The Department of Communications has issued an invitation for interested parties to apply for new underserviced area licences (USALs).
According to the invitation in Government Gazette number 28478 published on 7 February, the six districts under question are Sekhukhune and Mopani in Limpopo, and Umgungundlovu, Uthekela, Umzinyathi and Uthungulu in KwaZulu-Natal.
The new licences will be on the same terms as previous USALs, says Phineas Moleele, USAL project manager with the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA).
The licences would provide for a 25-year term with the expectation that it would be extended by ICASA for an additional 25 years. Services will include local voice services, fixed mobile, data services, emergency services, voice over Internet Protocol, public pay phone and operator-assisted services.
Moleele says seven licences were issued in December 2004. The 14 licences that will result from the December 2005 hearings, as well as the licence that would be issued following the February 2006 hearings, are still being finalised, he adds.
He notes that this round of applications leads to the final stage of the licensing process for USALs, so that 27 licences are issued as initially planned.
Applications should be addressed to the chairperson of ICASA and submitted by 28 April. Queries regarding the invitation should be submitted to Bambatha Hlongwane, USAL project manager, at usalsproject@doc.gov.za.
A non-refundable application fee of R30 000 is required at the time of filing an application.
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