Potential customers of the second national operator (SNO) should still exercise caution as there are a number of issues to be ironed out, says international research firm Gartner in response to last week`s announcement.
Telecommunications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri announced last week that the licence for the SNO would be awarded to the 49% shareholders Nexus Connexion, Transtel and Esi-Tel, as recommended by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA), and that the remaining 51% would be warehoused until a final decision is made within eight weeks.
Gartner says that after two failed bids, three years of uncertainty and a morass of litigation, the award of the licence will benefit the country`s telecom industry. "With policy and process bottlenecks now cleared, the second operator can start offering services against the incumbent Telkom."
While the minister indicated, but did not confirm, that she will consider the two foreign companies that bid for the remaining 51% stake, namely Two Consortium and CommuniTel, the situation still leaves the SNO and its potential customers with several problems.
Firstly, the three local shareholders seem unable to agree about launching the second operator without an external 51% partner, so Gartner recommends assessing how the three interact before buying services from them.
Another Gartner recommendation is that the time horizon should be extended when including the SNO in a procurement process as the eight-week deadline set by Matsepe-Casaburri "sounds ambitious".
Finally, Gartner recommends that people refrain from moving any business-critical services to the new operator until ownership issues are resolved, as the principles by which the assets of the three local companies are valued are still unclear. Further legal action could also occur if the minister overturns the ICASA`s recommendations on Two Consortium and CommuniTel, and the introduction of network and services convergence (which would replace the current licensing framework) is in process.
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