Telkom has filed a Section 100 complaint under the Telecommunications Act with the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA), the first to be laid before the new regulator.
The operator says the complaint deals with various violations of the Act by virtual private network provider OmniLink, but the main complaint is that OmniLink is illegally reselling bandwidth.
OmniLink, a value-added network service (VANS) licence holder, is in the process of completing a merger with The Internet Solution.
"In terms of the Telecommunications Act, VANS providers must obtain their telecommunications facilities from Telkom and may not resell spare capacity," said a Telkom statement.
Telkom COO Tom Barrry last week said a company leasing bandwidth from OmniLink had "full and frank" discussions with Telkom in preparation of the complaint.
The complaint asks ICASA to "ensure that OmniLink complies with the law and its licence," Telkom says.
Peter Hird, who is expected to head the combined OmniLink/Internet Solution, describes the complaint as "fairly ludicrous".
"It is difficult to see how a monopoly that refuses to abide by the rulings of a regulator can now lay a complaint with that regulator," he says, referring to an order by the SA Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (SATRA), ICASA`s predecessor. That order sought to compel Telkom to supply the infrastructure it had been withholding from certain VANS providers, but Telkom is in the process of challenging that ruling in court and says the order has been placed in abeyance.
Hird also finds it strange that the complaint is only directed at OmniLink. "If we are the only ones served, are they saying we are the only ones doing it? There is a massive inconsistency here."
He says OmniLink will examine the complaint while waiting for ICASA to call on it. "OmniLink will not stand by while a monopoly tries to strangle the market."
ICASA spokesman Kotli Molise confirms that the regulator had received the complaint, but could not say when the complaint would be handled. The complaints co-ordinating committee that handled such matters under SATRA has not changed, she says, but the new council may still change its composition and mandate.
Telkom says it lodged six complaints with SATRA since 1997 and none have been heard to date.
Mike van den Bergh, chairman of the SA VANS Association (SAVA), says SAVA will be talking to OmniLink, a member of the association, to determine what role, if any, the association will play in the complaint. SAVA represents the broad VANS industry in regulatory matters.
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