The Electronic Communications (EC) Act will be amended to allow the Competition Commission to have the final say on competition matters within the ICT sector.
This may have a significant bearing on cost issues, says deputy communications minister Roy Padayachie.
Delivering his speech during the Department of Communications budget vote, in Parliament yesterday, Padaychie said that currently the EC Act allows the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) to function as a sector regulator for competition matters within the ICT sector.
"This counter-poses with the Competition Commission that also acts as a competition authority, thereby resulting in what is described as 'concurrent jurisdiction'," he said.
Padayachie said it may be anticipated that, with the upcoming Competition Amendment Act, the Competition Commission will be vested with the final authority to adjudicate on competition matters within the telecommunications sector and to carry the responsibility to initiate market enquiry in the sector.
ICASA chairman Paris Mashile said, after the speech, that this situation suits ICASA.
"ICASA is responsible for ex-ante regulation, while the Competition Commission is responsible for post-ante regulation," he said.
This means ICASA will draw up regulations to govern the sector, while the Competition Commission will conduct investigations into activities in the sector that may be considered uncompetitive.
Two years ago, during the debate on the EC Act, the Competition Commission presented such a proposal. Parliament responded that a memorandum of understanding should be drawn up between the two regulatory bodies to delineate their responsibilities.
However, Telkom took advantage of the overlapping responsibilities and, in April, lodged a High Court application challenging the right of the Competition Tribunal to hear the market dominance complaint laid against it by the Value-Added Network Providers Association.
Related story:
Telkom challenges competition bodies
Share