S.L. 399.40 Art. 2Interpretation.

(1) Unless the context otherwise requires any reference in these regulations to "the Act" is a reference to the Electronic

Communications (Regulation) Act, and subject to the provisions of subregulation (2), the provisions of article 28 of the said Act and the provisions of article 2 of the Merchant Shipping Act shall apply to these regulations.

(2) In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires:

"the Authority" means the Malta Communications Authority;

"authorized officer" means any officer of the Authority, or any other officer of any other public authority duly authorized in accordance with the provisions of the Act to enforce compliance with the Act and, or these regulations: Provided that for the purposes of any maritime radio-communications apparata however so described "authorized officer" includes any maritime radiocommunications inspector and, or any officer duly authorized by the Authority for Transport in Malta; "the Community” means the European Communities; "detachable antenna" means an antenna fixed to the radiocommunications apparatus by means of an antenna connector and detachable by the user of that apparatus; "Directive 70/156/EEC" means the Council Directive of 6 February 1970 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the type approval of motor vehicles and their trailers; "Directive 98/34/EC" means the European Parliament and the Council Directive of 22 June 1998 which lays down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical standards and regulations;

"Directive 2014/53/EU" means Directive 2014/53/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making "duty cycle" means the ratio, expressed as a percentage, of the maximum transmitter ‘on’ time on one carrier frequency, relative to a one hour period; "Dynamic Frequency Selection" or "DFS" means an interference mitigation technique to avoid co-channel operation with other electronic communications networks and, or services, and to ensure a spread of the loading across the available spectrum of the wireless access system under the field of view of a satellite to reduce the aggregate emission levels at the satellites of the fixed satellite service (feeder links) and earth exploration-satellite service (active) from wireless access systems; "Earth station" or "satellite terminal" means a station or terminal located either on the Earth’s surface or within the major portion of the Earth’s atmosphere and intended for communication:

(a) with one or more space stations; or

(b) with one or more stations of the same kind by any means of one or more reflecting satellites or other objects in space; "EAS" means electronic article surveillance;

"EASA" means the European Aviation Safety Agency; "electronic communications network" has the same meaning as defined in article 2 of the Act which network is used for the provision of publicly available electronic communications services including sound and television broadcasting; "ETSI" means the European Telecommunications Standards Institute; "effective radiated power" or "e.r.p." means the product of the power supplied to the antenna and its gain relative to a half-wave dipole in a given direction; "equivalent isotropically radiated power" or "e.i.r.p." means the product of the power supplied to the antenna and the antenna gain in a given direction relative to an isotropic antenna (absolute or isotropic gain); "fixed-satellite service" or "FSS" shall have the same definition as in the National Radio Frequency Plan; "frequency range of operation" means the portion of the radio spectrum within which radiocommunications apparatus must intentionally emit radio signals in order to fulfil its designated function and performance;

"hand portable station" or "handheld station" means radiocommunications apparatus either fitted with an antenna connector or an integral antenna, or both, normally used on a stand-alone basis, to be carried on a person or held in the hand; with the applicable European Community law or Maltese Law; "harmonised standard" means a technical specification adopted by a recognised standards body under a mandate from the European Commission in conformity with the procedures laid down in Directive 98/34/EC for the purpose of establishing a European requirement, compliance with which is not compulsory; "ICNIRP" means International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection; "indoor use" means the use inside a building, including places assimilated thereto such as an aircraft, in which the shielding will typically provide the necessary attenuation to facilitate sharing with other services;

"integral antenna" means an antenna that is permanently fixed to the radiocommunications apparatus and not detachable by the user of that apparatus; "Intelligent Transport Systems" or "ITS" means a range of systems and services, based on Information and Communication technologies, including processing, control and positioning, communication and electronics, that are applied to a road transportation system; "ITU" means the International Telecommunication Union;

"maximum e.i.r.p. density" means the highest signal strength measured in any direction at any frequency within the defined range; "mean e.i.r.p." means the e.i.r.p. during the transmission burst which corresponds to the highest power, if power control is implemented; "mean e.i.r.p. density" means the mean power measured with a 1 MHz resolution bandwidth, a root-mean-square (RMS) detector and an averaging time of 1ms or less;

"the Minister" means the Minister responsible for communications;

"MMSI" means maritime mobile service identity and is a unique 9-digit identifier assigned by the Transport Malta or by any other competent authority; "mobile earth station" shall have the same meaning as in the Radio Regulations; "mobile satellite service" shall have the same meaning as in the Radio Regulations; "network access point" is a fixed terrestrial short range device in a data network that acts as a connection point for the other short range devices in the data network to service platforms located outside that data network. The term data network refers to several short range devices, including the network access point, as network components radiocommunications apparatus to which a general authorisation under these regulations applies against interference origination from radiocommunication services; "peak e.i.r.p. density" means the peak level of transmission contained within a 50 MHz bandwidth centred on the frequency at which the highest mean radiated power occurs. If measured in a bandwidth of x MHz, this level is to be scaled down by a factor of 20log(50/x)dB; "person" includes any body corporate and any body of persons whether or not it has a legal personality distinct from that of its members, which is in possession or control of any radiocommunications apparatus in relation to which these regulations may apply; "Radio Equipment Regulations" means the Radio Equipment Regulations;

"Radio Frequency Identification Devices" or "RFID" means apparatus for, inter alia, tracking and identification of items by the use of a radio system, consisting on the one hand of passive devices

(tags) mounted on items and, on the other, of transmitter or receiver units (readers) which activate the tags and receive data back;;

"the Radio Regulations" means the Radio Regulations annexed to, or regarded as being annexed to the most recent International Telecommunication Convention which is in force at that time; "radiodetermination" shall have the same meaning as in the Radio Regulations; "Regulation (EU) 2020/1070" means Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1070 of 20 July 2020 on specifying the characteristics of small-area wireless access points pursuant to Article 57 paragraph 2 of Directive (EU) 2018/1972 of the European Parliament and the Council establishing the European Electronic Communications Code; "RF worker" means any person acting for or on behalf of an undertaking who may be or is exposed to radio frequency (RF) radiation as a direct and necessary requirement of his work; "ship" shall have the same meaning as in the Merchant Shipping

Act; "short-range device" or "SRD" means radiocommunications apparatus which provides either unidirectional or bidirectional communication and which receives and, or transmits over a short distance at low power;" "SOLAS Convention" shall have the same meaning as in the

Tonnage Regulations; "territorial waters" or "territorial seas" shall have the same meaning as defined in article 3 of the Territorial Waters and Contiguous Zone "Transport Malta" means the Authority for Transport in Malta;

"ultra high frequency" or "UHF" means a frequency that exceeds 300 megahertz but does not exceed 3 gigahertz; "undertaking" means a person authorised to provide electronic communications networks and, or services or associated facilities in accordance with the Electronic Communications (Regulation)

Act; "urgency" in relation to a transmission, means the safety of a ship, aircraft or person which or who requires urgent attention; "vehicle" means any vehicle as defined in Directive 70/156/EEC;

"very high frequency" or "VHF" means a frequency that exceeds 30 megahertz but does not exceed 300 megahertz.

Part II General provisions