The public hearings for the bids for the second national operator (SNO) licence kicked off this morning at the Sandton Crowne Plaza. The communications minister`s decision on which of the two consortiums vying for the licence will hinge on what is revealed in these hearings.
The two recommended bidders are CommuniTel, which comprises Telecom Namibia, the Umkhonto We Sizwe Military Veterans Association, Gateway Communications (UK/SA), Premier Contracts Agency and supported by British Telecom from the UK, Microsoft and Accenture, and KPMG and Deutsche Telekom via T-Systems/Detecon; and Two Consortium, which includes Scandinavian operator Telenor, SwedTel and local group Blue Planet.
CommuniTel will be first to come under the spotlight, fielding questions from its competitor, Eskom Enterprises, Nexus Connection, Transtel, members of the public and the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) in that order.
Tomorrow it will be Two Consortium`s turn to come under public scrutiny.
Following these hearings, the consortiums will be rated by ICASA on specifically defined criteria, and the one that scores the highest will then be recommended to minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri. She will then decide whether to award the licence to the consortium put forward by the regulator. A decision is expected within a month of the hearings.
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