MTN, Cell C and Vodacom have once again been called into a closed meeting by the communications regulator.
The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) has summoned the operators to explain the high cost of communications. ICASA spokesman Sekgoela Sekgoela says interconnect fees will feature, but will not form the entire discussion.
He says that, along with the operators, the Internet Service Providers' Association will join the discussions.
“There is a lot involved when we talk about the cost of communication in SA,” he says.
The regulator will also look at issues like the definition of market power in SA and other topics related to costs.
This will be the second closed meeting the operators will have with the regulator this year. The first discussed poor service delivery, particularly in terms of dropped calls and delayed SMSes.
The meeting in May had the operators agreeing to publish fault reports in a similar way to financial results. They also agreed to find a solution for the quality of service issues that were experienced by customers.
While ICASA says the operators do report faults, these reports have not been made public as the operators had initially promised. The reports are supposed to include information from three basic categories: network performance and availability; network parameters, including reports about dropped calls and delayed text messages; and active subscriber Information.
The latest in a long line of complaints was sparked by Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille, who lodged a complaint with both the Competition Commission and ICASA over the high costs of interconnect.
Sekgoela says the regulator will publish a report later today on the outcome of the meeting.
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