Neotel takeover rumour resurfaces

I don't see adverse competition premises holding up with respect to a merger. Neotel's primary asset base is fibre network and you will still have at least 4 players in that market.

What I don't understand is the belief that a MNO can acquire access to more spectrum by buying Neotel. If Neotel is merged into an existing iECS and iECNS licence holder then it surrenders its iECS and iECNS licence and nothing in the regulations that I can find would result in the transfer of their spectrum to their holding company - on the contrary my understanding of the model is that they would loose their spectrum especially on the direction which ICASA is going with spectrum allocation.

If on the other hand Neotel is kept alive as a separate entity but there is a parent company (which also has a licence) ICASA can have a baby in terms of section 13 of the ECA. I honestly think the actual issue here is avoiding Naspers from acquiring Neotel, because Multichoice Subscriber Management Services (Pty) Ltd (MWEB) has an iECNS and an iECS licence and throwing in the constructed Neotel network and you have a company that can give Vodacom, MTN, IS and Telkom a hard time. For Telkom it is less of a problem but for VC and MTN you are going to have hell. Remember MTN bought themselves a network so why can't Naspers.


On a related note I think ICASA has a database problem: According to the list Vodacom has only an IECNS (no IECS) and Telkom only has an IECS licence. I thought I am using Telkoms electronic communications network service to go online. Also when did all the class licences become individual licences there are tons of plithy licence holders suddenly?
 
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