Chantelle Benjamin
11 November 2009
Johannesburg — THE Communication Workers Union (CWU) has taken a swipe at the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa), saying yesterday that its "weak leadership" had resulted in a monopoly for cellphone operators and a system that benefited rich customers and the "multinationals" themselves.
Last month, Icasa disappointed many when it announced its regulations to cut cellphone interconnect costs -- the cost of connecting a call from one network to another -- would be issued only in June. That would be three months behind a deadline of March it had set itself.
It was obvious from that announcement that Icasa would not meet the deadline set by Communications Minister Siphiwe Nyanda, who wanted costs to be reduced by this month, and consumers to be offered cheaper calls over the peak Christmas season.
SA's cellphone costs are among the highest in the world.
Mirroring many of the objections of Parliament's portfolio committee on communications chairman Ismail Vadi, the CWU said that Icasa lacked the confidence to act decisively against cellphone operators, opting instead to "outsource their regulatory function to the players themselves (the operators), which is a recipe for disaster".
CWU national treasurer Richard Poulton yesterday called on Vadi and the portfolio committee to also investigate the business models being used by cellphone operators.
"SA's mobile penetration is higher than many developing countries, mainly due to the poor, which make up the biggest portion of the customer base," Poulton said. "Why are the poor, though prepaid, subsidising the post-paid (contract holders) of the rich?"
The interconnection dispute centres on the fee of R1,25 a minute that the operators charge at peak periods for linking a call from one network to another. Those fees have been under discussion for several years.
"The fact of the matter is that in the absence of a very strong regulator, the courts have become the default regulator as all industry players are going to court on every tiny issue.
"This is due to the fact that the ICT (information and communication technology) sector is dominated by multinational companies with deep pockets," said Poulton.
Vadi, speaking last week at the University of the Witwatersrand, said Icasa regularly found its decisions either ignored by the industry or challenged in court. He said Icasa's problem was not funding, it was quality of work.
Vadi said Icasa should have realised years ago that if they were taken to court on "process issues", then there were problems with their procedures and the way in which they conducted their work.
Talks between Vodacom and MTN collapsed after the two had agreed on a reduction of 19% in the blended interconnection rate (average peak and off- peak rate) but excluded other operators from the discussion and refused to provide the figures to explain exactly what these calls would cost.
Cell C, for one, said that the amount was still too high and should be closer to 40%. MTN recently said that talks were continuing.
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