ICASA explains ADSL announcement delay

Johannesburg, 12 Jul 2006

Unexpected delays in the Electronic Communications (EC) Act`s promulgation mean the regulator will not reveal the new ADSL pricing model just yet.

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) expected the Act to be in operation by 1 July. With this assumption, the councillor responsible for the overseeing the hearings, Mamodupi Mohlala, was confident an announcement would be imminent. However, the EC Act has yet to be enacted.

This is the explanation given by Edmund Baloyi, advisor to chairman Paris Mashile, for the delay in revealing the new ADSL regulations, even though the new laws (governing the ADSL pricing model Telkom may use) have been finalised.

The process

Under the law, any regulatory adjustment must be sent to the minister of communications for approval before it can come into effect. However, under the terms of the EC Act, ICASA would have the authority to effect any regulatory changes without sign-off from the minister, according to Baloyi.

"The [promulgation of the] EC Act has taken longer than expected," he explains, adding the new ADSL pricing regulations cannot be announced until ICASA is clear on when the EC Act will come into effect.

This, he says, is in order to avoid confusion.

ICASA expects the Department of Communications to announce the promulgation date soon; but if this date is set for some time in the distant future, ICASA will forward its new ADSL regulations to the minister`s office, adds Baloyi.

ICASA chairman Paris Mashile reaffirmed his commitment to reducing the costs of telecommunications in SA as quickly as possible.

"I know over half a dozen large multinationals looking to set up operations in SA that have approached ICASA to find out how we can facilitate the process of encouraging investment by bringing down the cost of telecoms," he says.