Local telecommunications company Huge Group has welcomed the draft regulations proposed by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) to allow consumers to select which provider will carry which calls.
Huge Group executive chairman Anton Potgieter says the regulator's draft carrier pre-select regulations can only boost local competition. “They are an important step which the local telecommunications industry needs to take in order to facilitate real competition in the market.”
His views are shared by several industry analysts, who commented that similar regulations in other countries have become the “building blocks of competition”.
Potgieter explains the concept of carrier pre-select: “What it means is that an individual, or a company, can use their existing telecoms infrastructure, but have their calls carried by another provider - usually at much cheaper rates.”
He says this is usually done by dialling a prefix code before the destination number. “Internationally, we've seen this type of ruling significantly stimulate competition, with the larger players in the market competing vigorously for voice traffic by using creative pricing structures to attract customers.”
Too complicated?
However, Potgieter believes the sheer number of routing options created by heightened competition may make the process complicated. “It may be incredibly difficult to assess all these options and consumers may resign themselves to just using their regular provider for the sake of simplicity.”
ICASA spokesman Sekgoela Sekgoela says the draft regulations are intended to bolster competition in the local market. The draft is based on international use of the system; however, there is much room to mould the regulations to suit the South African market.
He says the regulator wants all telecoms stakeholders to participate in the ironing out of the details of the regulation and has called on all interested parties to submit written submissions. ICASA expects the oral hearings to take place on 21 and 22 January.
Globally, regulations governing carrier pre-select have been accompanied by local loop unbundling (LLU), a highly-contested and long-awaited issue in the local telecoms market.
Sekgoela explains that ICASA has been conducting committee meetings on LLU and hearings to discuss the process will start as early as January.
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