The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) "strongly" supports the move by president Thabo Mbeki to return the ICASA Amendment Bill to parliament for amendment.
According to councillor Tracy Cohen, who is acting chairperson this week, returning the Bill will allow the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee for Communications to remedy the Bill`s defects and protect and enshrine the values of the constitution in the ICT sector and enabling legislation.
However, there has been no clarity on the process to be followed as yet, Cohen says. It is also clear the Electronic Communications (EC) Act cannot commence until the ICASA Amendment Bill is corrected, she says.
Ensuring constitutionality
Cohen maintains while the sector looks forward to the commencement date of the EC Act, the importance of the ICASA Amendment Bill being constitutionally sound must also be emphasised.
"The authority has cautiously been planning for various scenarios since the deliberations on this Bill last year," she says.
Dene Smuts, Democratic Alliance member of parliament, says first prize in amending the ICASA Amendment Bill would be to revert to chapter nine of the Constitution, which provides that parliament, not executive, appoints councillors.
The Bill in its current form provided the minister of communications would appoint councillors, a provision many stakeholders feared would affect the authority`s independence from the executive.
Smuts, who is a member of the parliamentary committee that drafted both the ICASA Amendment Act and the EC Act, says there is also some merit in appointing a panel of experts. The experts must, however, be appointed by the members of parliament, she says.
"This would be similar to the way the Independent Electoral Commission works and would eliminate some of the horse trading that went on in the past," she says.
Development processes
ICASA will not stay any important regulatory process that may compromise the public interest, Cohen says.
As there is no indication as to when the Amendment Bill may be revised, the processes under way, such as interconnection and facilities leasing (and various other licensing and policy processes), will continue as planned, she says.
"The commencement of the EC Act does not alter the regulatory landscape overnight and there are extensive transitional measures, and a two-year period in which to effect them," she says.
Urgency required
Fixing the ICASA Amendment Bill requires some urgency, Smuts says, because three of the regulator`s councillors` terms will expire in June.
Rudolph Muller, founder of MyADSL, fears government does not feel the urgency to amend the ICASA Amendment Bill. He says government has broken many promises regarding telecoms reform, and says previous government statements said the EC Act and the ICASA Amendment Bill were likely to be effective in January 2006.
Albi Modise, acting chief director of communications at the Department of Communications, says the department would issue a statement later today.
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