ICASA to consult over unbundling

By Damaria Senne, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 29 Feb 2008

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) is taking the first step to develop a project plan for the unbundling of the local loop.

The regulator says it will consult with ICT stakeholders in the coming months with a view to forming a committee that will oversee the local loop unbundling (LLU) process.

Unbundling the local loop will allow SA's telecommunications operators access to the last mile of the telecoms infrastructure, a move that is expected to substantially decrease telecoms costs.

ICASA has not set consultation dates yet, and says it will approach stakeholders, asking them to send representatives.

It expects to form a coordinating committee made up of ICT stakeholders and chaired by the regulator, as well as a several subcommittees, which will look at a number of issues related to the local loop unbundling process, says ICASA spokesman Sekgoela Sekgoela.

The subcommittees will look at policy, legal and regulatory matters, technical and engineering processes, financial and costing models, as well as economic and competition matters, he says.

The subcommittees will also develop plans that will be consolidated into an LLU project plan, he says.

Tight deadlines

The regulator is working to tight deadlines to implement the LLU process, as communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri issued a policy directive that the unbundling process be completed by 2011.

However, the regulator says it is confident the implementation of the LLU will be delivered within suitable timeframes.

ICASA also noted it received the strategy report developed by the Local Loop Unbundling Committee, appointed by Matsepe-Casaburri, last month. The committee handed its recommendations to the minister in May last year.