Agreed but if you think about it they're only doing what ICASA is allowing them to do. Telkom is living up to its responsibilities to its shareholders and taking full advantage of the situation and will continue to do so until ICASA grows a spine.
Can we not just kidnap OFTEL, the UK regulators, lock them in a cellar (albeit a
really nice cellar), and get them to sort things out?
this is ICASA growing a spine - they are following a process very close to that used by Ofcom and other EU regulators in dealing with the legacy of years of monopoly service provision
the panel is chaired by Cllr Tracy Cohen (formidable and deals with Telkom etc very well) and also features James Hodge (Genesis Analytics...recall the Genesis Report?) and Steve Esselaar (seconded to ICASA formerly with the LINK Institute @ WITS - very competent)....i appeared before them yesterday representing ISPA and it was somewhat intimidating (me not being an economist and all)
so personally i have a great deal of confidence in what ICASA is doing here
also understand that as unfortunate and frustrating it is there is a process laid down by the Electronic Communications Act which has to be followed here - again imho it is a solid process which holds the potential for dramatic change. i have spoken to the panel members on the side and they are confident that they have a good grip on things and that the process will be successful
having said that...
the article needs to be seen in context - it is sourced from a presentation made by Cell C before this panel...there never has been provision for Telkom to have to share their local exchanges and part of this process is about forcing them to allow co-location in this exchanges (amongst many other things including imposing wholesale pricing on a number of the wholesale elements of Telkom's network services)
there remains a long road and the usual concerns remain valid
1. it is clear from my reading of the Telkom and the MTN submissions in respect of this process that they will take a litigation route if they don't like the result (which they won't)...MTN in fact did not pitch for their presentation slot yesterday (probably a good idea as their submission was very aggressive and the panel would have torn them a new one)
2. the Telkom submission basically states that they are not dominant in any of the infrastructure provision markets under investigation

cool

- this is to be expected and is a classic incumbent delaying tactic which has had to be dealt with the world over
3. ICASA remain under-resourced and do not have the capacity to properly oversee the implementation of these processes, especially when they head off to court - this is partly ICASA's fault but has far more to do with the spit Minister
4. very worringly Cllr Cohen's tenure as a councillor ends in June next year
ICASA gets a lot of stuff wrong and historically is far from having covered itself in glory (the dsl regs being a particular lowpoint) but this is a process which we should all wholeheartedly support