The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) will refine and revise its draft guidelines on interconnection and facilities leasing, and stage another round of public comment.
This follows the public hearings held on the draft guidelines at ICASA`s offices last month.
In a statement issued yesterday, ICASA said it had undertaken to advise parties on the process it would follow within two to four weeks of the hearings.
"The committee of the council tasked with interconnection and facilities leasing has duly considered the written and oral submissions received, and will embark on a process to refine and revise the draft guidelines for another round of public comment," it stated.
Many stakeholders feel interconnection rights are key to fair competition in the telecoms sector, and point out that SA has some of the world`s highest interconnection rates.
Companies such as Vodacom have questioned the legality of ICASA`s draft interconnection regulations and recommended ICASA withdraw the draft regulations and wait for the promulgation of the Electronic Communications Bill before embarking on an interconnection regulatory process.
However, ICASA says its committee has, "in the public interest, decided not to suspend the process until the Electronic Communications Bill is promulgated, but had considered its enactment in its deliberations and will cater for this, should it occur in the near future".
The revised draft guidelines will be published in June for comment.
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