Telkom is up to its old tricks

[Jamie McKane]

Telkom is up to its old tricks

Last month, Telkom launched a legal challenge against ICASA’s planned spectrum auction, which will give operators valuable radio frequency spectrum for their 4G and 5G networks.

Telkom argued that digital dividend spectrum is not currently commercially viable and that ICASA’s plans have not taken the lack of competition in South Africa’s cellular market into account.

 

[Johnatan56]

This article's spin is a bit off, in this case Telkom has a point since ICASA has already shown that it cannot be trusted to sort out the digital migration. Paying billions of rand for something one cannot use would be terrible, and it would mean it would pretty much only be Vodacom that could easily (compared to others in that sector) take the risk since CellC, Telkom and MTN have quite a bit of debt.

Disappointed in MyBB posting such a bad article about broadband.

 

[cavedog]

This article's spin is a bit off, in this case Telkom has a point since ICASA has already shown that it cannot be trusted to sort out the digital migration. Paying billions of rand for something one cannot use would be terrible, and it would mean it would pretty much only be Vodacom that could easily (compared to others in that sector) take the risk since CellC, Telkom and MTN have quite a bit of debt.

Disappointed in MyBB posting such a bad article about broadband.

Telkom indeed has a point.

Unless you have like millions just laying around you will likely not get spectrum that you need. The spectrum auction you can clearly see that the big winners will likely be MTN, Vodacom and Liquid Telecoms and maybe Rain.

 

[rpm]

This article's spin is a bit off, in this case Telkom has a point since ICASA has already shown that it cannot be trusted to sort out the digital migration. Paying billions of rand for something one cannot use would be terrible, and it would mean it would pretty much only be Vodacom that could easily (compared to others in that sector) take the risk since CellC, Telkom and MTN have quite a bit of debt.

It is more complicated than this.

The document and plan are, of course, not perfect. They never are. What Telkom and everyone else know is that if it goes back to the drawing board, and if we must wait for digital migration to happen first, it will take years before we reach this point again.

Should spectrum therefore be wasted for many more years, or should we hand it out now? I would vote for now – we have tried the other route before, and it cost the country dearly.

 

[Johnatan56]

Should spectrum therefore be wasted for many more years, or should we hand it out now?

So you're saying e.g. Telkom should pay hundreds of millions to billions of rand for spectrum they cannot use any time soon with no guarantee on the actual date they can use it? Sounds like that's them giving money to a government institution that has already shown that it failed to move forward for decades on a decision that shouldn't have taken very long.

How does the MISP buying it now mean it won't be sitting there unusable? Government not getting the money gives them a reason to move it forward, if paid for at auction the motivation for government to move forward will be lost and it would probably have to go through court for years to get paid back.

This is a case where Telkom wanting to force government to first complete the digital migration is a pretty good request, and tbh, I'm also against those coverage % requirements as it stops any smaller players from entering, but that's a whole different discussion.

Your bringing in Telkom's history from decades ago in this case to prove a point is not great, you could have discussed the case on its own merit and pointed out the flawed bits in the case that showcase Telkom's old stuff, would have made for a useful article instead of this pretty much clickbait again, but I guess it's expected from your "writers".

 

[j4ck455]

ICASA to fight Telkom's lawsuit over auction of high-demand spectrum

ICASA to fight Telkom's lawsuit over auction of high-demand spectrum The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has said that it will oppose Telkom's court application against ICASA's forthcoming radio frequency spectrum auction. ICASA issued an invitation to apply on 2...

mybroadband.co.za

(dominic's post)

 

[rpm]

So you're saying e.g. Telkom should pay hundreds of millions to billions of rand for spectrum they cannot use any time soon with no guarantee on the actual date they can use it? Sounds like that's them giving money to a government institution that has already shown that it failed to move forward for decades on a decision that shouldn't have taken very long.

How does the MISP buying it now mean it won't be sitting there unusable? Government not getting the money gives them a reason to move it forward, if paid for at auction the motivation for government to move forward will be lost and it would probably have to go through court for years to get paid back.

This is a case where Telkom wanting to force government to first complete the digital migration is a pretty good request, and tbh, I'm also against those coverage % requirements as it stops any smaller players from entering, but that's a whole different discussion.

Your bringing in Telkom's history from decades ago in this case to prove a point is not great, you could have discussed the case on its own merit and pointed out the flawed bits in the case that showcase Telkom's old stuff, would have made for a useful article instead of this pretty much clickbait again, but I guess it's expected from your "writers".

I certainly did not say "Telkom should pay hundreds of millions to billions of rand for spectrum they cannot use any time soon with no guarantee on the actual date they can use it?". In fact, we do not know that will happen at all. There may well be a clause in the final determination which stats you will only pay when you can use the spectrum.

Your argument that "Government not getting the money gives them a reason to move it forward" sounds logical, but history showed us that it is not the case.

We have been down the "lets fix the spectrum allocation process" road, and it took us years to reach this point again. To do it again will simply push it back another few years, and there is no reason to believe the next iteration will not lead to legal challenges again.

 

[Johnatan56]

There may well be a clause in the final determination which stats you will only pay when you can use the spectrum.

Great, so can you go find that one out? I doubt it.

In fact, we do not know that will happen at all.

But we're all pretty sure government will probably try that.

Your argument that "Government not getting the money gives them a reason to move it forward" sounds logical, but history showed us that it is not the case.

As in they don't move forward at all even with money involved? Yep, but it's one less reason.

We have been down the "lets fix the spectrum allocation process" road, and it took us years to reach this point again. To do it again will simply push it back another few years, and there is no reason to believe the next iteration will not lead to legal challenges again.

