Porn and the local loop

By Paul Vecchiatto, ITWeb Cape Town correspondent

Johannesburg, 11 Aug 2005

The local loop and pornography were two issues raised yesterday during the Parliamentary hearings on the draft Convergence Bill, with recommendations that the local loop should be unbundled while porn is a separate issue entirely.

Presenting before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications were Allison Gillwald of the Wits University Graduate School of Public and Development Management, directors and representatives from telecommunications service provider Storm, Wireless Business Solutions (WBS), T-Systems and the Wireless Application Service Providers Association (WASPA).

Other issues raised by the presenters included problems with definitions within the bill, concerns about the licensing framework, interconnection between the various players, competition and the role of the regulator - ICASA.

Presenters also emphasised the need for the ICASA Amendment Act, which ultimately governs the regulator, to be presented as soon as possible because it goes in hand with the Convergence Bill.

Wits` Gillwald said the SA communications sector has structural problems, which are reflected in the make up of the commercial sector - with Telkom being an effective monopoly - and across the public sector.

"We have to recognise the tensions between the objectives of consumer welfare, investment, industrial policy and we must prioritise and create tools to manage them," she said.

She went on to say that the structural problems have led to a vertical market structure with the associated anti-competitive behaviour (of Telkom) and that policy and the regulator were not sufficiently strong enough to separate the entities.

Answering a question by ANC MP Randy Pieterse, Gillwald said Telkom was "doing a magnificent job within the rules they have been allowed to operate in."

Local loop

Storm new business development director Dave Gale said he was more in favour of the unbundling of the local loop, the connection between consumers and the exchanges, rather than value added network services (VANS) being allowed full self-provisioning rights.

"Surprisingly enough, although we are a VANS licence holder, we don`t advocate the self-provisioning of VANS because such self-provisioning would imply onerous licensing conditions such as geographical boundaries and social service delivery," Gale said.

He said competition should be increased at the service provider level.

Vincent Gore, Independent Democrats MP said he did not agree that unbundling should stop at the local loop level and should rather go to the core network.

"Only once players have access to the core network will we get the competition and the price reductions we need," he said.

Department of Communications deputy director general Joe Mjwara said unbundling the local loop was not part of the bill as it was seen as a specific issue that his department had to address separately.

"Currently our policy priorities are pricing, broadband and digital broadcasting. Local loop is related to the first two. We expect to make an announcement about it later this year," he told ITWeb.

Adult content, challenges

T-Systems legal representative Janet Mackenzie of law firm Cliffe Dekker said the Convergence Bill`s definitions were "circuitous" and could lead to problems once implemented.

WBS`s Mark Headbush bemoaned the fact the licence issued to his company was done before the current regulatory regime was put in place and that it was easily challenged.

"We have spent R2 million in legal fees fending off Telkom`s challenges. In future our licence must be more definite and not as easily challenged," he said.

WASPA advisor Mike Silber answered a question on adult content provided on cellphones, by saying it was really out of the Convergence Bill`s ambit, but that the association was working to ensure that rules and regulations for its members were put in place.