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Choking on telecom licence fees
- Thread starter rpm
- Start date
"The newly licensed second network operator will also have to pay R100m at the outset but, interestingly, incumbent operator Telkom did not have to pay this fee when it got its licence in 1997."
Double standards or what???
Double standards or what???
stoke
Honorary Master
<Q>The telecom industry has been treated like an exclusive club in which companies, in return for high licence fees and social upliftment obligations, are protected from full-scale competition.</Q>
That sentance tells the complete picture.
That sentance tells the complete picture.
So where is all this money going is what i wanna know. The last paragraph is why we suffer, the gov is like a mafia boss overseeing lesser mobs and they have to pay protection money to access the bait else they let more work the area. So was the delay for SNO really a mess up or paid for ?
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More double standards
So why is Telkom exempt from the upfront fee and only made to pay 0,1% of revenue while the cell companies pay 5%? Just another case of double standards.
You might be able to argue that spectrum is a "national and limited" resource, although it's a bit of a stretch, but how does this apply to cabling and fibre laid down by fixed line operators. Just another way to milk the consumer I guess!
So why is Telkom exempt from the upfront fee and only made to pay 0,1% of revenue while the cell companies pay 5%? Just another case of double standards.
You might be able to argue that spectrum is a "national and limited" resource, although it's a bit of a stretch, but how does this apply to cabling and fibre laid down by fixed line operators. Just another way to milk the consumer I guess!
This is why I believe that REAL deregulation will never happen in this sector. How can it happen when ICASA and the gov have such a mentality?
First of all, the reason why the sector uses "national and limited resources" is simply because the government has made sure that ONLY Telkom can provide such a resource. If VANS operators were allowed to self provide and if more operators were allowed in this sector, logic dictates that these "limited resources" will become a thing of the past as these new entrants will invest more money into infrastructure. Which will, as in other countries, may result in lower telecom costs! So ICASA, or the government for that matter, has no right in making it seem like these "resources" can never be increased through REAL deregulation, something which they have been dragging their feet over.
Secondly, why should it be such a "privilege" to operate in this sector? Just so that when you gain entry into this sector, you are then protected from TRUE competition? What happened to the idea that a company which can provide a decent service to the market should be allowed to do so?
Could someone out there PLEASE PLEASE explain to me how restricting the entry of more operators into this sector is good for the economy??? Is the government afraid that Telkom might then become bankrupt and cause a telecoms crisis in SA or some reason like that? What is the OFFICIAL reason why the government is doing this? The unofficial reason is, of course, that they are benefitting from Telkom's high profits.
AdLo
Expert Member
R1bn a year and they took forever to release such a pathetic version of the ADSL draft regulations.
ICASA is just as bad as the DoC.
dominic
Legal Expert: Telecoms
they don't get the money - by law it goes directly to the national revenue fundAdLo said:R1bn a year and they took forever to release such a pathetic version of the ADSL draft regulations.
ICASA is just as bad as the DoC.
to add that imo
licence app fees for VANS and PTNs are reasonable
frequency app and licence fees are also reasonable
to add further
that mr knott-craig et al can wail all they bloody well want - they all still managed to make a nice fat profit out of the SA public
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AdLo
Expert Member
IMO if the the money is there then ICASA should increase their budget and hire international experts on regulation to help them meet their deadlines and improve the quality and correctness of what they produce. (e.g. ADSL draft regulations)dominic said:
dominic
Legal Expert: Telecoms
absaloodle but...AdLo said:
this is what the debate around the icasa amendment bill was about....originally it was meant to deal with properly financing icasa but then the minister and the national council of provinces figured that they know better
so all this cash comes in and where it goes i am not sure......icasas budget as i recall is less than 20% of the amount collected
bekdik
Honorary Master
Syndyre said:
Let's try and answer that.
1. The government own 37% of Telkom?
2. The anc owns another big chunk?
The_Unbeliever
Honorary Master
<caustic and vitriolic comments removed> 
So that's why our taxes is going down and telecomms are going up?
So that's why our taxes is going down and telecomms are going up?
mozez said:
Its just typical monopoly behaviour where by limiting what you produce you actually make more of a profit by selling expensive services to fewer people than if you reduced prices and selled cheaper servicers to a majority. Of course when you have decent competition you can't do this because somebody else will undercut you. How could you even expect somebody with a major stake in a company to regulate them and force prices downwards?
Ideally government should sell its share in Telkom and make it a fully privatised company and Eskom/Transnet should do the same with the SNO. Then Telkom should be broken up into separate companies like Wholesale, Retail and SAIX like the US did with AT&T and Ofcom threatened BT with. Seemed to work pretty well there! Not like it'll ever happen here anyway though
mozez said:
I think the official reason is universal service i.e. phone lines in poorer rural areas etc., don't think Telkom does very well at that anyway!
"He says licence fees are imposed because companies derive commercial benefit from a sector that uses national and limited resources. He says it's a "privilege" for companies to operate in the sector and they are therefore "obligated" to pay licence fees."
This type of attitude is disgusting and unacceptable, these very companies that have the "prvilige" of working in SA are paying your oversized salary at the end of the day. These companies are paying to use the "limited resources" because the government and ICASA have dragged their feet for so long with regards to opening the market. Why dont they instead use a portion of the Billions of Rands to subsidise operators for installing infrastructure. A program whereby Network operators across the scale are entitled to a rebate of some kind when installing infrastructure in rural / disadvantaged, unTelkomised areas would go a long way to ensure penetration and bring down the overall costs.
This type of attitude is disgusting and unacceptable, these very companies that have the "prvilige" of working in SA are paying your oversized salary at the end of the day. These companies are paying to use the "limited resources" because the government and ICASA have dragged their feet for so long with regards to opening the market. Why dont they instead use a portion of the Billions of Rands to subsidise operators for installing infrastructure. A program whereby Network operators across the scale are entitled to a rebate of some kind when installing infrastructure in rural / disadvantaged, unTelkomised areas would go a long way to ensure penetration and bring down the overall costs.
Syndyre said:
It is a scandal!
A complete and utter disgrace actually!
Just that a great proportion of the South African public have not got a clue of what is going on behind the scenes.
The fact that the Government own 38% of the shares in a company that is listed on the stock exchange making ludicrous profits is question enough.
In a few days time we will hear the next State of the Nation Speech from Mr Mbeki.
Last year this time we were promised change in the telecommunications situation. Mbeki criticises high telecom rates
We are still waiting to see any difference.