VANS left in the cold

By Damaria Senne, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 28 Oct 2005

There is lack of clarity on where value-added network services (VANS) fit within the Electronic Communications Bill (formerly the Convergence Bill) and the mobile number portability (MNP) regulations, delegates heard this morning at a telecoms seminar in Melrose, Johannesburg.

The aim of the seminar was to provide participants with insight into legislation affecting the telecoms sector, as well as strategic issues that came out of the telecoms colloquium held by the Department of Communications on 11 and 12 October.

The Bill fails to make provisions that directly apply to VANS. It also does not specify how long the transition between the Telecoms Act and the Bill is going to be, how it is going to be managed and who will be responsible for that transition, legal experts said.

The challenge with the transition period lies in ensuring that VANS licensees do not lose the rights they recently gained as a result of the ministerial determinations that came into effect in February 2005, said lawyer and telecoms consultant, Michael Silber.

That would be an unlawful expropriation, he said. On the other hand, it is important that people do not gain rights that they did not necessarily have before the Bill came into being.

[VIDEO]It is important that the transition period be managed smoothly, he said. He points out that while the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) has undertaken to manage the process, it is clear that the regulator does not have the capacity to do so. He therefore suggests that a law be put into place to deal with it.

Government has been responsive to input from the industry regarding the Bill, Silber pointed out. As a result, it is likely the Bill will only become an Act at the beginning 2006. The benefit would, however, be that important issues would have been properly debated and measures put in place to allow for a smooth transition.

"The proof of liberalisation will be in the implementation," he said.

MNP regulations on VANS

[VIDEO]The MNP regulations are also silent with regard to VANS, said Bradley Scop, co-founder of Stein Scop. He pointed out that VANS did not play a significant role in the drafting of the regulations or functional specifications that were published on 30 September. He said an argument could be made that as VANS are donors or recipients of porting, they should also have taken part.

Scop added that the potential challenge for small VANS to provide porting, as they would have too few resources to make it cost-effective. He said within that context, MNP may disadvantage VANS, who already have other regulatory challenges to deal with.