ICT firms fail on EE mandates

Vodacom, Cell C, MTN and Faritec and several other ICT firms refute the labour department`s claim that they failed to submit their 2005 employment equity reports on time. The companies say they are shocked to find themselves on the government`s "name and shame" list.

But a labour department spokesman stands firm: "We`ve heard this story before... we are not going to be fooled by the shenanigans of these companies - we have done our homework and they will meet us in court."

The Johannesburg High Court ruled last Friday that Vodacom does not have to refund customers for calls that were dropped before the minute they are paying for has elapsed. Cell Check, which does forensic audits on itemised billing, brought the case to court in an attempt to claim R18 300 on behalf of its client, Hilti SA.

We may have all heard this sort of promise before, but at least this time the consumer has Sir Richard Branson on their side.

Dave Glazier, journalist, ITWeb

Investigations into Verizon`s confiscated data, taken by authorities in the search and seizure operation of a couple of weeks ago, are moving forward. Despite Verizon`s lawyers hoping the matter would be finalised and charges brought (or not) within a week, it seems the attorneys are still poring over the information.

SA`s ICT charter group is hopeful that the troubled ICT charter will be gazetted by year-end, with the Department of Trade and Industry saying on Tuesday that it aims to send the codes to Cabinet sometime this month. Approval of the codes would clear the way for the charter to be gazetted as a Code of Good Practice.

At a meeting of East African Submarine Cable System (Eassy) execs in the Eastern Cape this week, it was announced that the cable would likely mean wholesale bandwidth costs will be slashed to one-seventh of what they are now. This might seem unlikely, but the confidence Nepad and Africa`s ISP association have in the project (despite political wrangling) is encouraging to say the least.

ICASA CEO Jackie Manche, suspended in controversial circumstances in November for allegedly violating the Public Finance Management Act, the ICASA Act and ICASA`s policies and procedures, was back at work this week. At a press conference yesterday, chairman Paris Mashile asked people to treat Manche with the respect that, he says, she deserves - at least until the disciplinary hearing has been held.

Finally, mobile number portability has been set back to 10 November. This, ICASA assures us, will be the final postponement of the regulatory mechanism that is designed to make switching between networks easier. We may have all heard this sort of promise before, but at least this time the consumer has Sir Richard Branson on their side - ITWeb published his open letter that slams the operators for stalling the process.