Introduction
Section 36 of the Telecommunications Act of Trinidad and Tobago (‘the Act’) requires that the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (‘the Authority’) grants a licence to authorise the operation or use of any radiocommunication service or any radiotransmitting equipment, including that on board any ship, aircraft or other vessel in the territorial waters or airspace of Trinidad and Tobago¹. Where the operation of a public telecommunications network or the provision of a public telecommunications or broadcasting service requires use of spectrum (click for National Spectrum Plan), the required licence applications are required by section 36 (2) of the Act to be processed as part of the concession application. Where radio transmitting equipment or a radiocommunications service is used for a private or “closed-user group” telecommunication service, licences are required for the radiocommunications system employed.
Types of Licences
The Spectrum Management Policy and the (‘Authorisation Framework’) define three types of licences that.may be granted by the Authority:
Spectrum Licence, which authorises the licencee to operate radiocommunication systems within a specified frequency band on a technology neutral basis.
Station Licence, which authorises the licencee to operate the specified station in accordance with technical parameters determined by the Authority
Class Licence, which authorises persons to use specific radiocommunication devices within specific technical and operational parameters, and which would generally apply to low-powered mass-market consumer devices.
The Class Licensing Regime
In its Authorisation Framework , the Authority outlines a class licensing regime for the use of low power, low interference potential and mass-market consumer devices which operate within specific technical and operational parameters, such as:
Alarm Systems
Radio transmitting computer peripherals
Cordless telephones
Radio frequency identification devices
Family Radio Service (FRS) systems
Wireless end user devices (mobile handsets, pagers etc.)
The Authority maintains a Schedule of Devices eligible for use under a Class Licence, which contains the required technical operating parameters for all devices listed.
In the case of radiocommunications devices which do not appear on the Schedule an Equipment Certification Application form must be submitted to the Authority for certifying the device.
The Equipment Certification process is guided by Procedures for equipment certification for the Telecommunications and Broadcasting sectors.
A licence is not required for any radio-communication service on board any ship of war, or military aircraft or satellite registered in Trinidad and Tobago.
For more details, please refer to the Authority’s Class Licensing Regime.