Johannesburg — The Internet Service Providers' Association (ISPA) has called on the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) to provide urgent clarity on the types of services that are considered to be value-added network services (VANS).

This comes ahead of the public hearings on the regulator's proposed new regulations for VANS providers, which are to be held at ICASA's offices at Pinmill Farm, Sandton later this week.

According to ISPA, the organisation has been seeking clarity from ICASA on the VANS issue for some time, asking the regulator to delineate which types of Internet services are classified as VANS and which do not fall within the VANS framework, but ICASA has not yet done so.

"Our members provide many different types of services; some ISPs provide e-mail services, but not Internet access; other provide Internet access, but operate as a 'virtual ISP' meaning they do not operate their own access network, but piggy-back on the networks of large ISPs," says Ant Brooks, chairman of ISPA's regulatory committee.

"Other members only provide higher-level services, such as Web hosting. ICASA cannot tell us which of these services require a VANS licence, and this is extremely frustrating for our members."

Another point of concern for ISPA is that the lack of clarity on who needs to obtain a VANS licence means that many potential licensees are not aware the proposed new regulations may apply to them.

Brooks says it is conceivable that the authority could decide that a company or a school providing e-mail to its own staff or students needs to have a licence, meaning the proposed regulations could apply to thousands of organisations that are not even aware they exist.

He claims that up to now, ICASA has been unable to confirm that the VANS framework does not apply to such cases, and ISPA believes this is cause for significant concern.

Exorbitant fees

The regulations tabled by ICASA in December propose a R30 000 application fee for all VANS licences, and in addition, licensees are required to have a 30% shareholding by historically disadvantaged individuals by 1 October 2005.

They are also required to pay an annual fee to ICASA related to their income from providing VAN services.

"At least two-thirds of ISPA's members are classified as small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), making the proposed application fee not only exorbitant for small businesses, but also meaning that the empowerment targets that have been set are simply unrealistic.

"While we fully support ICASA's efforts to improve the level of black shareholding in the ICT sector, we feel their approach is counter-productive, as the primary effect of the proposed regulations will be to shut down most of the SMME players in the Internet sector."

Brooks says the regulator's approach to empowerment conflicts with both national black empowerment legislation and with the ICT charter - both of which contain exemptions for small businesses. In other words, ICASA should apply similar exemptions to the VANS licensing framework.

"It is an objective of national government both to promote development of the ICT sector, and to promote the development of SMMEs. By comparison, many of our smaller members believe ICASA is deliberately trying to force them out of the market with the new regulations," he says.

"While we don't believe this to be the case, we do urge ICASA to take a step back and take a long hard look at the potential impact these regulations would have on a dynamic and important sector of the economy."

The public hearings will take place from 19 to 21 January, with tomorrow's hearings due to begin at 11am and continue until 4.30pm, while the following two days' hearings run from 9am until 4.30pm.