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ICASA approves DFA’s request to transfer licences

Samuel Mungadze
By Samuel Mungadze, Africa editor
Johannesburg, 09 Nov 2022

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) today approved a series of applications by Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) to transfer the ownership and control of its I-ECS and I-ECNS licences.

The effective date for the transfer of the licences is 1 December, and these comprise the transfer of ownership of the service licences of DFA to Newco and the transfer of control of DFA's service licences to Vodacom.

ICASA says the approval is, however, subject to the imposition of special licence conditions relating to the provision of open-access network services, along with limitations on ownership and control.

The development today follows the regulator’s receipt of the applications in April, which were then published for public comment the following month.

DFA applied to transfers I-ECS and I-ECNS licences to Business Venture Investments (Newco).

The second application was for the transfer of control of the DFA licences to Vodacom, pursuant to the acquisition of a minority control interest in Newco by Vodacom.

The regulator says written representations were received from the Internet Service Providers Association only.

“Following the receipt of these written representations and written responses on 9 June and 21 June, respectively, a public hearing was held on 12 July.

“In line with its legislative and regulatory processes, the authority has considered and analysed the applications and the key considerations emanating from them. The authority’s analysis and evaluation took into account the following, inter alia: equity ownership by historically-disadvantaged persons, competition in the ICT sector, and the interests of consumers.”

ICASA councillor Luthando Mkumatela, chairperson of the responsible council committee, comments: "The authority has approved the proposed transaction after careful consideration. We view the transaction as unlikely to negatively impact the market, while making the transferee an effective player in the market.

“Additionally, the authority views the proposed transaction to be in the best interest of the public."

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