The communication regulator's drive to force operators to publish the number of dropped calls and missing SMSes seems to have gone nowhere, with the reports submitted, but gathering dust.
A year ago, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) called on the telecommunications operators to submit quarterly fault reports as they would financial results, which the authority would then publish for public scrutiny.
The regulator says it has been receiving the compliance reports from the operators, even though there has been no precedent or framework set for them in their licences. However, ICASA says its compliance division is now working on a manual to govern how these reports reach the surface.
“The authority, through its Compliance Unit, is currently finalising the Compliance and Procedure Manual for this purpose, subsequent to which this will be enforced together with other regulations, such as the End-User and Subscriber Service Charter. Please note that the latter is already in force,” ICASA explained in a statement to ITWeb.
Transparency is key
The idea behind the reports was to force the operators to be more transparent with their network dealings and give customers the chance to see how their particular network performed, compared to others. ICASA said that, having that information available would allow customers to choose a better performing network if their own was not up to scratch.
Combined with the End-User and Subscriber Service Charter, which was implemented in July last year, the reports could have serious repercussions for the operators, since poor network performance can drum up a fine of up to either R500 000 or R150 000, depending on the terms that have been breached.
Network stats
The vast number of complaints hauled the regulator into action and it requested each of the operators to explain the source of the network troubles. The majority of mobile operators lambasted Telkom for service quality, since most use the fixed-line operator's infrastructure for backhaul.
ICASA released a statement at the time, instructing MTN, Cell C and Vodacom to find a solution to the problems as soon as possible. “Failing which, the complaints raised by consumers would be referred to the Complaints and Compliance Committee for adjudication and possible penalties.”
The operators and the regulator reached an agreement that, while the issues were being resolved, the operators would make the network statistics available to the public.
Not seeing the light
ICASA said the mobile companies would report in three basic categories: network performance and availability; network parameters, including reports about dropped calls and delayed text messages; and active subscriber information.
A year later, not one of these quarterly reports had reached the public domain. However, ICASA says the manual is expected to be finalised and published at the end of July.
It is unclear why the regulator has not yet made these documents available, and why it has taken so long to get to the publication of the manual. None of the analysts contacted would speculate on the matter, nor comment on the value of having the network information available to the public.
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