SATRA recommends Cell C

Johannesburg, 30 Jun 2000

Communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri has received the official recommendation of the South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (SATRA) that the third cellular licence be granted to the Cell C consortium.

SATRA earlier indicated that Cell C was its intended preferred bidder.

Cell C is financially backed by Saudi Arabian-owned Saudi Oger and American operator GTE (to be called Verizon after its merger with Bell Atlantic) is responsible for the operational side of the consortium.

"I will now study the recommendation and will apply my mind," Matsepe-Casaburri told a press conference. "I will be making an announcement in five days."

Matsepe-Casaburri said the recommendation by the SATRA council was unanimous, but that chairman Nape Maepa did not form part of that council. "He was not part of the decision-making process," she said.

Maepa earlier informed councillors that he would once again become part of the selection process after voluntarily withdrawing from it in February. At the conference Matsepe-Casaburri likened his attempt to a judge who recuses himself from trail and then attempts to join it again. "And all of us know there is a logical problem there," she said.

SATRA says it will advise the minister and other bidders of the reasons for its decision by 4 July.

The Telia/Telenor Afrozone consortium says it is investigating legal action against SATRA. Telia/Telenor says SATRA chose to ignore the analysis conducted by BDO Spencer Steward and Grant Thornton Kessel Feinstein, but did take into account the advice of Nkonki Sizwe Ntsaluba, another accounting firm. The consortium says Nkonki Sizwe Ntsaluba has clear conflicts of interests because of links to Cell C.

"Our consortium believes it can prove beyond any doubt that this process has been both flawed and biased in a court of law and our legal advisors have already begun putting in place legal action," says Telia/Telenor Afrrozone chairman Themba Vilakazi.

Both the minister and SATRA say Nkonki Sizwe Ntsaluba is not biased.

It is not certain if the minister can issue the licence to another bidder without a recommendation from SATRA.

Matsepe-Casaburri also announced that the President has approved the list of councillors for the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), which will replace SATRA and the Independent Broadcast Authority. She said ICASA will be established as the regulatory authority tomorrow.