ICASA accused of independence

By Phillip de Wet for Telkom
Johannesburg, 02 Apr 2002

Government has promised to sort out what it describes as telecommunications policy and regulatory confusion, which could undermine the planned public listing of Telkom.

In a statement issued late last week, the government joined with Thintana, 30% owner of Telkom, to commit to a listing "within the forthcoming financial year... subject to market conditions".

The parties also put on record the importance of the listing to both sides and the need to recapitalise Telkom.

Public enterprises minister Jeff Radebe and communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Cassaburi, who met with the president of SBC CommunicationsBill Daley and Telekom Malaysia head Abdul Rahim Daud in New York recently, represented the government. SBC and Telekom Malaysia are joint venture partners in Thintana.

The statement is seen as a public truce between government and Thintana, with rumours that the two Telkom shareholders do not see eye-to-eye, reducing confidence in the planned listing.

A fourth of the statement is taken up by pointing to the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) as a likely source of conflicting regulations.

"Arising out of the meeting, both parties agreed that there was a need to ensure policy and regulatory certainty within the telecommunications environment in SA, to ensure a successful listing of Telkom," it reads. "To this end, in instances where there is a recognised conflict between the regulations recently issued by ICASA and the Telecommunications Amendment Act, urgent discussions will be held with ICASA to ensure consistency."

But policy watchers say it is impossible for ICASA to pass regulations that conflict with legislation. Any regulations by the body must be approved by Matsepe-Cassaburi before implementation. Even if she should sign conflicting regulations into being, they can be struck down by a legal challenge.

Observers also could not identify any recent regulations in conflict with legislation. The most controversial regulations are those aimed at making carrier pre-selection possible, to which Thintana has objected heavily, but these are still in a process of public comment.

One interpretation of the statement is a promise by the government to bring pressure to bear on ICASA where regulations do not meet with Thintana approval, effectively undermining its independence, and creating confusion from which Telkom will benefit.

Another point of view is that the statement tries to placate Thintana, but in effect concedes nothing, in a display of political semantics.

"In effect it is saying that if there is a problem they will talk about it," says a commentator who wished to remain anonymous. "It does not say there actually is a conflict, so it promises nothing."

No representatives from the departments of public enterprise and communications or from Thintana could immediately be reached for comment.