The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) will not be providing TopTV with its reasons for denying the satellite pay-TV broadcaster’s application for three new channels.
TopTV applied for the channels last year (2011) and planned to air adult content from Playboy TV.
Toward the end of 2011, TopTV revealed that a regulatory bungle on ICASA’s side meant that the channels had been approved by default, later adding that they planned to launch the channels in January 2012.
ICASA then sought and received an urgent interdict preventing TopTV from launching the channels until after public hearings had been conducted.
According to TopTV, only 13 written submissions were presented to ICASA on the issue and on 27 January 2012 ICASA denied TopTV’s application for the three new channels.
ICASA said it would provide grounds for its decision within 30 days, or by 27 February 2012.
The regulator did not deliver its justification by the deadline, telling MyBroadband today (1 March 2012) that the reasons are yet to be approved by ICASA Council in the “next week or so.”
“They are currently being vetted by ICASA Legal Department and will therefore be released after approval by Council,” explained ICASA spokesperson Paseka Maleka.
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