Third operator rumours resurface

Johannesburg, 10 Oct 2006

Infraco, the state-owned infrastructure company under the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), guaranteed the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) project bandwidth services. This means that Infraco could become a third national operator.

Earlier this year, government`s decision to not sell the telecoms infrastructure installed on the country`s power lines, owned by parastatals Eskom and Transnet, to the second national operator (SNO) fuelled speculation that the government was planning to set up its own competition to Telkom.

Industry speculation was the transfer of these assets to Infraco meant government was, in effect, establishing a third network operator.

At the time, government strongly denied the rumours, saying that Infraco`s role had not been defined. However, a government source this week hinted that the infrastructure held by Infraco will be used to provide bandwidth to the SKA telescope project.

DPE undertaking

The SKA project team is confident the required bandwidth will be available. "We have been given an undertaking by the DPE that it will make sufficient bandwidth available at competitive cost," says Dr Bernie Fanaroff, SKA project leader.

The DPE, however, would not be drawn on the details of the guarantees and has refused to confirm the role of Infraco in the project. "We will make an announcement at the appropriate time," a spokesperson says.

While section seven of the Electronic Communications Act states: "Except for services exempted in terms of section six, no person may provide any service without a licence", it is expected that the DPE would not need to apply for a licence as it has a 30% share (15% Eskom and 15% Transnet) in SNO Neotel, which has been granted a licence.

In her budget speech, earlier this year, communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri stated that government is looking at rolling out broadband infrastructure.

"We have prioritised the roll-out of broadband infrastructure in the country. In this regard there are three focus areas, namely, the information superhighway, wireless broadband and international communication network access."