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Johannesburg - Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri has decided to appeal the Pretoria High Court's ruling that telecommunications operators can build their own networks, bypassing Telkom and ultimately resulting in lower prices.
The ruling, which was made in favour of Autopage Cellular parent Altech after it decided to take the minister and telecommunications regulator Icasa to court over self-provision, threw the South African telecommunications market open and was widely welcomed as a decision that would introduce more competition into the market.
Matsepe-Casaburri's announcement is in contrast to Icasa's decision not to appeal the judgment.
It had already gone ahead and licensed new individual electronic communications network service providers (I-ECNS licence-holders). This licence entitles them to roll out their own networks, known as self-provision.
Among the recipients were players like Altech Autopage, Datapro (Vox Telecom), MTN Network Solutions, M-WEB, ECN Telecommunications and Telfree. The new licensees were due to collect their licences from Icasa from next week.
Matsepe-Casaburri now says, via her spokesperson Joe Makhafola, that if value-added service providers (Vans) are allowed to obtain I-ECNS licences under licence conversion, "government's managed liberalisation policy will be seriously undermined to the detriment of the information and communications technologies (ICT) industry".
Icasa and the Department of Communications (DoC) had initially differed on their stance on self-provision, with Icasa interpreting the minister's September 2004 determinations to say that the Vans could build their own networks.
It backtracked, seemingly after ministerial intervention, until Altech recently challenged the interpretation in court and won.
The industry has been abuzz with excitement about the implications of the positive ruling for fast-tracking deregulation, in the wake of the August 29 judgment.
Acting Judge Norman Davis said that Vans had been able to self-provide since early 2005, and cast aside Icasa's competitive process for determining which Vans should be allowed to obtain I-ECNS licences.
The minister now says, however, that she will shortly issue a policy direction to Icasa directing it to issue an invitation to apply for a number of new I-ECNS licences, "in accordance with the implementation of the managed liberalization policy".
The DoC, she said, would also fast-track an amendment to the Electronic Communications Act to "remove any ambiguity around managed liberalisation and to make it clear that Vans licensees are not entitled to I-ECNS licences under licence conversion".
- Fin24.com