So you're arguing we should move forward with a bad/flawed process because we're worried about a legal challenge that may happen again down the road? That seems pretty short sighted.

 

[livingsmart]

This article's spin is a bit off, in this case Telkom has a point since ICASA has already shown that it cannot be trusted to sort out the digital migration. Paying billions of rand for something one cannot use would be terrible, and it would mean it would pretty much only be Vodacom that could easily (compared to others in that sector) take the risk since CellC, Telkom and MTN have quite a bit of debt.

Disappointed in MyBB posting such a bad article about broadband.

 

[livingsmart]

Agree. ICASA managing members should be fired for dragging their heels for years. The system used is nothing but a money making racket! Who gets this money and is it all properly accounted for? Its the people who suffer so get it all allocated !

 

[rpm]

So you're arguing we should move forward with a bad/flawed process because we're worried about a legal challenge that may happen again down the road? That seems pretty short sighted.

This is indeed what I believe. This is a pragmatic approach to get it done. The alternative has been tried, and it resulted in no spectrum (delay after delay).

I do not think ICASA and the government are able to suddenly do things differently and quickly produce a process which makes everyone happy. There will always be problems and unhappy parties, and it will always be open to legal challenge.

An alternative which I support is to allow the mobile operators to use the available spectrum while the perfect process is being developed. That means this valuable resource is not wasted.

My main concern is that the spectrum has been wasted for over a decade. Whatever needs to be done to get operators to use this spectrum is a win.

 

[Johnatan56]

This is indeed what I believe. This is a pragmatic approach to get it done. The alternative has been tried, and it resulted in no spectrum (delay after delay).

Exactly how does auctioning it off now get it done? The date set at the moment is 2023, so you want the operators to pay down for something they may be able to use in 2 years if another deadline doesn't get shifted?

allow the mobile operators to use the available spectrum

It's currently mostly in use, so what do you do about the interference? Or are you saying we should auction off spectrum not occupied by Television right now/what is currently being given out in Covid time and have a second auction after once migration completes? Why don't you raise that with ICASA and get their response?

My main concern is that the spectrum has been wasted for over a decade. Whatever needs to be done to get operators to use this spectrum is a win.

Which Telkom is kind of doing by forcing that the migration happens first, so Ramaphosa can't keep promising the stuff forever and not deliver.

 

[rpm]

Exactly how does auctioning it off now get it done? The date set at the moment is 2023, so you want the operators to pay down for something they may be able to use in 2 years if another deadline doesn't get shifted?

It's currently mostly in use, so what do you do about the interference? Or are you saying we should auction off spectrum not occupied by Television right now/what is currently being given out in Covid time and have a second auction after once migration completes? Why don't you raise that with ICASA and get their response?

Which Telkom is kind of doing by forcing that the migration happens first, so Ramaphosa can't keep promising the stuff forever and not deliver.

We may be talking about different things. I am talking about the spectrum auction which should be done. Digital migration is another issue.

As for trying to get a response from ICASA - that is much easier said than done

 

[uchoose]

Telkom is reaping what it sewed. A now useless company that helped hold back the communication industry for years. A company that gave the worsed service that any company could give. I hope it just fades away into oblivion so the communication industry can progress swiftly to new heights without them.

 

[CartoonFan]

There was a better article about this a week ago https://mybroadband.co.za/news/cell...telkom-sues-over-5g-spectrum-auction.html/amp

 

[Ockie]

I personally would not as a CEO want to put down a billion for a resource I cannot use. My god....the digital migration has been delayed how many times before. Even if they say you only pay when it is usable....that messes with your network planning etc.

 

[j4ck455]

I personally would not as a CEO want to put down a billion for a resource I cannot use. My god....the digital migration has been delayed how many times before. Even if they say you only pay when it is usable....that messes with your network planning etc.

No sane CEO, CFO and board of directors of any company (including those of SOEs like Telkom) would authorise payment for a licence to use something that is unusable.

And if ICASA demands payment upfront for a licence to use unusable spectrum, ICASA and its councillors would spend a considerable amount of time in courts trying to explain themselves, and still would not receive a cent for unusable spectrum licences.

Just because Telkom says it is challenging ICASA's auction for altruistic reasons, does not make it true.

I suspect the more likely explanation is that Telkom (supported by Stella), is up to something nefarious where Telkom attempts to manipulate the courts and ICASA into handing Telkom a monopoly on the most sought after spectrum (in particular below 1GHz / in the range of 700MHz up to 850MHz).

If the auction goes ahead, it forces government to licence spectrum and make sure that the spectrum squatters (SABC and Sentech) are evicted ASAP, it means that migration from analogue to digital terrestrial TV happens no matter what, and especially now that government's incentive is to get as much revenue as possible from everywhere including network operators.

The real question is why has government deliberately and repeatedly delayed issuing spectrum licenses for spectrum that has never been used and could have been used for 4G and now 5G. And if it's a case of 20 years of bad luck or whatever, issue licences for shorter terms and reduce the pricetag to entice network operators, just look at the temporary progress made (as an emergency measure) during lockdown.

 

[Yskasmetnstoof]

Yeah well, ignore Telkom. Or act against it. It is an "apartheid company" isn't it?

 

[Yskasmetnstoof]

Telkom is reaping what it sewed. A now useless company that helped hold back the communication industry for years. A company that gave the worsed service that any company could give. I hope it just fades away into oblivion so the communication industry can progress swiftly to new heights without them.

They "sewed"? Bedoel jy hulle het genaai?

 

[j4ck455]

They "sewed"? Bedoel jy hulle het genaai?

Telkom se naaimasjien is stukkend.