Unlicensed spectrum usage battle

Why does anyone care, it's not like ICASA can do anything. They are completely toothless. WBS's lawyers will run them around in circles and tie them up in legal knots for years to come.
 
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Who care's WBS should just carry on, ignore ICASA they can't, won't and don't have the power to do anything!

Just look at Telkom, ICASA backs down when threatened with legal action.
 
So not paying fees for 2 years results in a R 24 million rand bill. Does that mean to "rent" the spectrum it costs well over R1 million a month?

If I understand this correctly, no wonder wireless internet costs are so high!
 
When ICASA suspects anyone of using spectrum illegally it sends it recovery teams out that remove the "illegal equipment" and then they argue about it later.

Does anyone know if they have done this with iBurst equipment or are some of the ICASA councillor's also in iBurst's pocket?
 
Playoff said:
When ICASA suspects anyone of using spectrum illegally it sends it recovery teams out that remove the "illegal equipment" and then they argue about it later.
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Clean situation I agree, it is about money, not these officially paid or not-paid.
 
Playoff said:
When ICASA suspects anyone of using spectrum illegally it sends it recovery teams out that remove the "illegal equipment" and then they argue about it later.

Does anyone know if they have done this with iBurst equipment or are some of the ICASA councillor's also in iBurst's pocket?
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How exactly does ICASA identify where this "illegal equipment" is in the first place? Then how do they defend themselves against charges of trespassing and theft which would almost certainly be levied against them should they try to remove anybody's equipment?
 
deweyzeph said:
How exactly does ICASA identify where this "illegal equipment" is in the first place? Then how do they defend themselves against charges of trespassing and theft which would almost certainly be levied against them should they try to remove anybody's equipment?
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To the first question: Read article. Users report to ICASA any new links intalled. So ICASA knows. If ICASA fail to do action, users can argue that the didn't do anything wrong.

Re second question: Where have you heard charging Govt for trespassing?
 
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sajunky said:
To the first question: Read article. Users report to ICASA any new links intalled. So ICASA knows. If ICASA fail to do action, users can argue that the dodn't do anything wrong.

Re second question: Where have you heard charging Govt for trespassing?
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There is due process to be followed. You cannot just go and dismantle an installation on the hearsay of somebody else.

And yes, anybody, including government officials and the police can be charged with theft and trespass if the correct procedures aren't followed.
 
Umm, this is not linked as to why I been getting rather horrible speeds and latency on iBurst in the last few weeks? :S
 
The ICASA act gives ICASA the power to confiscate any telecommunications equipment for testing.

This is a clause that they have hidden behind everytime one of their technicians screws up in the field or the wrong equipment is confiscated or removed. Certain ISP's have even been threatened by ICASA officials that they have this power so pay up or else!

When they remove equipment they dont have to prove anything under this clause and they are more than happy to use it that is why I am surprised they haven't done anything about the iBurst links.

Well.....I know why so I'm not really surprised!
 
why is ICASA being attacked? Is it so hard to actually believe that WBS/Iburst is doing something illegal? Hasn't Iburst been in the news before for shady practices? Even has a source saying that they management knew, but only one person is denying, a techincal director. yeah right....

i also love Iburst HR executive.....she's on holiday and doesn't want to be bothered. Guess she forgot that PR falls under her department and that executives are never on holiday when it comes to the public eye. Bet she came from Govt...typical SA attitude.
 
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deweyzeph said:
There is due process to be followed. You cannot just go and dismantle an installation on the hearsay of somebody else.
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Once again, read article. It is not hearsay. They report to ICASA all new installations. ICASA knowledge is based on these reports. There is nothing mentioned about missing or incomplete or fake reports, so I assume reports are truthful.
 
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Beri said:
If it is illegal then close them down. But then again ICASA is useless unless you want to show porn.
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It is legal to seize unlicenced equipment. They don't do it, but the make a noise in press when a new cash injection is desired.
 
sajunky said:
It is legal to seize unlicenced equipment. They don't do it, but the make a noise in press when a new cash injection is desired.
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It really would have been nice to have some response from iburst on this
Head in the sand strategy perhaps???
 
What people tend to miss here is the reason behind spectrum licensing. The article mentions 1.8 GHz as one of the bands in which they have unlicensed links. 1.8 GHz is a GSM band, meaning that if they have illegal links there, it might well be in a band licensed to someone else. (I'm not saying this is the case, but it is possible)

If they do have such links, they will interfere with i.e. Vodacom or MTNs base stations, causing dropped calls - even slower EDGE...
 
I am in stitches, Iburst, Vodacom, Mtn all of them, dodgy business.
The way these guys conduct themselves in business.......
Now to go back to past CEO's and see who knew about this, this is going to be interesting.
 
Sasan Parvin is the guy that knowingly deployed all these links without informing ICASA. To now say he knows nothing about it is a joke. Everyone at iBurst knows about this including Mike Brown, Thami, Jannie and even Ronald. They always used Thami's personal relationship with Paris to keep this under wraps. This issue was one of the reasons the previous management walked out.
 
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