Spectrum auditor owns national licences

The sole owner of a company that is auditing SA's national spectrum use, with links to two of SA's largest telecoms companies, also holds two national licences.

Earlier this year, the Department of Communications (DOC) awarded a long-awaited tender to Hopelafleur Communications Networks, for R7.9 million, to audit spectrum use in SA. The award raised concerns, as owner Julia Hope has ties to Vodacom and Telkom.

Now it has emerged that Hope also holds two national telecommunications licences. According to the Independent Communications Authority of SA, Hope has both an individual electronic communications service (I-ECS) and individual electronic communications network service (I-ECNS) licence.

An I-ECS licence allows companies to provide services over networks, such as voice or data, while an I-ECNS licence allows companies to build their own infrastructure.

Hope's ownership of the licences raises further questions around the tender process and whether the spectrum audit will be tarnished, as SA first needs to determine what spectrum is being used, and where, before additional allocations can be made.

The licences are not currently being used, says Hope. She says she will only use the licences if it is “convenient” and is not planning to use them “in a hurry”. “There is no conflict.”

Hopelafleur won the R7.9 million contract, to audit frequency in the 500MHz to 1 000GHz range, towards the end of January.

Hope says she will audit spectrum that she does not have and a licence without spectrum “is nothing”. If she decides to use the licences, it will be a different story, she adds.

ITWeb previously reported that Hope is one of Telkom's non-executive directors and is married to a Vodacom senior staff member.

In February, the tender award was questioned, because of the potential conflict of interest due to Hope's relationships with Telkom and Vodacom. In addition, Hopelafleur's bid was 20% more expensive than the other company that bid for the tender.

Steven Ambrose, MD of Strategy Worx, says the spectrum audit is critical to SA's ICT sector and the economy, because telecoms is crucial for the country's growth.

The spectrum audit will determine which companies hold licences for which spectrum, and for what purpose. The results will be used by government to determine how spectrum can be used more efficiently, and locate frequency that is not being used.

Ambrose says the competency of the company carrying out the audit must be above board and there should be no complications, such as questions around the firm's background, because of the audit's critical nature.

Mobile operators have been waiting since 2009 for the audit, which was finally set to get off the ground early last year. However, several attempts to auction spectrum use stalled until the department finally appointed Hopelafleur in January.

The DOC did not respond to ITWeb's repeated attempts to obtain comment. Communications minister Dina Pule's spokesperson, Siya Qoza, previously said the process required that bidders declare interests that are relevant to the tender.

This was done during the tender process and DOC is “satisfied with the outcomes”, Qoza said.

The contract was awarded based on price, ability and technical expertise, said Qoza. “Hopelafleur has partnered with local and international partners who have suitable experience to conduct the spectrum audit.”