Is self-provision legal?

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eremos

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Simple question (or it should be).

Back in the day Ivy threw a spanner in the works saying self-provision by VANS was illegal, after ICASA had repeatedly stated that it was/would be legal.

Now that the ECA is in force, repealing the telecoms act and containing lines like "Any monopoly or exclusive rights existing by virtue of the related legislation, the IBA Act, the Sentech Act or the Telecommunications Act is null and void", doesn't that mean that anybody with a licence to provide telco services can self-provide?

I know Telkom and Neotel are still the only companies licenced to sell PSTN services, but that's old hat anyway. Why can IS not build a network and sell broadband, through whatever medium, to people's homes?

Frankly, even if Ivy came back out of her cave today to say "if you try to self-provide you will be put out of business", couldn't we just ignore her? Does her word overrule the ECA?

Edit: Well I've looked around a bit and dominic has state unequivocally that VANS may self-provide. So why aren't they?

Telkom have entrenched themselves pretty darn firmly in the market as being the only people who have invested ANY time/money in infrastructure (along perhaps with IS and UUnet, but they pale in comparison). But now that the market is more open we certainly have the potential for more competition, if SPs can be convinced it's a worthwhile investment.
 
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Send Ivy back into her cave, she's only doing more damage.

IANAL and IMHO :

Yes, VANS can self-provision, but they're too timid to take the leap.

The problem is with the local loop as Telkom still holds sway over it, so they'll have to look at wifi or wimax for last-mile access at this stage.
 
Edit: Well I've looked around a bit and dominic has state unequivocally that VANS may self-provide. So why aren't they?

Telkom have entrenched themselves pretty darn firmly in the market as being the only people who have invested ANY time/money in infrastructure (along perhaps with IS and UUnet, but they pale in comparison). But now that the market is more open we certainly have the potential for more competition, if SPs can be convinced it's a worthwhile investment.
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VANS can self-provide according to dominic and many other right-thinking people

but not according to ICASA as stated in hearings yesterday :mad: - VANS according to them may only obtain facilities rom another licensed provider (telkom, neotel, cellcos, sentech, iburst)

expect court action shortly
 
dominic said:
but not according to ICASA as stated in hearings yesterday :mad:
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ffs :mad: thanks dominic

Is there anything in the ECA or licence terms to support that point of view? (keeping in mind that any licence granting exclusivity under the telecoms act is immediately null and void thanks to the ECA)
 
eremos said:
ffs :mad: thanks dominic

Is there anything in the ECA or licence terms to support that point of view? (keeping in mind that any licence granting exclusivity under the telecoms act is immediately null and void thanks to the ECA)
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it is a view derived from the telecomms act and the terms and conditions of VANS licences and without reference to the ECA

i can accept that this is a very confusing time between the TA and the ECA but even purely looking at the TA ICASA are wrong......
 
Thanks for your input dominic.. I hope the judge (or whoever decides the outcome on this) sees the light. It'll be nice to finally have some clarity in the laws, and for providers to be free to provide services without fear of reprisal.

Edit: And Ivy blamed the lack of self-provisioning on the private sector, lol. How many times will she have to prove her idiocy before someone will do something about it?
 
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Bah, Incompetent Idiot № 1 should be fired outright for the sad state of affairs.


I hope that the court action will be in favour of the VANS - so that all and sundry will be able to self-provision, and this will go a lot towards lower tariffs and better service as well.

Expect Telkom to put up a fierce fight, and lots of BS telling the court why VANS self-provisioning is a Bad Thing™... I hope Telkom lose.
 
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So I hate to flog a dead horse but it's been a month now. Has this gone to court? Is no news good news or bad?
 
@Dominic

Does the case at all deal with any 'right of way' aspects? Without this (wired) self provisioning will end up being a long-winded bureaucratic drag.
 
The_Librarian said:
Send Ivy back into her cave, she's only doing more damage.

IANAL and IMHO :

Yes, VANS can self-provision, but they're too timid to take the leap.

The problem is with the local loop as Telkom still holds sway over it, so they'll have to look at wifi or wimax for last-mile access at this stage.
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Afaik Aerosat self provide... and I saw an ad for them somewhere on the net saying "don't use this illegal ISP" blah blah
Kudos to anyone who self provides
 
Roman4604 said:
@Dominic

Does the case at all deal with any 'right of way' aspects? Without this (wired) self provisioning will end up being a long-winded bureaucratic drag.
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yes it will - ditto with regard to the availability of spectrum for wireless self-provision

the ECA appears to be quite liberal on rights to roll out fibre, especially once the new licence categories are finalised and operational
 
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