The proposed Electronic Communications Amendment Bill would split the Independent Communications Authority of SA's (ICASA) spectrum-allocation role into two.
The Bill, signed by communications minister Dina Pule, includes the suggestion that a spectrum management agency be created, which would be responsible for long-term spectrum planning, including the development of a national radio frequency plan and allocating spectrum ranges for government and non-government use.
The agency would also be responsible for assigning spectrum “for government use”, while ICASA would remain responsible for assigning frequency to non-government entities. The agency will handle all international radio frequency spectrum matters relating to SA, it says.
According to the Bill, the changes seek to amend the 2005 Electronics Communications Act to align it with broad-based black economic empowerment, incorporate ICASA's recommendations on ownership, and to clarify the responsibilities of the agency and the current regulator.
The proposed Bill would essentially split ICASA's role into two, says Dyer.
Dyer notes that ICASA would still assign bands to commercial users, but the allocation of frequency to government entities would be carried out by the agency. It is not yet clear which entities will fall under the agency and whether Sentech and Telkom will be included among these, she notes.
The amended legislation does provide the opportunity to fix some problems that are in the Act, such as issues with cross-referencing and undefined terms, notes Dyer.
The pending legislation was gazetted on 18 July and interested parties have 30 days during which to comment.
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