The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) is preparing to hold public hearings into the state of competition in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector from October 1 to 3.
Icasa embarked on a multimonth high-level inquiry in March this year, calling on stakeholders to provide input into South Africa’s electronic communications market, the cost to communicate, competition and consolidation, spectrum, the broadcasting market, convergence and the Internet, as well as innovation, net neutrality and disruptive technologies.
The inquiry aimed to review the current state of competition in the ICT sector as a whole, mitigate the challenges hampering the creation of a level playing field across platforms and examine the role of fixed-line and wireless connections in enabling competition, besides others.
“It is the authority’s view that the ICT sector has been, and continues to undergo, rapid technological changes with far-reaching implications for the local and international industries. One of the areas in which these changes are more pronounced is in the competitiveness of the electronic communications, broadcasting and postal sectors and the assumption that greater competition will lead to a reduction in the cost to communicate,” Icasa highlighted.
Vodacom, MTN, Cell C, Telkom, Broadband Infraco, Neotel, the South African Communications Forum, Multichoice, Internet Solutions, the Internet Service Providers’ Association, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, e.tv and the Institution of Information Technology Professionals South Africa had all submitted their responses.
Icasa aimed to develop a draft position paper after the public hearings, followed by an eventual position paper.