO)” means a standard form for interconnection agreement. 8) “Interconnection Seeker” means a Telecommunications Operator that is requesting interconnection with another Telecommunications Operator. 1