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Johannesburg - The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) has decided it can no longer issue new licences based on the Altech decision.
The regulatory authority is waiting for the appeal to be dealt with, while the business plans of industry players that would have benefited from the ruling are on ice.
Early last month Icasa declared it would not appeal the Altech court decision and new licences would be issued before long. The authority even gave a time frame for their issue: from September 22 to 30.
Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri has however decided to appeal the Altech decision.
According to Mike Silber, the Internet Service Providers Association (Ispa) regulatory adviser, the appeal could stretch into the third quarter of next year.
He says this may be reasonable from a legal perspective, but it is untenable for those that already have business plans.
At an Ispa breakfast in Sandton on Thursday he discussed the situation.
Icasa spokesperson Sekgoela Sekgoela later confirmed that the licences had not yet been issued, pending the appeal. He said the process had been suspended because the issue of the licences would be too difficult to reverse should the appeal succeed.
Earlier this year the Pretoria High Court ruled in favour of Altech's subsidiary Autopage Cellular on the licence issue. In terms of the ruling, Altech could convert its old value-added network service (Vans) licence into a new individual licence for an electronic communications network service (I-CENS) licence, as provided by the Electronic Communications Act (ECA).
This essentially means that Altech may now build its own network - without again seeking approval from the authorities.
The ruling should also benefit other Vans licensees who can now themselves build networks. Several industry players were elated about the decision, but others were not - precisely because of the delays caused by an appeal.
There is still hope for players in a hurry - the application for leave to appeal could be rejected.
An application could also be made to court, requesting the licences to be issued in the meantime, on the basis of the high court ruling.
- Sake24