Photo by: Duane Daws
Promulgating the long-awaited local-loop unbundling (LLU) regulations would go a long way towards stimulating competition in the telecommunications sector in South Africa, Neotel MD Sunil Joshi said on Thursday.
LLU, a critical inhibitor for a competitive market, had been under the scrutiny of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) for an “excessive period” and needed to be implemented urgently to arrest and reverse the competitive restrictions.
The regulations governing LLU, which would give Telkom’s rivals access to its ‘last mile’ of copper cable infrastructure at a wholesale price, have been delayed several times. The regulations were initially scheduled for finalisation by November 2011.
In February this year, after publishing, retracting and republishing the draft regulations, Icasa said it may repeal its current draft regulations as it moves to engage stakeholders further on wholesale access and facilities leasing.
“We are not giving up on the matter,” said Icasa chairperson William Currie, apologising to Neotel for the significant delay and pointing out that Germany had taken about eight years to table its final regulations governing LLU.
Joshi noted that the introduction of LLU would facilitate fixed-line competition, as well as contribute positively to economic growth, bolster job creation and investments as companies moved to establish infrastructure complementary to the last mile.
It would also lead to lower broadband service prices and increase innovation around broadband services using copper, he added.
Telkom had previously stated that LLU could be a threat to revenues and the group’s financial viability, which were already under pressure given the increasingly competitive telecommunications market.