MTN has not begun its universal service obligations, as required by the terms of its licence, and will not begin to do so until the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) gives final approval for its roll-out plan, the company said yesterday.
Speaking at the MTN editors` lunch yesterday, MTN`s head of regulatory affairs Nkataka Nyoka noted that MTN`s licensing obligations require the operator to give 2.5 million SIM cards and 125 000 handsets to the poor.
Initially, the cellular operators were supposed to pay a cash fee for the licence. However, it negotiated with ICASA to pay R5 million, as well as provide cellular connectivity to the poor, he said.
The cash component of the 3G licence was scrapped altogether and replaced with the requirement to provide Internet connectivity for 5 000 schools in eight years and to 140 institutions serving people with disabilities, over a three-year period.
Bernice Samuels, MTN`s head of corporate affairs, said the company submitted its roll-out plan in October last year.
She explained MTN did not want to begin implementation of the universal service plan, only to learn later that ICASA would like to make amendments to it.
While the 3G universal service obligations only apply to Vodacom and MTN, Nyoka added, Cell C asked for the obligations to be imposed on it.
Share
