The awarding of a third cellular license for SA is one step closer to reality with the close of bidding on Monday. One "irregular" and eight complete bids had been received by the noon deadline, and will be considered by the South African Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (SATRA).
At a press conference shortly after the deadline, SATRA chairman Nape Maepa announced the names of consortiums that had submitted bids. They are the Telenor/Telia Consortium, Nextcom Cellular, Afrozone Telecoms, Five Mobile Networks, AfricaSpeaks, Spatial Cellular, Cell C and Kalhuma 084. The eight consortiums had provided the required 25 copies of their bidding documents and had each deposited R75 000 with the state treasurer.
While a question and answer session was already underway, Maepa interrupted the proceedings to acknowledge "what appears to be an irregular bid". Only one copy of the bid from Zintatu Communication Power had been received, he said, and it had not been accompanied by the R75 000 deposit. But he did not rule out the bid completely. "The Constitution requires transparency, and therefore we acknowledge receipt," he said. The SATRA council is expected to make a ruling on its eligibility.
The process to pave the way for the third cellular license started with the promulgation of the Telecommunications Act in 1996 and a lengthy process is still ahead.
After the information contained in the bid documents is released, the public will be invited to lodge submissions with the Authority. Public hearings will be held, according to Maepa, where "we will listen to everyone and judge what is in the public interest".
Once the evaluation is complete, the participants will be notified of the intended recommendation, after which they are entitled to make further representations. That process will also carry a deadline, after which a recommendation will be made to the appointed Minister. Only then will SATRA be authorised to issue the license.
Maepa was not willing to place a date on the arrival of the license, saying only that "the question may be answered towards the end of July" due to the large number of applicants.
Will the resignation of Jay Naidoo, minister of Post, Telecommunications and Broadcasting affect the new license? "No," Maepa replied. "It will have absolutely no effect whatsoever. The work must go on, and it will."
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