SAT3 declaration 'unlikely in short-term`

By Damaria Senne, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 20 Feb 2006

The Electronic Communications (EC) Bill is not an Act yet, so the issue of whether communications minister Dr Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri will declare the SAT3 cable system an essential resource is not applicable yet, says communications director-general Lyndall Shope-Mafole.

Declaring it an essential resource would remove Telkom`s monopoly on SA`s access to the SAT3 connection to the rest of the world, and would give every telecoms operator equal access to it. Operators currently have some access to SAT3, based on prices determined by Telkom.

In an interview with ITWeb, Shope-Mafole acknowledged the EC Bill does state that on a date to be declared by the minister, a number of services including the SAT3 undersea cable would be declared essential resources.

However, she notes that there are other stakeholders in the SAT3 partnership who are not South African. The government can therefore not make the decision without first consulting with the other stakeholders, she says.

"The minister will consult with ministers of the other countries involved, who will in turn consult with the telecoms companies that invested in the project," she says.

Shope-Mafole also points out that once the East Africa Submarine System (Eassy) is completed, it will provide competition to SAT3, thus neutralising the Telkom monopoly.

She also notes that unlike SAT3, one of the pillars of the Eassy project is to provide open access for licensed telecoms operators. As a result, telecoms companies will gain competitive advantage from services they offer, not on what infrastructures they own, she says.

Declaration overdue

Mike van den Bergh, group CEO of Gateway Communications, says a ministerial declaration is long overdue. He says where there is a clear case for opening up access to a scarce and vital resource, which was originally largely built with South African taxpayers` money, and the government does not act, then the ministry is unfortunately also holding back the growth of broadband services in SA.

Connection Telecom co-founder Steve Davies also notes that Eassy has not yet been built.

"Waiting for that undersea cable to provide competition to SAT3 would effectively sentence SA to a status quo where Telkom charges an out-of-proportion price for its half of the international data link," he says.

Shope-Mafole also notes that ministers of countries involved with the Eassy project will meet on 2 March to finalise a framework that will ensure all member countries are equal partners in the project.