Fears over government spectrum plans

[Ockie]

Concerns are growing in the telecommunications industry that government plans to abandon the nearly universal model of auctioning off precious radio frequency spectrum to private-sector operators, instead allocating it to a single wholesale provider in which the state has significant input.


Cell C is the only big mobile operator that is in favour of the creation of a wholesale national network. Its CEO, Jose Dos Santos, said spectrum should be pooled for efficiency.

“Cell C continues to support the establishment of a national broadband network to provide wholesale access to all operators and service providers to the benefit of consumers,” Dos Santos said.

MTN and Vodacom are against the idea, favouring the auction of spectrum as well as infrastructure competition......................

http://www.techcentral.co.za/fears-over-government-spectrum-plans/64094/

 

[Pilgrim]

I would support the concept of a national carrier if it was privately owned with zero government (read ANC tenderpreneurs) involvement.

Sadly as it stands this will be another Eskom, SAA, Sanral, PetroSA, Post Office, Sentec, etc.

Loads of tax money down the drain and nothing to show for it at the end of the day.

 

[Ockie]

I would support the concept of a national carrier if it was privately owned with zero government (read ANC tenderpreneurs) involvement.

Sadly as it stands this will be another Eskom, SAA, Sanral, PetroSA, Post Office, Sentec, etc.

Loads of tax money down the drain and nothing to show for it at the end of the day.

Or the operators could form a consortium of sorts and build the shared network together? Or would that lead to price fixing and noncompetitive pricing to end consumer?

 

[Paul Hjul]

Not entirely sure whether government is actually planning on abandoning auctioning especially as ICASA have started the march down that road - and if they steer off could be whacked back on by the courts - instead I think that the teleco industry is waking up to the unfortunate reality that the "transformation" criteria render them ineligible for assignments of high demand spectrum. Of course this is something which the record already canvasses (IIRC I wrote on the matter in submissions to ICASA in August last year).

It would be helpful if some quality investigative journalism on what has happened to the process opened by ICASA could take place and an article that isn't clickbait be published.

 

[Paul Hjul]

Or the operators could form a consortium of sorts and build the shared network together? Or would that lead to price fixing and noncompetitive pricing to end consumer?

Such a consortium wouldn't qualify for high demand spectrum which would defeat the whole point. It is also very dangerous to argue for changing the law.