The Democratic Alliance (DA) this week has taken some advantage of the malaise affecting the country`s ICT sector and published its own telecommunications policy that calls for government to open up the sector.
The fiasco surrounding the failed awarding of a second fixed-line operator and the usurping of the powers of the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) by the Department of Communications has caused international observers to level strong criticism at the country.
Many of the points in the DA`s policy document, titled "Connecting with the future", are echoed by international research group Gartner Dataquest in its research brief, "SA telecoms companies: Caught in a time warp".
Both attack the "hands-tied" role of the regulator, the legislative mess and the failure to open the market up to real competition. Both point to the pressing need not only to bridge the digital divide but also to offer basic telecoms services to the disadvantaged.
Gartner Dataquest warned that overseas investors and telecoms operators will continue to view SA with extreme caution through the remainder of 2003. "Stable legislative and operational frameworks are unlikely to be available during this period."
The DA document says there is a myriad of laws and regulations in this country that inhibit the development of the ICT sector and that the reality of convergence has not yet been acknowledged.
The DA document argues that legislation must be enacted to reflect the realities of convergence, as information dissemination is no longer defined by the medium by which it is transmitted.
It calls for a separation of regulation of the transmission medium, including signal distribution and the content that is broadcast. The party has called for a new Communications Act to replace the outdated IBA Act, the Broadcasting Act and the Telecommunications Act.
"In some cases these Acts run parallel to each other and even feature near duplicate sections, and in some other respects conflict with each other. A merged regulator has already been created in recognition of convergence - the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa - but the laws remain the same."
The DA is also vocal about the regulatory institutions. It says SA policymakers and industry players have been concerned, ever since the merged regulator was first mooted, that ICASA`s independence would be downgraded to telecommunications level instead of retaining the level constitutionally required for broadcasting.
Gartner Dataquest echoes this view and recommends that international companies are "strongly advised to work with the Department of Communications rather than the regulator (ICASA) as the former is - clearly for now - the executive of telecoms policy in the country". It says business should consider working with Telkom rather than its potential competitors and should consider waiting until the end of 2003 before taking decisive action.
While the DA proposes that technologies such as voice-over-IP could offer a low-cost solution to supplying cheap telecoms services, Garner Dataquest has pointed out that proposals to allow small business to develop services that could use such technology in low density areas degenerated into a slanging match between government, Telkom, the mobile operators and the potential bidders.
It says using legislation as a tactic to correct the wrongs of a sector as complex as the telecommunications industry is a slow and laborious process, and usually never really satisfies anyone as laws are often the result of compromise. But the current situation of everyone losing cannot go on indefinitely as people remain on the wrong side of the digital divide and businesses face unrealised profits.
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