The government has indicated that it wishes no part in the battle between the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) and Telkom.
The two parties will go back to court early next week as ICASA challenges the validity of the tariff structure Telkom implemented at the beginning of the year, which has seen the prices on some services increase by more than 50%.
Earlier this month the regulator expressed the hope that "government, as the majority shareholder in Telkom, will take steps to resolve the problem in the interests of consumers" in a statement by chairman Mandla Langa.
That hope has been firmly squashed.
In a statement of its own this week, the ministry of communications said it had not received a request to act as arbitrator. And if it did receive a motivated request, it probably would not intervene anyway.
"Since the matter - which is undoubtedly regulatory in nature - is before the court of law, the minister looks forward to its amicable resolution," the ministry said.
Government has been criticised for its responsibility in making it possible for Telkom to implement rates not approved by ICASA. Communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri finally approved the new Telkom rate regime devised by Telkom at the end of November last year. However, by that time Telkom had already filed the increases it planned to implement for 2002.
On 31 December the Pretoria High Court denied ICASA an urgent interdict to prevent Telkom from implementing the new prices, partly because the new tariffs had been filed while there were no regulations limiting increases.
A current Telkom print advertising campaign claims "the recent price hike averages out at 5.5%" and is below inflation. Telkom calculated that the average consumer would pay 7.2% more per month after the increases, but ICASA says the impact is closer to 24%.
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