Photo by: Duane Daws
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) has published a new discussion document to develop a regulatory framework providing certainty around infrastructure sharing for broadband services.
The authority aimed to create an enabling environment to reduce input costs for licensees, minimise the duplication of infrastructure investment and reduce the cost of telecommunications services to consumers.
Stakeholders had until November 13 to submit inputs and views on the proposed infrastructure sharing models and tabled options for facilities leasing to mitigate the high costs of deploying telecommunications networks – a major barrier for operators in deploying networks to rural and sparsely populated areas.
“To ensure that telecommunications infrastructure is deployed across the country and that the cost to communicate is significantly reduced, the costs associated with infrastructure deployment would need to be reduced,” the regulator explained.
This emerged following the staggered start of the implementation of South Africa’s broadband plan, SA Connect, which called on Icasa to encourage infrastructure sharing through regulation.