Universal service obligations under review

By Damaria Senne, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 24 Jan 2008

The Universal Service and Access Agency of SA (USAASA) plans to review the current obligations for telecommunications network providers to provide connectivity in under-serviced areas.

The review will look at the size of contributions that licensed communications providers make to the universal service and access fund, as well as the connectivity initiatives that providers launch in under-serviced areas.

"We need to understand the access gap, what resources are required, and the funds we need to close the gaps in the next 10 years. On that basis, we'll be able to say how much they need to contribute so that we can finish the job," says USAASA CEO James Theledi.

USAASA also wants to evaluate how effective the operators' implementation of the universal service obligations has been, he says.

Addressing criticism

Theledi says USAASA will meet with contributors to the universal service fund tomorrow.

"The aim of the meeting is to inform and emphasise USAASA's projects to the contributors of the fund. We also plan to communicate a number of strategy issues related to the fund."

Theledi says one of the major criticisms USAASA has received from fund contributors is that they do not know what the state agency does with the fund.

There is also concern that contributions were used to fund the contributors' competition (under-serviced area licensees), he says. "Some people argue that the 0.2% [of annual revenue of licensed activities] is too much, and there is no scientific basis of calculating it."

USAASA will go through a process of reviewing the contribution in a scientific manner, Theledi says.

School connectivity

The agency says the initiatives by licensed operators to provide connectivity in under-serviced areas, especially schools connectivity, are also part of the discussion.

The main operators previously provided many reasons why the e-rate (which is meant to allow for discounting of services to schools) cannot be applied, says Theledi.

"The reason it's a serious problem is USAASA is funding different schools, and the agency gets different prices from the operators. So we must finalise the issue of e-rates so we have standardised pricing for school connectivity in the industry."

USAASA also wants to encourage operators to roll-out services in schools that cannot pay, thus enabling what Theledi calls "a free rate".

"They should talk to us so we can facilitate this. They can ask the agency to subsidise the initiatives."

The Department of Education has a list of schools that are non-fee-paying, so USAASA will be able to easily identify candidates and coordinate with the department to get the ball rolling, he says.