MINISTRY OF WORKS, TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION 2. RECOMMENDATIONS A strong and clear telecommunications policy needs to be adopted to lay the foundation stone for appropriate legislation and associatedregulations, and for a sound and independent regulatory authority to ensure a level playing field in the provision of telecommunications services in a competitive environment.To achieve that, the following recommendation are made: MARKET STRUCTURES M. 1 Competition is introduced in the telecommunications industry. M.2 BTC will compete on equal terms in competitive market segments. M.3 BTC is contracted to operate and maintain the national network. M.4 BTC's competitive business is carried out separately from other activities. M.5 BTC’s non-competitive operations are regulated in a performance contract.M.6 A mandatory and mutual interconnection obligation is introduced. REGULATION R.1 Regulatory functions are separated from operational and policy making functions. R.2 A Regulatory Authority is established. R.3 The Regulatory authority is established under the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications but with its own Board of Directors. R.4 The Regulatory Authority is empowered to issue regulations and licences and to settle disputes. R.5 Prices and tariffs are regulated for national long-distance services, cellular telephone services and local network services. LEGISLATION L. 1 The Botswana Telecommunications Corporation Act of 1980 is amended to. abolish BTC's monopoly position and functions to issue licences. L.2 A new Botswana Telecommunications Act which establishes and empowers the Regulatory Authority is enacted. L.3 A mandatory licensing system for operations of networks and 6 TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY FOR BOTSWANA