The Independent Communications Authority of SA`s (ICASA) inquiry into wireless Internet access on Friday has garnered praise from the Internet Service Providers` Association (ISPA), for the regulator`s "hard-hitting, to the point and thorough grilling" of interested parties who made submissions.
Ant Brooks, head of regulatory matters at ISPA, says Telkom`s submission proposed that private WiFi Internet access be allowed, but every other application fell within the domain of public switched telephone services (PSTS), which only licence-holders can provide. These include hotspots and wireless Internet service providers (WISP) who don`t use PSTS networks.
MTN`s submission "embraced competition" in the wireless sphere, Brooks adds, entailing a widening of the above approach to allow more players to provide wireless Internet access. Cell C`s representation was that wireless Internet should be the domain of PSTS licence-holders, but proposed that mobile operators also be allowed to provide such services.
"ISPA itself supports ICASA`s initial view that WiFi should be limited to customer premises only," Brooks adds. In this, it differs from Telkom, proposing that hotspots should at least be legal "without going through the onerous process of licensing". ISPA`s submission is also a departure from Cell C`s, in that it does not propose a PSTS licence, but it agrees with MTN`s approach.
Praise where praise is due
Brooks says ICASA`s questions to submitters were generally longer than the presentations themselves, indicating it had done its homework.
He cautions that neither the representations nor ICASA`s original document dealt with illegal provision of Internet access, such as that by WISPs. "From our and our members` point of view, these SPs are illegally bundling an illegal local access service (wireless ISP access) with a legal service (Internet access), which is anti-competitive, and will lure our members` paying customers away."
Brooks says it will be difficult for ICASA to come to a decision, as, among other dangers, it runs the risk of creating a new legal category - wireless Internet access on local premises - which would unwarrantedly distinguish wireless Web caf'es from wired ones.
"This is an issue because ICASA has a mandate to ensure a 'technologically neutral` regulatory framework. Any regulations made on hotspots should thus take into account the similar scenario of a wired Internet caf'e.
"Also, ICASA must take care not to exclude non-Internet-related services, such as private VPNs, from its recommendations, since licensing of Internet-related services only would exclude our members from other profitable service opportunities."
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