Pronouncements made by communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri in her budget speech have been gazetted, even though some are now out of date.
In the Government Gazette dated 17 September, Matsepe-Casaburri has made policy announcements and determinations as per the Electronic Communications Act. These relate to the proscription of essential facilities (such as the landing of undersea cables), local loop unbundling, the conversion of value-added network service licences, access to emergency services, frequency spectrum, and the accommodation of satellite radio service Worldspace's right to broadcast.
Matsepe-Casaburri originally made these announcements in her budget vote speech to Parliament on 24 May, and the Department of Communications waited until 6 June for public comments on them.
Gartner principal analyst Will Hahn says in the first document, many of the instructions given to the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) by the minister are on subjects already heard. These include combining underserviced area licensee licences, preserving Worldspace, and most importantly, investigating cable facilities as essential with an eye towards reducing their costs, he notes.
"That latter will produce the most interesting effect, and personally I would prioritise a report on that for a quicker time-frame than any of the other projects mentioned (all worthy in their own right)," Hahn says.
Another international research firm, Frost & Sullivan, says: "The minister has now taken the step of mandating ICASA to ensure there is no unfair competition in the use of the undersea cables and/or facilities. The cable will be treated as a national resource and will, therefore, be available competitively. The aim is to allow for more affordability and efficiency in the national telecommunications infrastructure for the people of SA. The value realised will, however, now lie in the hands of ICASA."
Frost & Sullivan says the minister has finalised the date for the local loop unbundling to be completed by 2011.
"This will have a huge impact on Telkom, as they will now be fully aware that their installed infrastructure will be opened up to the rest of the industry. Telkom's role will become more complex as they get involved in the unbundling of the local loop infrastructure."
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