Icasa meets pay phone players

The hearings, to be held at the regulator's offices in Sandton, are open to any member of the public and will also see a plethora of stakeholders making presentations over the two-day period.

Players that will make submissions at the hearings include Allied Technology's Autopage Cellular, the MTN Group and Saudi-backed Cell C.

The fixed-line monopoly Telkom, M-Web, SAICOM, COPASA, CBS Telecoms as well as T-Systems will also make presentations.

These hearings are part of a series in Icasa's road map - which started with a colloquium in October - ahead of the telecommunications sector liberalisation which will come into full force on February 1, as announced by Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri in September.

At the beginning of its road map process, the regulator noted that the ministerial determinations proposed far-reaching changes which would result in "widespread competition" and allow a number of telecommunications firms to compete with Telkom, among other players. As part of the overhaul, Matsepe-Casaburri also announced that all public schools be entitled to a 50% Internet discount - this is set to be implemented on January 18.