As SA this week nears the next, and essentially, penultimate phase ahead of the institution of a long-awaited ICT legislation facelift, industry observers are optimistic about what it could mean for a sector where progress has been mired by instability and poor governance.
The deadline for submissions on the National Integrated ICT Policy Options Paper - the framework government says will affect the realisation of a "fully connected society" - is this Friday. The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services is driving the initiative.
Published on 14 November last year, the discussion paper forms part of the ICT policy review launched by former communications minister Dina Pule, in 2012. The paper was preceded by a framing paper in April 2013 and, subsequently, a green paper in January 2014 - the product of public consultations.
The next step, after government has tallied and studied industry's submissions on the latest paper, is a white paper and then, finally, a draft of new legislation to replace the existing Electronic Communications Act and, possibly, also the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) Act.
High hopes
Regulatory advisor to the Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA), Dominic Cull, speaks highly of the latest discussion document. "It is an excellent document, exponentially better than the previous green paper. ISPA believes it constitutes a lucid exposition of the various options that SA must choose between in terms of communications policy."
Ovum analyst Richard Hurst adds the ICT Policy Review is detailed and comprehensive, dealing with all of the key issues facing the sector and the challenges pertinent to the local telecommunications environment. "I think that the sector as a whole would like to see some tangible and practical policies emerging from this drawn-out process."
Hurst is hopeful the process will yield some clarity in terms of several thorny issues that have long concerned the industry, such as the allocation of spectrum.
"A completed policy review will allow the sector to flourish and focus on business opportunities, such as the ongoing roll out of broadband services to a wider proportion of the population, the development of content services, and applications tailored for the local market.
ICT obstacles
Paul Hjul, industry watcher and director at start-up ISP Crystal Web, has followed the ICT policy review process closely and compiled an in-depth submission. He welcomes the latest ICT policy document, saying it appears to take some cognisance of criticism he suspects was broadly made - including that "the greatest obstacle to access and affordability of communications services in SA is an inept minister and incapacitated regulator".
Hjul says duplicating policy review processes and holding conflicting talk shops where each industry participant has an opportunity to lobby is "simply idiotic" and needs to stop. He adds the description of an "inept minister" falls to Pule and may not necessarily apply to current ministers.
"SA's ICT industry remains at an inflection point, and it is possible that major improvements in access to the ICT sector for all South Africans will occur in the foreseeable future, but it is equally possible that the final death knell to hopes of a responsive industry will be delivered by the [former] Department of Communications," says Hjul in his March 2014 submission.
Reality bites
Amid the optimism, however, Cull says - getting back to reality in terms of where the ICT policy and white paper goes - ISPA's view is that it is all irrelevant, unless the current ineffectiveness of ICASA is sorted out; and urgently.
"We are talking about fancy concepts that need to be instituted, but we have a paralysed regulator that needs to be sorted out."
Another thorn in the side of policy progress, says Cull, is the instability that was created when president Jacob Zuma split the country's ICT ministry - an instability that has lingered.
"There is massive policy instability when it comes to the Department of Communications and the Department of Telecoms and Postal Services. On one hand, there are these high-level ideas that are worthwhile pursuing - but in reality, things are going in a different direction. Events cannot be expected to stand still and these issues are in effect overtaking the [ICT policy review] process."
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