Johannesburg - The Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Siyabonga Cwele, emerged the victor after the North Gauteng High Court ruled on Friday to halt the R12 billion spectrum auction of the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA).
Cwele had argued that ICASA should have waited for his department, as the policymaker, to finalise its ICT White Paper before proceeding with spectrum auction for high frequency broadband in South Africa.
Cell C, meanwhile, opposed ICASA’s decision to set the minimum bidding price for spectrum at R3bn and said spectrum lots were not of the same value.
Delivering his judgment, Judge Roland Sutherland interdicted Icasa from proceeding with the planned auctions.
“ICASA is interdicted from accepting bids in terms of the said invitation to apply (ITA) and from taking any of the steps set out in the (ITA) to advance the (ITA) or similar steps, pending an application from Cell C to launch review proceedings in respect (of) the (ITA), provided the review application is served by October 14,” Sutherland said.
Earlier this year, the regulator had issued an ITA to operators who wished to have spectrum licences in the 700 megahertz, 800MHz and 2.8 gigahertz bands.
Graham Mackinnon, Cell C’s chief legal officer, welcomed the judgment. “We believe this is the correct ruling in the circumstances as there are serious flaws in ICASA’s ITA.”
The government said it intended to roll-out free wi-fi services in the country with a price tag of R67bn - this, however, has experienced delays.
Siya Qoza, a ministry spokesman, said Cwele welcomed the judgment. “The judgment stops Icasa from going ahead with its auction plans. However, the minister would have preferred if the matter was concluded in an amicable manner using intra-government engagements,” he said.
In a statement, ICASA said it had noted the judgment but was considering its contents.
“At first glance, Icasa is pleased to note its independence was asserted in the judgment and the judge said no cogent argument was shown why a court should trump ICASA’s choice not to wait for the minister’s policy to see the light of day.”
Vodacom spokesman, Byron Kennedy, said it had noted the judgment and hoped the matter would be concluded soon. “Vodacom believes that network competition and greater access to spectrum will give South Africans faster speeds, wider access to long-term evolution (LTE) coverage and, inevitably, lower prices, and, therefore, we hope that this matter will ultimately be resolved in the best interest of all stakeholders and South Africa,” Kennedy said.
Information technology analyst Arthur Goldstuck said the delay in introducing high-frequency spectrum would result in further congestion of existing networks due to the rapid rise in mobile data use. “Clearly, there is no sense of urgency whatsoever, and questions must be asked about the motives behind such delays.”
He said Icasa had erred in not waiting for government policy and that the invitation to apply was going to exclude small players in the industry.
Graham de Vries, the chief corporate service officer at MTN SA, said it would study the judgment, but called for a speedy resolution on the matter.
BUSINESS REPORT