The Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS) has "begun the process of promulgating legislation" that will enable the implementation of the National Integrated ICT Policy White Paper in the short- to medium-term.
This is according to DTPS deputy minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, delivering a speech in Parliament to present the department's 2017/18 Annual Performance Plan.
"In 2017/18, with regard to implementing the White Paper, the department has prioritised specific Bills which will be drafted and submitted to Cabinet for public consultation approval," she said.
Ndabeni-Abrahams said one of the department's critical milestones in 2016/17 was the finalisation and approval of the White Paper, "which acts as a blueprint on the mandate and requirements of the NDP". One of the priority focus areas for 2017/18 is the implementation of the policy, she noted.
The White Paper, which was three years in the making, was finalised and published in September 2016. The new policy is supposed to replace the separate White Papers on telecommunication (1996) and postal services (1998).
Analysts and industry experts have not been too excited about one of the White Paper's proposals to shake-up previous policy frameworks for spectrum allocation in favour of the deployment of a wireless open access network (WOAN).
In the past, individual licensees were given access to spectrum though exclusive rights for a given period and geographical area. Government now wants to proceed with an open access regime that would see infrastructure and spectrum sharing between networks through "a public-private sector-owned and -managed consortium".
In March, the DTPS told ITWeb it had received 12 proposals from the industry on the implementation of various aspects of the policy and the department was considering all of the proposals. One of these was a joint-proposal from a group of six telecoms operators which reportedly suggested a hybrid model whereby operators could receive individual spectrum allocations as well as spectrum being allocated for government's planned WOAN.