Telkom has appealed the awarding of the City of Cape Town's wireless tender, saying the old telecommunications regulations are still in force and it was not told it did not make the shortlist.
The tender, worth between R25 million to R30 million over three years, was awarded on 12 December to a consortium consisting of network operator MTN and IT company Cornastone. Neither would comment officially and no response had been obtained from Telkom.
Also hampering the project is the delay by the telecommunications regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA), to award licence spectrum to the city in the either the 2.6GHz or 3.5GHz ranges.
City of Cape Town CIO Nirvesh Sooful says he knows Telkom placed its objections within the 28-day limit of the awarding of the tender. He adds that this has the potential to delay the roll-out of the wireless network that would service 300 municipal sites, including libraries and clinics.
Sooful says he is not involved in the appeal process, and city officials were reluctant to speak about it because the issue has not been finalised.
However, information obtained by ITWeb shows Telkom's objections to the tender are based on two issues. The first is that while the Convergence Act has replaced the Telecommunications Act, the original regulations are still in force, meaning the municipality has to connect through a licensed public telephone service network. Secondly, Telkom claims it was not informed it did not make the original shortlist and wants to know why it was not on the list.
Sooful says he was hoping the wireless network that would eventually be linked with the city's core fibre optic network would be up and running by the beginning of the new financial year in July. However, the Telkom objection and ICASA's delay in awarding spectrum are delaying the project.
The wireless network will service many of the city's libraries and free clinics, which currently have to use a mixture of Telkom Diginet and frame relay lines for the data requirements and then separate lines for voice.
A source close to the project says the data services would be the first to transfer to the wireless network and eventually voice could move as well.
The City of Cape Town has long complained about the cost of connectivity for its free social service projects. These include libraries and clinics, for which Telkom has charged it normal commercial rates without considering such services are not income generating for the municipality.
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