Johannesburg — THE telecommunications industry will finally be governed by a tougher, more independent and more skilful regulator if a draft bill heading for Parliament is passed unchanged next year.

The cabinet yesterday approved the draft Convergence Bill that will give the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) true independence with a far higher budget and no need to seek government approval for the regulations that it makes.

Those changes are among the most important elements of the bill, which has been handed to industry players to comment on within 60 days.

The changes for Icasa were welcomed by Nat Kekana, the former chairman of the communications portfolio committee. He said it was an "important surprise" that the authority would no longer be funded by the fiscus, but by retaining up to 50% of the cost of every licence that it issued.

Icasa complains annually that its budget is too meagre to handle all its broadcasting and telecommunications responsibilities.

An estimated R500m was collected in licence fees last year, so 50% would give it sufficient working capital to hire enough skilled people to speed up its processes.

Legal expert Justine White of Edward Nathan & Friedland also praised the draft bill for increasing Icasa's powers.

Current laws give the communications minister considerable influence in the granting of licences and force Icasa's regulations to be approved by the minister. "That seems to have gone and that's fabulous for Icasa," said White.

Icasa must take the minister's policy directions into account, but would no longer be obliged to follow them.

Another major proposal affects the type of licences that can be issued.

In the past, operators were restricted in the type of technologies they can use, such as fixed line or cellular technologies. Now companies will be granted a licence to offer certain services, and the technologies they use to do that will be irrelevant.

The new licences were at the heart of SA's transition to a more modern and flexible environment, said the communications department's director-general Andile Ngcaba.

They would transform the industry by encouraging better services and greater competition.

The new bill should also create legal clarity to prevent a continuation of courtroom clashes between companies disputing the meaning of some regulations.

The bill has evolved from a colloquium where industry stakeholders and policy makers argued about the best way to legislate the rapidly-changing industry. Working groups were formed to tackle various topics, and their recommendations have been collated into the draft legislation.

Comments made during the next 60 days will be considered by the department and possibly incorporated into the bill for a formal tabling in parliament next year. Although it will not replace any existing legislation, it will rewrite and supersede outdated clauses in acts including the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the Broadcasting Act of 1999.

Ngcaba does not anticipate any major changes to the draft, as it was written in co-operation with industry stakeholders.

"There have been different views and that's a very healthy environment. It has been a very robust process." Everybody had a vested interest to defend, but the spirit of co-operation had been encouraging, he said.