Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS) minister, Siyabonga Cwele's statement that the proposed national wireless network received widespread support from the ICT sector is "apparently untruthful".
So says Marian Shinn MP and Democratic Alliance shadow minister of telecoms and postal services.
Shinn's comments are on the back of the statement released by Cwele's department following an industry meeting with the ICT sector on the implementation of the National Integrated ICT Policy White Paper.
The meeting organised by the National ICT Forum brought together 300 stakeholders representing government, people with disabilities, ICT business leaders, ICT SMMEs, industry associations, the National Consumer Commission and labour, according to the department.
This was the latest attempt from the DTPS to get the ICT industry to engage on the implementation of the new policy.
The DTPS introduced government's new policy framework for the ICT industry, which has drawn a lot of criticism from various stakeholders.
Opposition parties, pundits and industry stakeholders have expressed concern over the "radical" suggestions in the new policy, as well as government's expanded role in key decisions in the sector.
In a statement, the DTPS said for the first time delegates supported the introduction of the Wholesale Open Access Network (WOAN) and made presentations on how it can be implemented.
"We are making progress towards implementing the new ICT Policy. Our preference for consultation is yielding the desired results because we are edging closer to an agreement on how best we speedily implement this very important policy," according to Cwele.
Shinn says she has written to the acting chairperson of the portfolio committee on telecommunications and postal services in Parliament, Dikeledi Tsotetsi, to urgently call a meeting at which the minister and communications network operators can put on the record the substance of the interactions between them.
"The minister's media statement was issued after his National ICT Forum hosted a meeting of ICT sector players on February 17...
"It is important to note that the minister's statement used the word 'Wholesale' instead of 'Wireless', which is the word used in the white paper to name the network."
Shinn adds: "The ICT sector has been publicly silent on the minister's statement...This prompted my request to the committee's acting chairperson to schedule a meeting for the last week on March at which both the minister and the network operators can publicly state their plans and objections so pending legislation can be drafted to avoid lengthy litigation that may well be the outcome of laws on this controversial issue."
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