Licence conversion hearings begin

By Damaria Senne, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 28 Sept 2007

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) is to hold public hearings soliciting input from the ICT industry on the terms and conditions of the new communication licences, starting Monday.

The hearings will run until 9 October, says ICASA spokesman Sekgoela Sekgoela. Following the hearings and the finalisation of the licence terms and conditions, ICASA will convert the existing licences of telecoms providers and broadcasters to the new framework.

Sekgoela says the regulator will, on Monday, brief telecoms operators on how existing licences will be converted into new licences.

Discussions will also cover the impact of communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri's recent policy directives on the licence terms and conditions, and the process of acquiring additional rights, he says. ICASA will also provide timelines for convergence at this meeting, he adds.

Sekgoela would not commit to a deadline for ICASA to publish the draft regulations outlining the process and procedure for operators to apply for new licences. "What I can tell you is that the process to draft the regulations has already started and the regulations are under way."

Legal expert Mike Silber previously noted that, in theory, the change to a new legal framework should have no impact on the terms and conditions of existing licensees. The law states that new licences should not have conditions that are less favourable than in previous licences, he noted.

The provisions will, however, take away monopolies, such as those enjoyed by Telkom and Sentech, either by removing the provisions that catered for them, or by granting other players the same rights, he added.

Stakeholder input

Sekgoela says hearings, on 2 and 3 October, will focus on the terms and conditions of broadcasting licences. At this stage, the Media Development and Diversity Agency, African Media Entertainment, MultiChoice, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, etv and Walking on Water will make their submissions.

ICASA recently licensed e.sat, Walking on Water, Telkom Media, MultiChoice Africa and On Digital Media to provide commercial broadcasting services.

Hearings on 4 to 5 October will focus on electronic communication service licences (both class and individual types), with Virgin Mobile, Altech Autopage, the Internet Service Provider Association of SA, iBurst and Internet Solutions providing input.

Proceedings on 8 and 9 October will focus on electronic communication and network service licences (class and individual types), with submissions from network operators such as Vodacom, MTN, Telkom, Neotel and Sentech.

ICASA previously said it would close the licence conversion process in November.