The words and expressions defined in this Regulatory Framework shall have the same meaning as in the Act and the Bylaw, unless context requires otherwise. The following words and expressions shall have the meaning assigned to them below.

  2-1-1 "Act" the Telecommunication and Information Technology Act.

  2-1-2 "Implementing Regulations" the Implementing Regulations of the Telecommunications and Information Technology Law.

  2-1-3 "Designation decision" a decision issued by the CST to define and designate the telecommunications market(s) which are subject to dominance and in addition, to designate any telecommunications service provider or service providers who are dominant in such market or markets and, stipulate any required ex-ante remedies to be applies to such dominant service provider(s).

 2-1-4 "Dominant service provider" a telecommunications service provider designated as a dominant service provider by the CST in a designation decision, pursuant to section 2.4 of this Regulatory Framework.

2-1-5 “Telecommunication market" comprises all those telecommunications network services, provided by licensed service providers within a specified geographic area. The CST shall define the telecommunications market(s) and designate those that are subject to dominance in a designation decision, pursuant to the circumstances and criteria set forth in section 2.3 of this Regulatory Framework.

2-1-6 "Ex-ante Remedies" the specific requirements imposed by the CST on a dominant service provider in a designated telecommunications market to counter, prevent or neutralize the impact of dominance and other anti-­ competitive practices to protect users in such a market as set out in section 2.5 of this Regulatory Framework.

2-1-7 "Ex-post Remedies" the regulatory controls imposed on a service provider in the event that he engages in anti-competitive behavior.

2-2-1 Prior to issuing a designation decision, the CST shall prepare a market definition, designation and dominance report and publish it for public consultation in accordance with the CSTstatutes and the provisions of section 2-2 of this Regulatory Framework.

2-2-1 The CST may at any time, on its own motion or on receipt of an application supported by appropriate justification, prepare, review or amend a market definition, designation and dominance report, in the light of evolving market conditions, in order to:

       2-2-2.1 Designate one or more defined telecommunications market(s) for regulation of dominance pursuant to section 2-3 of this Regulatory Framework;

        2-2-2.2 Designate telecommunications service provider(s) who are dominant in one or more designated telecommunications market(s) pursuant to section 2-4 of this Regulatory Framework; and

       2-2-2.3 In the event of a finding of dominance in one or more of the defined telecommunications market(s), stipulate the application of ex­ ante remedies, if any, pursuant to section 2-5 of this Regulatory Framework.

2-2-3 The CST shall prepare and publish a new market definition, designation and dominance report no later than five years from the date of the issuance of the last designation decision.

2-2-4 The CST may refuse any application for the preparation, review or amendment of a market definition, designation and dominance report, according to its discretionary powers, for reasons the CST will disclose, such as where the application is frivolous or unsubstantiated or that the defined telecommunications markets have not sufficiently evolved since the issuance of the last designation decision.

  2-3-1 The market definition, designation and dominance report shall include CST's position on some or all of the telecommunications markets that it considers to be relevant for the application of remedies. The report may be limited to one or more geographical markets or one or more telecommunications services.

     2-3-2 The CST shall define and designate a telecommunications market or markets for the application of remedies by analyzing a range of market criteria, including the telecommunications services that make up one market, the relevant group of users of such services as well as the geographic scope of that market.

     2-3-3 In its definition and designation of the relevant telecommunications market or markets subject to ex-ante remedies, the CST may also consider the following:

                  2-3-3.1 demand-side substitutability in order to determine the extent to which telecommunications services are available which could be substituted by users for the telecommunications services under consideration; and

                  2-3-3.2 supply-side substitutability in order to determine the extent to which substitute telecommunications services to the services under consideration are available, which telecommunications service providers could provide.

2-3-4 In assessing substitutability, the CST may consider any factor that, in its opinion, reasonably affects market definition, including consideration of the smallest group of services and the smallest geographic area in relation to which a telecommunications service provider can impose and profitably maintain a small but significant non-transitory increase in price. In most cases, a 5% price increase would be considered significant and a period of one year or less would be considered transitory.

2-3-5 The CST shall proceed to a full examination of whether a service provider is dominant in a defined telecommunications market pursuant to section 2-4 of this Regulatory Framework; and in designating a telecommunications market or markets as subject to ex-ante remedies, the following criteria shall be considered:

               2-3-5.1 Whether the telecommunications market under consideration is subject to high and non-transitory barriers to entry;

               2-3-5.2 Whether the telecommunications market under consideration would naturally tend, in the short or medium term, toward sufficient competition to protect the interests of customers, even without regulatory intervention; and

               2-3-5.3 Whether ex-post remedies alone, in the absence of ex-ante remedies in the same telecommunications market, would likely be sufficient to address concerns related to market dominance.

When designating in a market definition, designation and dominance report a telecommunications service provider as dominant in a specific telecommunications market or markets, the CST shall apply the criteria and tests set forth in Chapter Four of the Bylaw, and it may, in addition, apply a range of other market circumstances or criteria, as described below:

          2-4-1 The degree of market concentration as determined by reference to revenues, numbers of subscribers or other relevant statistics;

          2-4-2 The evolution of telecommunications service providers' market share over time;

          2-4-3 The degree to which a telecommunications service provider's tariffs have varied over time;

          2-4-4 The ability of the telecommunications service provider to earn higher than normal profits;

          2-4-5 The telecommunications service provider's financial resources and access to funding;

          2-4-6 The telecommunications service provider's vertical integration and the existence of a highly developed distribution network;

          2-4-7 The ability of the telecommunications service provider to benefit from preferential or limited access to superior technology; and

         2-4-8 The ability of the telecommunications service provider to obtain preferential or long-term contracts for the supply of relevant services to large users.