The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) held a three-day consultation with its US counterpart, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Johannesburg last week.
The US Embassy initiated the consultations on behalf of the FCC as an information sharing opportunity and as a means of building a greater regulatory institution.
"It was three days of information sharing between ICASA and the FCC to ensure continued cooperation between the regulators," says Tracy Cohen, an ICASA counsellor who liaised with the FCC during the venture.
The floor was open to three senior FCC members, who shared their experiences and expertise on various current telecommunications issues with the ICASA councils and 20 ICASA staff from various divisions within the regulator. According to Cohen, the regulators discussed matters of mutual interest as well as challenges facing regulators, such as emergency services.
Among the matters discussed were universal service and e-rate implementation, telecommunication pricing, alternative broadband technology, competition and markets, and comparative approaches to regulatory processes.
Sharing in the discussions were representatives from the Department of Communications and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Communications.
ICASA is trying to increase their interaction with regulators in the coming year and further consultation sessions with the FCC are on the cards, says Cohen.
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