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WBS licences 'lapsed'

Johannesburg, 23 Apr 2014
The court found WBS did not pay its spectrum licence fees for several years.
The court found WBS did not pay its spectrum licence fees for several years.

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) has successfully argued that Wireless Business Solutions' (WBS's) six spectrum licences are no longer valid, because it has not paid outstanding licence fees.

This was revealed in a judgement handed down yesterday by South Gauteng High Court judge Tony Mundell, after the court heard the matter a year ago. WBS approached the court to force ICASA to return equipment the regulator seized last April and to stop it from interfering with its business.

The seizure of the radio transmission equipment by ICASA inspectors led to the interruption of iBurst and Broadlink services to a number of its subscribers. WBS is parent company to both providers.

WBS also wanted the court to allow it to continue operating a network on six frequency spectrums. While Mundell ruled ICASA could not interfere with WBS's operations for five days, the operator lost its bid to continue providing connectivity.

Monetary dispute

The dispute hinges around how much money WBS owes ICASA for the six frequencies it was using. As of last January, ICASA contended that WBS owed it R60 million, while WBS had claimed it owed R8 million.

ICASA and WBS had been in negotiations for some time around the amount that was outstanding, without any agreement being reached. ICASA was unwilling to accept payments in instalments.

This was despite pleas by CEO Thami Mtshali to then ICASA chairman Stephen Mncube, stressing the urgency of the matter, "because we live with the constant threat that if we do not pay the outstanding licence fees then we run the risk of having our service totally terminated or suspended".

However, ICASA had not - at the time of the hearing - suspended WBS's six licences, despite the fee debacle having dragged on since 2010.

In talks

Mtshali says the company needs to hold its cards close to its chest over the next 10 days while it tries to negotiate a "long lasting amicable solution" with ICASA and cannot talk figures. "Over the next 10 days, we will work towards reaching a solution with our regulator. We hope to iron out all the problems we face with them, including the payment of licence fees."

Should WBS fail to reach a mutual and agreeable solution with the authority, the company will have no choice but to appeal the ruling, says Mtshali.

In the meantime, he says, it is "business as usual" for WBS subsidiaries iBurst and Broadlink, which he says have a combined base of about 100 000 customers - but "well over a million" people connecting.

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