Let ICASA act, says DA

Published Jul 26, 2016

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Johannesburg - The time has come to let the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) exercise its mandate as a Chapter 9 institution and free up valuable spectrum, says the official opposition.

The Democratic Alliance’s shadow minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Marian Shinn, says in a statement that the issue of allocating spectrum has been subject to a decade of delays.

This comes after Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services, Dr Siyabonga Cwele, on Monday issued a statement indicating he would take legal action to prevent the industry regulator from selling four blocks of spectrum at R3 billion each.

This, the ministry argued, was because ICASA’s invitation to apply for blocks was issued “without consultation and prior notification to government”.

Allocating additional radio frequency in the 700 MHz, 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz spaces has been on the cards for at least the past decade.

Read also:  Spectrum: Cwele concerned by Icasa’s haste?

ICASA came closest to answering the please of mobile operators - who say the spectrum is needed to roll out fast broadband across SA - in 2011.

Then, however, the then minister of communications, Dina Pule, - under whose ambit spectrum fell before it was split in two - pulled the plug on the process. She argued that ICASA could not proceed without a policy directive, which has yet to appear.

The spectrum, operators argue will allow them to roll out long-term evolution, which is essentially 4G, across the country. However, the lower end spectrum will only be allocated after SA fully moves to digital TV, a process that has also been dogged by delays and should have been finished a year ago.

Read also:  Finally, SA frees up more spectrum

Shinn says the spectrum is “critical to the expansion of South Africa’s knowledge-based service delivery and economic growth”.

The country will have essentially flat economic growth this year.

“ICASA’s bold step to issue the invitation to prospective bidders came after 10 years of dithering on the spectrum policy by successive communications ministers over how it was best to allocate the high-demand spectrum to ‘new’ entrants to the telecommunications sector,” says Shinn.

The spectrum auction was also meant to facilitate the entry of new players through the conditions imposed on successful bidders to host virtual networks, which would have facilitated competition.

“The reasons why successive communications ministers have delayed the issue of policy and the assignment of spectrum have never been clear. But what is certain is that repeated delays ... are negatively impacting the empowerment, through ICTs, of all South Africans – particularly the marginalised communities – and is a major hindrance to the economic growth and job creation potential of South Africa.”

Shinn adds it is time to let ICASA exercise its authority as a Chapter Nine Institution to act impartially in the best interest of South Africa.

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