Members of the public and interested parties have until 6 July to provide written comments on policy directives delivered by communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri in her May budget speech.
On 25 May, the Department of Communications gazetted an invitation to comment on the policy directives, allowing interested parties 30 days to submit their comments. This brought the deadline for submissions to 25 June.
However, the Electronic Communications (EC) Act directs that interested parties should have 30 working days to make submissions on the directives, bringing the deadline to 6 July, says department spokesman Albi Modise.
In her budget speech, Matsepe-Casaburri directed the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) to begin the local loop unbundling process. The local loop unbundling committee has recommended the unbundling process be completed by 2011.
The minister also announced that underserviced area licensees (USALs) would be merged in each in province, so there is one USAL per province. Per the directives, investors will now be allowed to hold up to 49% shareholding in USALs, up from a previous 5%.
Cassandra Solomon, chairman of the Universal Service and Access Agency, welcomed the decision, and said it would allow USALs to pool their resources and attract investment funding.
ICASA has since announced it will soon license more USALs. The regulator was unable to clarify how the new licensees will fit into the consolidation process.
The minister also directed ICASA to prioritise and urgently prescribe a list of essential facilities, and to ensure there are no monopoly electronic communications facilities connected to the SAT-3/WASC/SAFE submarine cable. Prices for access to the cables should be regulated accordingly, she said.
Submissions can be e-mailed to policydirections@doc.gov.za.
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