SAT3 must declare intentions

By Damaria Senne for Telkom
Johannesburg, 27 Jul 2006

Stakeholders have urged the SAT3 consortium to publicly state its intentions for the future of the undersea cable when the national monopolies granted to consortium members end in June 2007.

The call came from African government policy advisors, regulators, business and civil society organisations from SAT3 member countries at a two-day meeting held in Johannesburg this week. The meeting was called to discus how best to deliver cheaper bandwidth and Internet access to the western part of Africa.

Telkom, as the managing agent of the SAT3 consortium, was invited to present the consortium`s plans at the gathering, but stated it was unable to participate due to the confidential nature of the SAT3 shareholders` agreement.

CEO of Balancing Act and meeting organiser Russell Southwood said Telkom also indicated it needed to consult with the 30-member SAT3 consortium before it could accept the invitation, and was unable to gain consensus by the time the conference took place.

The termination of the SAT3 monopoly next year has prompted governments from the nine African member countries and industry stakeholders to discuss ways of lowering high connection fees charged by operators.

Regulatory declaration

Mukund Krishna Oolun, executive director of the ICT Authority of Mauritius, said his government used Mauritius Telecom`s account statements to determine the investment the company made in SAT3, as well as the return on investment made, to calculate charges.

Due to a regulatory declaration, he noted, Mauritius Telecoms has had to lower its international access charges through SAT3, bringing prices down to about a third of what Telkom charges.

Oolun said in the three weeks since the determinations went into effect on 1 July, utilisation of the Mauritian share of the undersea cable has increased from 17% to 80%.

Southwood noted the promulgation of the Electronic Communications Act in SA has empowered the Independent Communications Authority of SA to prescribe access charges for electronic communications connected to international electronic communications facilities, such as submarine cables and satellite earth stations.

Geoff Rehmet, business development manager at Internet Solutions, argued that it is possible for Telkom to charge operators substantially less and still make a profit.

"It`s fair it makes a return on investment, but it shouldn`t make such high return that it has a negative effect on the South African and African telecoms environment, retarding economic growth," he said.