'Mashile quoted out of context'

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) has moved to clarify comments made by chairman Paris Mashile at a recent breakfast function, accusing journalists of quoting him out of context.

Several news publications quoted Mashile as saying earlier this week that the communications regulator is getting ready to embark on a second round of licensing pay-TV applicants, to up competition in the pay-TV market.

However, ICASA spokesman Sekgoela Sekgoela said this morning the comments attributed to Mashile were out of context and could cause “panic” among the current pay TV licensees, who received licences from the regulator in 2007.

In a bid to create competition with incumbent service provider MultiChoice, Telkom Media, On Digital Media, Walking on Water and E-sat received licences, but have, as yet, not launched services. Subsequent to the licences being granted, E-sat aborted its plans to launch a service and decided to provide content to MultiChoice instead.

Meanwhile, Telkom Media, a subsidiary of fixed-line operator Telkom, has also had a rocky start, with Telkom choosing to abandon its plans to enter the pay-TV market and putting the business up for sale.

Earlier this month, following a protracted search for a suitable buyer, Telkom finally penned a deal with China's Shenzen Media SA, which agreed to acquire the fixed-line utility's 66% stake in Telkom Media. The last-minute sale was essentially a life-line for the dormant broadcaster, bringing it back from the brink of liquidation.

But, according to Sekgoela, ICASA remains confident the current pay-TV licensees would launch their services in the near future.

He says Mashile was simply pointing out that, should the current service providers fail to take off, ICASA could explore licensing other pay-TV providers.

“At the moment, the authority is not considering issuing any new licences, as it believes the current licensees will take off. But, in the event that they don't, ICASA will have the option to issue an invitation for other potential service providers to apply for licences,” Sekgoela explains.

While he could not commit to a specific timeframe, Sekgoela states it is likely the service providers would launch their pay-TV services within about six months.

So far, Shenzen Media indicated it is likely to launch a service at the end of the year, saying it has “specific objectives within the African media space”, while On Digital Media confirmed this morning it is looking at a similar time line to go live.

Sekgoela also fired a shot across the bows of the 2010 Local Organising Committee (LOC), which yesterday lambasted Mashile for comments he made at the same breakfast function this week.

Speaking to ITWeb yesterday, LOC chief communications officer Rich Mkondo reacted to Mashile's misgivings that local mobile networks may not be able to cope with the increased traffic during the 2010 World Cup. Mashile said that, while the country had been promised the necessary infrastructure would be in place for the event, he remained “fearful”.

The LOC hit back, with Mkondo saying Mashile's fears are “unfounded, misplaced and without any substance”, as well as expressing alarm that the chairman of the country's communications regulator would make such unsubstantiated statements.

However, in the war of words that is brewing between ICASA and the LOC, Sekgoela says Mkondo should never have attacked Mashile for his statements, as he was quoted out of context.

He confirmed Mashile was indeed alluding to recent meetings between ICASA, Vodacom, MTN and Cell C, where the mobile providers were asked to explain a recent flood of complaints over network access, dropped calls and delayed SMS delivery.

While the regulator insisted the meetings did not constitute a formal investigation, the operators were summoned to explain the apparent network problems that have become prevalent in recent times. ICASA has not yet revealed findings of these meetings, but Mashile's comments could indicate the country's mobile networks are in a worse state than anticipated.

Related story:
LOC lambasts 'fearful' Mashile