Although the Department of Communications (DOC) made some progress last year in meeting its major targets, several key projects stalled completely and the country fell further behind in allocating spectrum and migrating to digital television.
In addition, changes to key legislation were met with uproar as the proposed amendments will strip the regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA), of some of its power.
Communications minister Dina Pule has been in the post for just over a year, after taking over from Roy Padayachie, in October 2011. Padayachie served as communications minister from November 2010 until October the following year, when he was moved to the Department of Public Service and Administration, a post he held until his death.
The short stints by ministers at the helm of the department have previously been blamed for targets being missed. Last year, the department failed to turn on digital television, arguing that a court bid by etv had held up the process, and also did not allocate spectrum, a process that has been on the cards since about 2006.
Spokesperson Siya Qoza says a key aspect of 2012 was the amount of work done by Pule to stabilise the department, entities that report to it, and the filling of vacancies.
Progress is being made to fill vacant posts and the troubled Universal Service and Access Agency of SA should now be in a position to deliver on its mandate of universal access, as it has a new board and is more stable than it was a year ago, says Qoza.
Waiting game
However, Democratic Alliance MP Marian Shinn argues that "the department failed to achieve any worthwhile targets - apart from allocating its full grant to the entities that report to it, and then it failed to operate effective oversight of these entities to ensure they achieved their targets and effectively spent their share of taxpayers' money.
"The DOC is a prime example of the inadequacies of a developmental state that does not have the capacity, funds or management drive to deliver on a grandiose social development and job creation vision."
Shinn also points out the department was meant to turn on digital television across the country, but this stalled after etv took it to court, and won, over its decision to allow Sentech to handle set-top box access controls.
However, the department did successfully launch a proof of concept in the Northern Cape and Sentech has upgraded around two-thirds of coverage of transmitters to function on DVB-T2 - SA's selected digital standard, Qoza says. He adds that vital policies were also finalised.
Shinn says Sentech's rollout of the transmission infrastructure for digital television seems to be on track. Yet, at a recent portfolio committee meeting, it was clear that "the DOC is floundering with its management of the local manufacturing strategy implementation and the scope, cost, funding and implementation of subsidised set-top boxes to poorer households," she notes.
The tender for the subsidised boxes has been put out, but has yet to be awarded, because of the legal wrangle.
Persistent delays
In addition, ICASA early last year canned a much-awaited spectrum allocation in the 2.6GHz and 800MHz bands. Operators argue these bands are vital to increase rollout of broadband using long-term evolution, which offers speeds at about double that of 3G.
Towards the end of 2012, the department said it was set to soon make a decision on allocating space in 2.6GHz, but had dropped the idea of allocating space in 800MHz for now as it has until 2015 - when digital migration is set to be completed and space freed up - to sort out 800MHz allocations.
Shinn says the DOC failed to release the policy directive for spectrum by mid-2012 "as promised" and has since vowed to complete the task by March. "These persistent delays have a serious impact on the roll out of products and services based on high-speed broadband technologies, such as long-term evolution."
In November, Pule said the department was finalising the policy directive, which would allow ICASA to move ahead with allocations.
In addition, the first stage of local loop unbundling was meant to kickoff in November, with Bitstream access coming into effect as part of ICASA's phased approach to freeing up the last mile. However, it was put on hold until a mechanism is put in place to solve the tricky issue of Telkom's access deficit.
ICASA spokesperson Paseka Maleka said ensuring that fixed-line access prices are fairly addressed is a necessary precondition to any successful form of local loop unbundling. "As soon as a position on the access line deficit has been concluded, the authority will move forward with a working group on Bitstream services."
Sudden rush
According to the department's strategic plan for the period 2012-2017, the DOC aimed to have generated a discussion document as steps towards a National Integrated ICT Policy in the 2011/12 financial year.
In December, the DOC made a move towards a long-awaited ICT legislation facelift for SA, with the appointment of a 22-member ICT Policy Review Panel, featuring eminent local names, including former Vodacom CEO Pieter Uys.
At the time, Pule said the panel's ultimate responsibility will be to advise the DOC "as it proceeds towards developing a green paper and later, a white paper on [an] Integrated National ICT Policy".
The draft green paper should have been developed in the second quarter of the 2012/13 financial year, according to the DOC's strategy. By the end of the current financial year, it aims to have developed a draft policy through conducting a full ICT policy review.
Qoza says his understanding is that the green paper will be issued later this year, followed by a white paper in 2014.
Ovum senior analyst Richard Hurst says the department has had a mixed year, and one of the most important aspects - the ICT policy - seems to have floundered. However, he says there was much speed and clarity towards the end of the year.
Legal concerns
The Electronic Communications (EC) Amendment Act, as well as the Independent Communications Authority of SA Amendment Act, was scheduled to be introduced to Parliament by the end of the current financial year. The ICASA Bill was only gazetted towards the end of last year, and comments are open until tomorrow.
The draft EC Bill was published for comment last year and an outcome is now awaited from the department.
Hurst says the ICASA Bill was a negative as it seeks to weaken the authority's independence. The Bill gives the minister the power to appoint members to the Complaints and Compliance Commission, which can tell ICASA what to do when it comes to licences.
Qoza says the department hopes that the criticism has made its way into the formal comment process as the point of soliciting comments is to come up with the best possible law.
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