Communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri says the Department of Communications has agreed to a proposal by the cellular phone industry for four million free SIM cards to be distributed to economically disadvantaged people in SA.
Addressing the media ahead of her budget speech in Parliament this afternoon, the minister said the distribution of free SIM cards would be aimed at uplifting the disadvantaged, those living in isolated areas and those who lacked access to essential services.
"The same model criteria that ICASA [the Independent Communications Authority of SA] developed for the installation of fixed-line phones to economically disadvantaged people by Telkom will be used for the distribution of these SIM cards," she said.
Matsepe-Casaburri did not outline how the cards would be put to use. "In line with our coordinated working method, these obligations are to be delivered on the basis of a framework decided upon by an inter-departmental team comprising the communications department, the SA Post Office, the Department of Social Welfare, Health, Education, National Treasury and SAPS [police] and operators."
SNO licence soon
The minister also told journalists that the licence for a second national fixed-line operator (SNO) would be awarded in the third quarter of this year.
Matsepe-Casaburri said one-on-one negotiations had been conducted with the four short-listed bidders.
"The transparency of the previous process caused problems for many who would have liked to have bid in the first place. Now they are confident that their business models will not be divulged to the opposition, this has resulted in a better quality of bidder and more confident bidders."
The minister stressed that the relationship between ICASA and her department had not been soured by the SNO licensing process.
The budget speech will be broadcast on television at 2pm today.
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