E-Communications Bill delayed; policy announcement delayed

[dominic]

oh FFS this is such a bad joke..............

The Electronic Communications Bill, proposed new legislation that will transform SA's telecommunications industry, should be signed into law before the end of April, a month later than originally expected, says a report in the Financial Mail. It says the delay means that plans by Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri to announce liberalisation of the sector – initially expected before the end of March – have been put on ice for now. Matsepe-Casaburri must make her determinations in terms of the new legislation, which will replace the Telecommunications Act and other laws. The department's Director-General Lyndall Shope-Mafole says the Minister will announce the policy changes as soon as the Electronic Communications Bill has been signed into law.

The Minister's policy determinations are expected to be wide-ranging and have a dramatic impact on the level of competition in the sector. It is expected that government will announce plans to unbundle the ‘local loop’, giving the second network operator, and possibly other companies, access to Telkom's telephone exchanges, allowing them to serve consumers directly. Government is also expected to give Sentech, the state-owned broadcasting signal distributor, the right to provide switched voice traffic on its infrastructure, effectively making it a full-blown telecom operator.

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full report is in the financial mail - needs a subscription

 

[stoke]

The Minister's policy determinations are expected to be wide-ranging and have a dramatic impact on the level of competition in the sector. It is expected that government will announce plans to unbundle the ‘local loop’, giving the second network operator, and possibly other companies, access to Telkom's telephone exchanges, allowing them to serve consumers directly. Government is also expected to give Sentech, the state-owned broadcasting signal distributor, the right to provide switched voice traffic on its infrastructure, effectively making it a full-blown telecom operator.

Should read :

The Minister's policy determinations are expected to be extremely delayed as the ministed is aiming at setting some kind of world record to meet her earlier ambitions to be listed as a minister in the Guiness World Book of Records. Efforts to undermine or speed up the process have been cleverly sidestepped and easily pushed aside by the all powerful minister. The resulting confusion from the minister's purposeful lack of clarity will help Teklom to strengthen it's grip on the South African market at a time where negotiations between Teklom and the SNO are at a critical point. The effect on the consumer and the country will go down in the history books and the name of this minister shall live like a traumatic recurring nightmare for centuries to come. Our children will weep in sympathy for the torture we are enduring.

 

[pupa]

Nothing more, Nothing less were expected, The GVT met again all our expectations! so nothing gained nothing lost apart from some frustration and wasted time and money!

PS I wonder what TELKOm is trying to thrash out now behind closed doors!