Government has lashed out at a “factually incorrect and misleading article” published in Business Day, on Friday.
The newspaper reported that Cabinet had overturned the Independent Communications Authority of SA's (ICASA) decision to not issue Broadband Infraco with an additional licence.
Government spokesman Themba Maseko says the article is “not an accurate reflection of what was contained in the Cabinet statement”.
He explains that Cabinet had issued a technical correction to ensure that the direction that had been issued to ICASA previously was issued in terms of the correct legislation. He says Cabinet had not, as reported, overruled ICASA.
“Although I appreciate that journalists are human, presenting a personal interpretation as fact is, however, unacceptable. The newspaper will be asked to retract the article and state the correct facts to avoid further confusion,” says Maseko.
The article states: “Cabinet is forcing the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) to grant a second licence to state-owned telecoms agency Broadband Infraco.
“Yesterday [Thursday] Cabinet said it had approved a policy amendment to allow the licence to be granted, contradicting ICASA, which refused last week to issue an electronic communication services licence to Broadband Infraco to enable it to provide Internet and other data services.
“In refusing the licence, ICASA said that Infraco had failed to show how it would contribute to affordability as it planned to focus on providing services mainly to the government.”
Related story:
'Right call' on Infraco licence
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